Did you know fall is one of the best times in San Antonio to start a flower garden? That was certainly news to me when I moved here from Chicago almost 10 years ago. Most of us think of spring as the ideal planting time. That’s when nurseries are teeming with flowering plants calling our names! However, fall is the perfect time to start a garden with Texas native perennial flowers and shrubs or to start a Texas wildflower bed from seed.
If you have been wanting to start a garden in your yard but never got the chance because of our record-breaking heat this summer, now is the time!
Fall planting allows perennial plants to develop strong root systems over the winter so they are well-established and can better handle the summer heat than if they were planted in the spring. The plants will go dormant (i.e., look dead!) over the winter, but rest assured their root systems are alive and well and just waiting to take off growing come spring!
Go Native!
Rather than heading to the nursery and selecting any flower that catches your eye, I encourage you to plant perennial flowers that are native to Texas. Perennials are plants that live for more than two growing seasons (and often for many years). Plant them once and enjoy them year after year!
Native Texas plants are plants that have been growing here in the wild for thousands of years. Not only are they super hardy and drought tolerant, but they are also some of the best plants for supporting our local insects, birds, and other wildlife.
Be sure to check out my list of five awesome Texas natives that attract butterflies. All of these would be great plants to start a pollinator garden in your yard this fall.
My Top 20 “No-Fail” Texas Native Plants
If you want to create a beautiful flower garden this fall with minimal effort, my Top 20 No-Fail Texas Natives workshop can help! I take away all the guesswork about what to plant. The workshop arms you with a list of flowering plants that are:
- Easy to find at the nursery. (My favorite nursery for natives is Rainbow Gardens.)
- Hard to kill!
- Look great and DO GOOD by supporting pollinators and birds!
Sow a Wildflower Garden This Fall
Have a sunny spot where all the grass has died? Convert it into a wildflower bed this fall! October and November are ideal times in Texas to sow native wildflower seeds directly into the ground.
Water the area well for the first couple of weeks after you scatter the seeds and they will germinate this fall. They will develop a small base of leaves (called basal rosettes) that will survive the winter and be ready to transform into beautiful wildflowers come spring.
Check out my 10 tips for creating a wildflower garden to get started today!
