Gardening in the heat of Texas summers

How does one garden in this extreme heat?

First of all, garden first thing in the morning when there is often a little cloud cover. KWB advocates planting native plants because they are adapted to survive Texas summers. Yellow Bells (Tecoma stans), for example, are native and blooming gloriously now. I saw some on sale at H-E-B recently.

Yellow Bells are also commonly called Esperanza. They are drought tolerant once established. If you plant them now, you will need to water them regularly as they will not be established until next season. They are deciduous and need to be cut back in the winter.

The deer eat them, so protect them with a cage. The deer in my yard leave Yellow Bells alone until they set buds. So, I spray them with stinky deer repellent when I see the buds forming. With no rain, the spray will last a couple of weeks. Older plants can grow tall enough to bloom out of reach of the deer.

The trumpet- shaped flowers also attract hummingbirds. Although yellow is the color of the native plants, I have seen hybrids with orange flowers. Yellow Bells need sunlight to bloom but will tolerate a little shade.

Other countries commonly experience this extreme heat, and some of their plants do well here. This past spring, I bought a red Mexican Globemallow (Sphaeralcea) plant. I have needed to water it regularly this summer, but it is said to be drought tolerant once established. I have seen the apricot colored Desert Globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) growing at the LBJ Wildflower garden in Austin. I am hoping my Globemallow will reseed itself as the literature indicates that it does.

One of the ways to garden in the extreme heat is to focus on plants that are adapted to survive in our Texas summers.