Texan Native Trees in a Drought
As a gardener who grew up in the northern states, I am programmed to revel in the rebirth that occurs each spring after the long, dark winter. As a Texas gardener, I am even more surprised by the miracle of renewal that occurs here whenever the Texas native plants decide it is time!
After months of punishing drought (less than 7 inches of rain in my weather station this year through August), we have received 2 inches of rain in mid September. Of course, the Texas Sage bushes immediately – within 24 hours – started blooming and feeding the hungry bees. I walked through the yard in the areas that are wild or that are more than 50 feet from the house. These areas are not irrigated at all. My Sandpaper tree immediately caught my eye. It had lost about half of its leaves in August, though it remained green. After the rains of the last two days, it doubled the number of leaves. No tree in the North decides to put on leaves this late in the fall. My Toothache Trees and Possum Haw Holly had done the same. Why now when both will lose their leaves in just a few months? The Yaupon Holly and Goldenball Leadtree ignored the drought and have a full complement of leaves. The Yaupon even managed to flower and set a huge crop of berries.
I wandered back into the ravine and there my Kidneywood trees were again full and green. I bet they will have bee and butterfly pleasing blooms within the week! Even the more delicate Beautyberry has survived with some gemlike purple berries. It will be much prettier in a year with rain, of course.
The young Big Tooth Maple that sits on the top edge of the ravine hadn’t lost leaves at all during the drought. What a great tree! It stays green through drought, and then it will turn a lovely orange sherbet color in early November. The flame leaf sumac is much the same – fully green and bushy through the drought and heat, and then rich scarlet in the late fall. We don’t have the fall color that New England has, but with a little planning we can have some great color from resilient, beautiful natives.
The Evergreen Sumacs have kept their leaves and color all summer. They will stay green all winter making a great screen or hedge. The sumacs will send out runners and start new plants, so I do keep an eye on them for unwanted plants. The sprouts are easy to control or move.
The two Huisache trees flourished through the drought. They didn’t bloom heavily, but they didn’t drop leaves just because it was 110 degrees and dry. The mesquite has dropped some leaves, but is obviously not suffering much! My Chinquapin Oak just kept growing and making acorns despite the weather.
The native Persimmons have all survived without water. I have one in the front that loses its leaves in August pretty routinely and then leafs out in the fall. My tree man was bewildered to find it green in the middle of the winter when the other persimmons were bare. That’s what I mean about Texas natives. They seem to make their own rules. Even two trees of the same species might decide to bloom or leaf out at different times.
If you are thinking about adding some of these great natives to your yard, Fall is a great time to do that. I can tell you from experience that the Huisache, Mesquite, Sandpaper Tree, Chinquapin, and Yaupon Holly are not favored by the deer. Do protect their trunks during the fall since the male deer will rub their antlers on the trunks of any tree, it seems. The deer have never nibbled on a Texas Persimmon in my yard, either (though the fruit disappears). The Kidneywood is eaten by deer, so it does need protection. My wild Kidneywoods started showing themselves after one year behind a fence. I have a lot more wonderful natives to tell you about, but not enough space! Maybe another time.
As a gardener who grew up in the northern states, I am programmed to revel in the rebirth that occurs each spring after the long, dark winter. As a Texas gardener, I am even more surprised by the miracle of renewal that occurs here whenever the Texas native plants decide it is time!
After months of punishing drought (less than 7 inches of rain in my weather station this year through August), we have received 2 inches of rain in mid September. Of course, the Texas Sage bushes immediately – within 24 hours – started blooming and feeding the hungry bees. I walked through the yard in the areas that are wild or that are more than 50 feet from the house. These areas are not irrigated at all. My Sandpaper tree immediately caught my eye. It had lost about half of its leaves in August, though it remained green. After the rains of the last two days, it doubled the number of leaves. No tree in the North decides to put on leaves this late in the fall. My Toothache Trees and Possum Haw Holly had done the same. Why now when both will lose their leaves in just a few months? The Yaupon Holly and Goldenball Leadtree ignored the drought and have a full complement of leaves. The Yaupon even managed to flower and set a huge crop of berries.
I wandered back into the ravine and there my Kidneywood trees were again full and green. I bet they will have bee and butterfly pleasing blooms within the week! Even the more delicate Beautyberry has survived with some gemlike purple berries. It will be much prettier in a year with rain, of course.
The young Big Tooth Maple that sits on the top edge of the ravine hadn’t lost leaves at all during the drought. What a great tree! It stays green through drought, and then it will turn a lovely orange sherbet color in early November. The flame leaf sumac is much the same – fully green and bushy through the drought and heat, and then rich scarlet in the late fall. We don’t have the fall color that New England has, but with a little planning we can have some great color from resilient, beautiful natives.
The Evergreen Sumacs have kept their leaves and color all summer. They will stay green all winter making a great screen or hedge. The sumacs will send out runners and start new plants, so I do keep an eye on them for unwanted plants. The sprouts are easy to control or move.
The two Huisache trees flourished through the drought. They didn’t bloom heavily, but they didn’t drop leaves just because it was 110 degrees and dry. The mesquite has dropped some leaves, but is obviously not suffering much! My Chinquapin Oak just kept growing and making acorns despite the weather.
The native Persimmons have all survived without water. I have one in the front that loses its leaves in August pretty routinely and then leafs out in the fall. My tree man was bewildered to find it green in the middle of the winter when the other persimmons were bare. That’s what I mean about Texas natives. They seem to make their own rules. Even two trees of the same species might decide to bloom or leaf out at different times.
If you are thinking about adding some of these great natives to your yard, Fall is a great time to do that. I can tell you from experience that the Huisache, Mesquite, Sandpaper Tree, Chinquapin, and Yaupon Holly are not favored by the deer. Do protect their trunks during the fall since the male deer will rub their antlers on the trunks of any tree, it seems. The deer have never nibbled on a Texas Persimmon in my yard, either (though the fruit disappears). The Kidneywood is eaten by deer, so it does need protection. My wild Kidneywoods started showing themselves after one year behind a fence. I have a lot more wonderful natives to tell you about, but not enough space! Maybe another time.
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