Plant ABCs: J is for Justicia

The selection for today's post on ABCs of plants in my garden is J for Justicia.  Both the Shrimp plant and Mexican honeysuckle are the common names of two very different types of Justicia in my garden.

I enjoy the special shapes of the flowers on my Shrimp plant or Justicia Brandegeana.  Though I have seen shrimp plants available in local garden centers, these plants were shared by generous gardening friends.

'Fruit Cocktail' with its pretty pink bloom

The shrimp shaped part of the bloom is actually a chain of bracts that continues to multiply until it falls off and the blooms are the little pink flowers.

Red, a nice deep color

A closer look at these shrimp-shaped bracts with the pale blooms

This red shrimp plant is a bit stunted here since the deer got to it in the spring.  I also have a yellow shrimp plant which is not currently blooming for the same reason.  Here's a bloom from last fall.

The deer usually ignore the shrimp plants, but this past spring they went after them.  Now that the plants are recovering I consider these somewhat deer resistant.  If I avoided all plants that deer nibble from time to time I would have very few plants to choose from.

In my garden these shrimp plants get sun early and late but are not in the full sun all day.  They are watered every few days along with all the other plants in the bed depending on the heat.  While the shrimp plants did not die completely back this past winter, the blooms did slow down and the plant dropped some leaves.

The next is Justicia spicigera or Mexican honeysuckle.  I planted this Mexican honeysuckle plant in the front yard last fall and it is doing well out there among the yucca and agaves with just a little water each week.  The Mexican honeysuckle has bright orange-red flowers.  It did not die back in our recent mild winter and bloomed right through the winter.  This one gets water about once a week in the summer and does not wilt so it is quite drought tolerant.

 
Mine is still small so here's a look at mature one in the blue adobe courtyard at The Antique Rose Emporium here in San Antonio.

All of these Justicia are native to Mexico and Central America but have adapted well to our climate.  These are great plants for our gardens here in south Texas.

Plant ABCs - I is for Ilex Vomitoria

My series the ABCs of plants in my garden continues with the letter I.  I is for Ilex Vomitoria or Yaupon Holly.

What a name!  Vomitoria?  Apparently early European settlers thought the native populations used the leaves as a tea to induce vomiting.  That turned out to be a misunderstanding since the active ingredient in the leaves is caffeine.  I found a few secondary references to the tea still being available in St. Augustine, Florida, but could not find the tea for sale.

While the yaupon holly is native to Texas, it is not native to San Antonio or the Texas Hill Country.  It is one of the few varieties of holly that will reliably grow in our hot, dry environment here.  There were other holly varieties planted years ago in the neighborhood, but many bit the dust in the recent drought.  Those varieties also prefer acidic soil, so they do not do as well as yaupons in our limestone soil. 

The dwarf yaupon (Ilex vomitoria 'nana') is in my yard as a hedge, and this row along the front was planted by the original owners' landscaper.

Yaupon holly is evergreen and very drought tolerant, we only watered this hedge a few times during the recent drought and never water the native ones.  These have reached their mature size at around 3' high and we keep them naturally shaped by only trimming a few rangy branches now and then.
This one dwarf yaupon in the driveway island intrigues me since it was not part of the original landscaping and must have been planted by renters.

I kept it when we reworked this bed because it adds a green counterpoint to the mostly silvery plants here.  Just for fun, I keep it trimmed in a softly rounded shape to fit better with the style of this section of the garden.

The yaupon holly is also available in a very attractive weeping form (Ilex vomitoria 'pendula') and I have just the place for two of those which I plan to add in the fall.  The Ilex vomitoria has been a great plant for my garden.

Plant ABC's - G is for Gaillardia

The ABC's of plants in my garden continues with Gaillardia 'Mesa Yellow'.  Cheerful and bright, the sunny yellow flowers have yellow centers to match.

It's a native prairie flower that blooms all summer, does well in full sun.  Also known commonly as Blanketflower, this low water-use plant adapts well to many different soil types.

 

Like many of the flowering plants in my garden this plant was planted in a temporary bed last fall.  It bloomed throughout the winter, but It's getting crowded in this spot and needs more sun so I'll move it to a sunnier spot soon and enjoy it so much I'll look for more when plant shopping this spring.

Plant ABC's - E is for Elaeagnus

The ABC's of plants in my garden continues with Elaeagnus.  Yes, that Elaeagnus, the one commonly known as Russian Olive and sometimes derisively referred to as "Ugly Agnes".  This plant not only serves an important function in my front yard, it does so beautifully.  Elaeagnus is the plant with the deep green leaves in the midst of the trees.

Plant ABC's: B is for Brugmansia

The "ABC's of plants in my garden" series continues with Brugmansia.

There's something about those large beautiful trumpet blooms emerging from scrawny stems topped with average looking leaves that makes Brugmansia special.

That's Dr. Seuss (above) bathed in summer morning light.