These beautiful, heat-loving plants won’t die -- unless you really try -- in your Houston garden

HOUSTON – You live and learn.

I wrote this story a few years ago and have learned much about plants in Houston, Texas. You can kill them. Even the ones that supposedly shouldn’t die in Houston heat. (Today’s verdict on that story? Hydrangeas need A LOT of water to live, gardenias need sun and love of which I sometimes don’t have a ton of, amaryllis continue to put on a bold show in spring, hostas will outlive that 1980s refrigerator that’s time itself). So we still stand by that reporting, but there’s more out there that might do a lot better than those choices.

So we decided to take another crack at Texas gardening writing with an eye on native plants and those with hot-weather inclinations. We turned to Enchanted Gardens for their list of beautiful plants that still look nice and keep blooming event when it gets hot in the summer.

Here’s their list of favorites and this time when we go to buy plants, we’re trusting the experts. (Each plant is linked to expert information sharing more about each plant and why it’s suitable for Texas planting.)

Abelia

Salvias

Coneflowers, also known as Echinacea

Esperanza, also known as Yellow Bells

Duranta

Angelonias

Pentas

Purslane

Sweet Potato Vine

Vinca, also known as Periwinkle

Mexican Heather

Blue Daze

Crape Myrtles (Tree, not a plant, but it still grows, so that counts, right? Yes, we’re going to say yes. Commenter noted this, but we’re still going to include it because they’re so pretty.)

Pride of Barbados

Here are some other suggestions from KPRC 2 viewers who are also gardeners:

Plumbago

Plumeria

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