Best Perennials for Texas

I’m frequently asked to list my favorite perennials for a Texas landscape, and to put them in some general sequence of bloom times. I have a lot more detail in Neil Sperry’s Lone Star Gardening, available only from my website, but here is the basic list to get you started.

Best Spring Perennials:
Hellebores, violets, grape hyacinths, jonquils and daffodils, species tulips, pinks, oxalis, summer snowflake, blue plumbago, Ozark primrose, iris, Louisiana phlox, thrift, columbine, spiderwort, coreopsis, verbena, penstemon, hypericum, yarrow, autumn sage, St. Joseph’s lily (hardy amaryllis), Byzantine gladiolus, balloonflower, scabiosa, butterfly weed, gaillardia, bee balm, purple coneflower.

Best Summer Perennials:
Cannas, Shasta daisies, daylilies, crinums, four o’clocks, gloriosa daisies, hardy hibiscus/mallows, Mexican petunia, pavonia, summer phlox, purple loosestrife, Turk’s cap.

Best Fall Perennials:
Lycoris squamigera (naked lady lilies), oxblood lilies, spider lilies, fall asters, Gregg’s ageratum, autumn sage, Mexican mint marigold, Mexican bush sage, Autumn Joy sedum, fall crocus (Sternbergia), chrysanthemums.

Note: perennials not listed include many less common flowering types, ornamental grasses and other foliar perennials, and ferns. All are included in the multi-paged chart in my book.