By Jackie Sledge,
Big Country Master Gardener Association
Happy October! We are finally having some days of lower temperatures after surviving sweltering temperatures and strong winds during the summer. We were very fortunate to have had rain recently, and the grass and plants that had just been hanging on started growing and blooming again.
We probably all have plants that survived the last couple of cold winters and the record-breaking hot summers, but they weren’t strong enough to survive the heat again this year. Several of my neighbors have removed the flower beds in front of their houses and replaced them with very hardy, sun-loving plants to ensure they have an enjoyable landscape every year during the summer and early fall.
Whether you need to make changes to your landscape because of weather, repairs, or changes for the sake of change, the Big Country Master Gardener Association is here to help you. We are having our annual Fall Plant Sale this week and will have plants to make your landscape beautiful and enjoyable again.
All the plants available for the Fall Plant Sale will be advertised online, allowing you to see and learn about the plants, make your selections, and pay for the plants. You can place your order online beginning Wednesday morning October 9 and ending at noon on Friday October 11, and you will need to pick up your plants on Friday afternoon between 2:00 and 6:00 at the Modern Living Mall on the Expo Center grounds. A schedule of pick-up times will be on the order confirmation as well as the Master Gardener website and Facebook page.
On Saturday, October 12, we will have an in-person sale in the Modern Living Mall from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 noon – just like we have had for years. During the sale on Saturday, you will have the opportunity to shop in person and select and pay for your plants. Master Gardeners will be there to help you find some wonderful plants and be available to answer your questions.
We will have plants in all categories for you to purchase – annuals, perennials, shrubs, grasses, vegetables, shrubs, trees, etc. The plants selected for the sale are cultivars that do well in our hot, dry West Texas climate, but we also looked for plants that can survive the freezing temperatures, too.
Here are some of the wonderful plants we will have:
- Gregg’s Mist Flower – Conoclinium greggii. This is a butterfly magnet, and everyone needs some of these plants to attract pollinators.
- Lantana – Lantana montevidensis. There will be Trailing Lavender, Trailing White, New Gold, Shamrock Peach, Shamrock White, and Lucky Flame so you will surely find a variety that fits into your landscape.
- Salvia – Salvia greggii, Salvia nemorosa, Salvia farinacea, and Salvia microphylia. We will have several varieties and colors of salvias that are hardy, easily grown pollinator plants.
- Flame Acanthus – Anisacanthus. This is a hardy perennial that you normally see in red, pumpkin, or orange. This year we have Benny’s Gold that will be a wonderful pop of color in the landscape.
- Daylily – Hemerocallis. Everyone needs some daylilies tucked in flower beds, and we will have several varieties to provide lots of color to enjoy.
- Turk’s Cap – Malvaviscus. This is a great pollinator plant, and we will have Red, Pink, White, and Big Mama Red.
- Annuals. There will be a variety of cool season annuals to provide color and interest in the landscape during the fall and winter months. Some examples are pansies, snapdragons, flowering cabbage, and flowering kale.
Many of us have had mature trees suffer from cold and heat, and we will have quite a few great trees and shrubs to add to your landscape. Here are some you don’t want to miss:
- Desert Willow – Chilopsis. Bubba, Sweet Bubba, and Bubba Jones varieties will be available in addition to the regular Desert Willow. These are wonderful trees with darker blooms than the Desert Willow with pink flowers.
- Texas Sage – Leucophyllum. These beautiful shrubs have been in full bloom lately with pink/purple flowers that have been so eye-catching all over town. They are barometer plants for rain and humidity, so everyone needs at least one in their landscape.
- Oak Trees – Quercus. Every yard needs a beautiful oak tree because they are wonderful places for our pollinator friends to visit.
- Vitex – Vitex agnus. These are very hardy trees that grow well in our area.
- Yucca – We will have several varieties of this attractive, and hardy plant.
Remember that fall is a great time to plant so the new additions to your landscape have time to establish strong root systems and be ready for you to enjoy next spring.
Please watch the Big Country Master Gardener Association Facebook page for the entire list of plants as well as online and in-person sale information. There will also be a link to the Fall Plant Sale on our website at bcmgtx.org. Plants may be added to the sale late Wednesday or Thursday so be sure to check out the sale all day Wednesday and Thursday plus Friday morning to be sure you see all the plants that are available. Don’t miss this opportunity to purchase plants that will do well in our area.
If you have any questions, call the Taylor County Extension Office at 325-672-6048 or email us at mgardeners@yahoo.com. We hope you visit bcmgtx.org for all Big Country Master Gardener information and events, like us on BCMGA Facebook, and check out training presentations on BCMGA YouTube. We are here to help you.
We hope to see you at the online or in-person Fall Plant Sale!
