Category: Specific plant information

Vitex agnus-castus aka Chaste Tree

Posted in Butterflies, Bees, Hummingbirds, Plants in Houston, Shrubs and Trees, Specific plant information
Vitex a couple weeks after planting and a rainstorm
Vitex
Vitex
Vitex

Full Sun
Regular watering, well drained soil, drought tolerant once established
Tree/Shrub, multi trunk, purple flowers
Fast grower up to 25′ tall, more typically tops out at 15′ with a 15′ spread
Deciduous
Native to China, India, cultivated here since mid 1600s
Propagate from cuttings

Attracts bees, butterflies, hummingbirds

Used to be known as ‘Monks pepper’, potions from it were supposed to keep monks chaste

This is the first time I’ve grown Vitex and they’ll only been in the ground a week. Just in time for it to stop raining. Of all the plants I put in the last few weeks the Vitex are the only ones that haven’t shown any stress nor have they minded the lack of rain. I have them out in full exposed afternoon sun. Most everything there is wilting. These plants are quite content.

More info as I’ve had them longer…

So far they not only handle full sun in Houston and do better the more sun they receive. They are fast growers the ones in full sun are 3x-4x as large, the ones with a bit of shade are 2x as large as the last set of phones and it’s only been a year.

Keep up with the waterings, leaves shrivel when it’s dry and they don’t get a thorough soaking at least once a week.

These looked awful after the deep freeze. It took them about a month to bud but they seem to be recouperating. I gave them a hard trim, like a crape myrtle, I’m hoping for lots of twisted limbs.

Hogwort, Woolly Croton, Texas Goatweed, Croton capitatus

Posted in Houston Wild Flowers, Plants in Houston, Specific plant information

I stumbled upon this odd looking plant while the hound and I were running at the edge of the woods near a bayou. They usually grow in recently disturbed ground. Someone had kindly mowed a path through the grass and these were about a foot in from the path

Attracts birds who find the seeds tasty. Can be toxic to cattle. Host plant for Goatweed Leafwing

Annual, Native
Male flowers near top, female flowers lower down
Blooms June-Oct
height 8″-36″, usually tops out about 18″
Prefers lots of sun, dry soil

May cause skin irritation

Knockout Roses

Posted in Plants in Houston, Shrubs and Trees, Specific plant information
Just planted Double Pink Knockout Rose, Aug 2019
Filling in nicely Nov 2019
They are more impressive than they appear in this photo
Steadily blooming and filling out – first pruning will be next spring

I’ve seen lots of good press about Knockout Roses, but who pays attention to press releases?

I’ve a front bed that gets full, blazing afternoon sun. I put a few out there and despite general neglect over the summer they did quite well. ( anything that doesn’t die out there I consider a success )

So I bought a whole lot more and lined the front bed. It immediately stopped raining. I’ve been watering them heavily. I’ll start to taper that off this week. They are all alive, the ones in the sunniest locations have dropped some leaves.

More info and photos after I get to know them better.

These are doing well, they were a bit unhappy late summer despite it raining regularly. They do want a good soaking once a week if it hasn’t rained. They are steady growers, not too fast, not too slow.

The roses barely noticed the big freeze. They dropped their leaves, but budded right back up. I waited until I saw new buds before pruning them so it was a late pruning. Typically you’d prune mid Feb

Mexican Abelia

Posted in Butterflies, Bees, Hummingbirds, Plants in Houston, Shrubs and Trees, Specific plant information
Abelia
Abelia

Full to part sun
Height, width 4′-6′
Average watering, well drained soil
Propagate from soft to semi-hard cuttings

Attracts bees, butterflies, hummingbirds

These photos don’t do the plant justice. More photos and information after it’s had time to settle in.

I thought I lost these in the big freeze. They were slower to leaf out than many other plants and looked completely dead. Yet at least 5 of the 6 made it.

Ophiopogon japonicus ‘nana’ aka Dwarf Mondo Grass

Posted in Plants in Houston, Specific plant information

This makes a great grass replacement for part to full shade areas. I’ve had some growing on the driest parts of the garden, some even in full sun and it just slowly mounds into pom-pom like clumps.

Once a year on a rainy fall day I’ll divide it up and spread it a bit further. It’s great for edging or grass replacement.

One of the nicest things about it is that it is a slow growing plant. It’ll look like you just planted it a year later. If you’d like it to grow faster, just add water

Propagate by division
Prefers shade, will grow in sun
Drought tolerant, will grow if you add water
Slow grower – forms mounds 4″-6″ across, ~ 3″ tall