Fav outdoor patio plants
We love the style the Fort Worth Historic Stockyards’ Hotel Drover’s outdoor areas reflect, so when we built our house and outdoor spaces, we kept the simple, rustic, Texas-y feel in mind. I get a lot of plant and vessel and garden piece inspo from local restaurant spots, or nice garden centers or other outdoor spaces that we like to frequent, so I’ll snap pics of stuff I like and revisit them for ideas.
A huge farmhouse garden is in the eventual plan, but ’til then, I do a lot of container plants around the pool and patio. Here are some of my favs for our north Texas climate (zone 8, for folks familiar with US Plant Hardiness zones)…
These guys are happiest outside in warmer months – they can’t take much cold, so I’ll move to a sunny south-facing window in cooler months and bring her in and hope for a bloom from the sunny window in winter – I almost got one once! They are tropical succulents (known as Adeniums) and store water in their big bulbs (known as a “codex”) at the base of their trunks, similar to how a camel stores water in its hump…Here’s a quick vid on caring for a desert rose.
Care & Maintenance – somewhat low maintenance.
Watering & light needs – Mine likes full morning sun (but not full on Texas summer afternoon sun) Lots of bright light the rest of the day.
Availability – My mom got me this one with one for herself, and her’s blooms like crazy, all the time…in 3 years I’ve just gotten my first bloom FINALLY this summer! I think they like to be the tiniest bit “stressed” waterwise, so in blooming season, I’ve been just splashing/overspraying when I’m spraying surrounding plants with water. Remember, its a succulent, so it stores some degree of water.
From left to right – purple lantana (not currently in bloom), a trailing succulent pot, bougainvillea and peach/pink lantana (in big dark brown) pot, my friend Shannon’s pencil cactus/Mother of Millions pot, moss rose (another trailing succulent with fuschia blooms), my aunt Jeri’s jumbo pencil cactus we inherited, dew plant (hanging basket, probably needs to be out from under the eaves to be able to catch a bit more sun to bloom more consistently), my friend Shannon’s aloe plant, and succulent pot on the ground.
All of these guys can take the heat and sun of a Texas summer afternoon, but all won’t come back if they stay out for the winter. I move the cactus into the house when nighttime temps start dropping, and the aloe into the garage in a sunny, southfacing window. The bougainvillea can sometimes be overwintered inside, but I usually just replace mine every summer. This particular variety bougainvillea has been a consistent bloomer for me, with its pretty orange-pink blooms but does prefer to be hit with some water daily. A lot of bougainvillea seem to prefer to be in a state of slight dryness” (not a ton of daily watering) to be able to crank out some blooms, but this one (new to me this year) is liking a good splash of daily watering.
Lantana can typically take a LOT of heat, drought and sun, but again, this year, mine seem to bloom best when they get daily watering – perhaps because they are up against a rock wall, which absorbs even more heat from the afternoon sun.
These two pencil cactuses must be two different varieties, one is a bit more yellow-green than the other, bigger one, and grows a little differently, but both seem to be thriving, with constant new growth on their tips. The Mother of Thousands, a type of kalanchoe, is an interesting succulent, if you want to add something neat to your succulent collection – each of these mentioned likes a splash of daily water.
My friend’s aloe in the big blue pot (not sure of the type aloe) loves it some heat, sun and water – it takes it all – as much as it can get, happily!
Designed with WordPress
Everyday at the 4J 