Texas gardening has a learning curve nobody warns you about. The heat, the soil, the rainfall — most of what works everywhere else doesn’t work here.
These are the seven things I wish someone had told me before I got started
⭐️ Made in partnership with Rainbow Gardens, a locally owned San Antonio nursery worth knowing: https://maps.app.goo.gl/T1eH56VhTGdTcbaR6
Free 7-Lesson Email Series — real examples, action steps, and deeper dives on everything in this video: https://coryames.com/txnative
📖 The Texas Native Plant Nursery Starter Guide — 25 beginner-friendly natives you’ll actually find at Texas nurseries, with plant profiles, landscaping tips, and a nursery checklist. $7 instant download: https://coryames.com/the-texas-native-plant-nursery-starter-guide
⏰ CHAPTERS:
00:00 — Introduction
00:45 — Know Your Ecoregion
02:00 — Microclimates: Your Yard Isn’t One Place
03:00 — Water Infiltration: Slow It Down, Keep It Here
05:30 — Plant in Fall
06:30 — Design Around Your Daily Routine
08:00 — Plant Guilds: Build a Neighborhood, Not a Garden
10:30 — Why Any of This Matters
⚙️ RESOURCES MENTIONED:
📖 Native Texas Plants, Region by Region — Sally & Andy Wasowski: https://amzn.to/3PMkYoL
📖 Planting in a Post-Wild World — Thomas Rainer & Claudia West: https://amzn.to/4m9jKjl
📖 Carbon: The Book of Life — Paul Hawken: https://amzn.to/47HrD9U
🗺️ Texas Parks & Wildlife Ecoregion Map: https://www.npsot.org/resources/native-plants/ecoregion-map/
🌱 MY WORK:
📬 Texas Field Notes — a short Friday dispatch from the same desk-to-trail workflow that powers my essays, short films, and native-plant guides: https://coryames.com
📬 The San Antonio Something — weekly newsletter for San Antonio locals: https://cory-ames.kit.com/cfc0c898b2
🛍️ Wild & Wise Texas Goods: https://store.coryames.com
#TexasGardening #NativePlants #SanAntonio
This video is sponsored by Rainbow Gardens. Book links may be affiliate links — I only recommend books I’ve read and genuinely stand behind.
23 Comments
Good morning from North East Texas. Thank you for your brilliant information 👏 👍 😊
Hello from Lubbock Texas! Loving your content!
I've never thought of planting as 'guilds', but it makes sense. That will be my focus this year.
Great summary; these could save someone years of hard Texas lessons
You’re doing such a fantastic job in education, Cory! I love Rainbow Gardens, always go to Thousand Oaks but want to visit the other location also.
Love this! It’s like a gardening starter pack in Texas.
Hey Cory and others here. I love rainbow gardens by the way!
I have a house with corner lot in zip code 78249 right by UTSA near Backcock and 1604. I had lighting take down a nice oak tree that provided shade that has devastated
Hey Cory and others here. I love rainbow gardens by the way!
I have a house with corner lot in zip code 78249 right by UTSA near Backcock and 1604. I had lighting take down a nice oak tree that provided shade that has devastated my St. Augusting grass.
I’m trying to arebuild the soil and plant more drought tolerant plants and other forms of ground cover. I’ve planted frog fruit and even some Asiatic Jasmine.
For plants I’m going to put in ones that give produce now like okra, black eyed peas, sweet potatoes, and peanuts and in fall do daikon radish and clover. These are supposed to be nitrogen boosting and help rebuild the soil from what I’ve researched.
I’ve planted in the south to west area of yard Mexican feather grass, plumbago, turk’s cap, lantana, Esperanza, Texas sage, rock rose, and salvia. I also planted at very edge some sunflowers and I have flame acanthus, red yucca, and canna plants.
On my western edge I put up a trellis with star (confederate) jasmine. Don’t know if that was a good move.
And for fun to see how they do I planted a fig tree and a citrus tree near where the destroyed tree was.
Cory or others any recommendations or do/dont’s?
Not APPLICABLE to NETX
I bought my current home in 1989 on a steep slope half acre that was preowned. The lower part had never been disturbed so had native plants and trees while 12,000 square feet of St. Augustine grass and nothing else covered the rest surrounding the house. I learned about xeriscaping and native plants and bought several books that were great help as it really had just started becoming a feature for our area. I live in NW San Antonio but have limestone outcroppings, thin soil on solid bedrock and strong winds as it’s near the top of a hill. Landscaping With Native Texas Plants by Sally Wasowski was one of the books that I purchased and relied heavily on, as well as a few others, so it’s great to hear that she has other books based on regions. I have allowed much of my yard to naturalize but propagated many mountain laurels from seed as well as other plants. What grows in yards in the same neighborhood with deeper soil doesn’t necessarily thrive on mine. I have heavily mulched certain areas over 35+ years which has decomposed into a rich soil with lots of earthworms. My goal is to prevent erosion because of the steep slope and allowed chiltepin peppers and lantanas to grow as well as logs and large rocks to try and keep the soil from moving down the hill. It’s a challenge to plant even a one gallon container so anything that is a volunteer and survives is a bonus.
Love love love Rainbow Gardens! I wonder if they’d ever consider bringing one out to the Boerne area?
Yup, biggest lesson I learned was that Texas doesn't count when you read the tag or look up plant info. Our heat is different, our sun is very different. Things that say "full sun" are usually not "Texas full sun," and like you said, that even changes depending on where you are within Texas, so you can't even use "Texas" as a template for Texas, lol.
Another lesson (that I think more native gardeners need to learn) is that just because a plant is "native" doesn't mean you don't water it, don't fertilize, and don't take care of it. Just because it can "survive" doesn't mean it will thrive. Some people get a little too lost in the sauce on the whole "native" thing.
Love both of the Rainbow Gardens locations. 😍
An excellent first step for us Texas gardeners; the links to the various references will prove to be invaluable! Keep up the great work helping us all survive (and thrive!) in the unique Texas climate!
i LOVE Rainbow Gardens! First thing I did when I moved to San Antonio was get 2 Mexican Plums, 2 Mountain Laurels, 2 Live Oaks, 9 Muly Salvias, 6 Passionflowers, and a jasmine plant!!!!
I have that book bro. It’s a great resource. Saying what’s up from Houston. I went to school in San Antonio. I graduated from UTSA.
I love that pep talk at the end about your relationship with the soil! That is exactly how I feel and I haven't been able to articulate it so well before. I'm gonna show that to my family. Thanks!
Look into citrus trees that are hardy to low temps, I have a ruby red Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime and a Orange tree on the south of my house. Fabric covering with Christmas lights have gotten me through several snow falls.
I’ve been gardening for over 30 years and have planted thousands ( no exaggeration ) of plants. 90% of all my plants were purchased at Rainbow Gardens. They are excellent about stocking plants that grow well in San Antonio. The staff too are an outstanding resource for information about their plants.
I live in the ozarks but I've had the texas planting book you referred to for over 25 years, excellent resource. Love your channel, buddy.
Love your book recommendations! I already have the one by the Wasowskis but will add the other two to my list! Another book similar to the Waskowski one that I like is Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas by George Oxford Miller. Moreso a great tool to learn in depth knowledge about specific plants, at least that’s why I loved it! First found it in my library and just had to source one for myself on half price books!
I've wasted THOUSANDS on plants that I grew in other cities that couldn't take it in Texas. Especially large tomatoes. I'm giving up. Been here since 2004.
Plants that say “Full Sun” are actually shade loving plants in TX 😳
Such a beautiful take !!! Gardening is a relationship with the earth . We only get 1