March 10, 2025
Are you feeling spring yet? Here in Central Texas, plants are tentatively unfurling green leaves, and early-bird flowers are already drawing eager bees, including the fluffy white blossoms of Mexican plum, golden trumpets of Carolina jessamine, and purple-tipped stems of spiderwort.
After the browns of winter, who doesn’t want more spring color for their garden? With that in mind, Fine Gardening‘s current issue, Early Spring 2025 (#222), is featuring “Plants with the Best Spring Color” in its regional pages — and I was asked to contribute four plant picks as their expert from the Southwest!
My editor asked me to name less conventional, less well-known plants, and I landed on a mix that includes one tree, an evergreen shrub, and two perennials. Three are Texas natives. I’m happily growing all four in my garden. Maybe you are too? If not, give them a look and see if you have a spot for them in your garden. Seek out less-common plants like these from independent nurseries that specialize in native and well-adapted plants for Texas and at native plant sales hosted by organizations like the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the Native Plant Society of Texas.
You can read the article online, but I also encourage you to support the magazine (and writers like me) by buying a copy off a newsstand or subscribing. Happy growing, y’all!
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Digging Deeper
Attend the annual Budding Out Plant Sale & Festival on March 15th at the John Fairey Garden in Hempstead. Shop for rare plants from the garden’s nursery and select plant vendors. Local artists and artisans as well as food, drink, and demonstrations will also be featured. Admission: $5 for members, $10 for non-members, children under 12 free. Hours: 10 am to 4 pm; members get early admission at 9 am (memberships available on day of event).
Tour 5 unique Houston gardens on Saturday, April 26, from 10 am to 4 pm, during the Garden Conservancy’s Open Day Tour for Houston. Tickets must be purchased online in advance through the Garden Conservancy.
Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Read all about the Season 8 lineup here!
All material © 2025 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
