I really like redbuds. They do well here in Texas, they flower in Spring, and are a very pretty tree. It will never get too big for your yard and won't overpower your other plantings or the small yard. Another pretty tree is Japanese maple. Both of these prefer a little protection from really hot sun, but I have them in full sun areas in my yard and they have held up surprisingly well.

Cheryl

What's your soil like? Your local extension office can test your soil and tell you its pH, its mineral qualities and nutritional deficiencies. What's the sun like in the area you want to plant? Shady, morning sun, hellishly hot?

Look into xeriscaping to get the most bang for your buck. Texas A & M has a good lists of plants that will do well without pampering. "Perennial," "native" and "drought resistant" are my power words! Below is a list of plants that have done well for me. "BF" means butterflies like them.

Sun:
Mealy cup sage/salvia (blue) (BF)
Rain lilies
Grape hyacinth
Alyssum (annual, but reseeds) (BF)
Bluebonnets
Blanket flower
Gayfeather
Cuphea (BF)
Artemesia (the silver varieties look stunning next to dark purple plants like barberry and purple heart/wandering jew)
Wandering Jew (can be invasive)
Blue Mist Flower (also invasive) (BF)
Phlox
Hardy plumbago
Passion Flower (big vine) (BF)
AMERICAN wisteria (also a vine)
Lantana (BF)
Butter and Eggs wildflower

Shade:
Purple oxalis
Wood fern
Strawberry begonias/geraniums, which is neither a begonia nor a geranium, confusingly enough
Wandering Jew
Ginger
Crinum
Phlox
Columbine
Turk's cap
Loropetalum (big purple shrub - AWESOME)
Elephant Ears
Redbud (especially the purple leafed ones - gorgeous)
Japanese maple (do best in a large pot)
Wood Violets

Also, herbs like basil, parsley, cilantro and rosemary can be attractive additions to your garden - and, you can EAT them!

Redbuds are nice and I have one, but they are not long- lived.

Here are a few suggestions for small flowering trees for the Austin area:

Anacacho orchid tree
Kidneywood (kind of a weeping form)
Mexican Buckeye
Mexican Plum (fairly drought tolerant)
Desert Willow (fairly drought tolerant)
Mountain Laurel (very drought tolerant, evergreen)
Eve's Necklace
Pride of Barbados (almost a bush)
Pomegranate (multi-trunked, like a tall bush)

While silk trees a.k.a. "Mimosas" (Albizia julibrissin) are very pretty, they are disease-prone, and don't live long.

There are also some peach trees that have beautiful blooms in the spring and obviously as a bonus provide peaches. Tom Spencer (Central Texas Gardener) at www.soulofthegarden.com grows a kind of peach tree at his home that is very pretty.--Can't remember the variety, but you could e-mail him and ask. He does answer his e-mails.

If I were you, I'd Google suggestions and see if you can find an image of each tree in bloom. Also, I think the seeds of Eve's Necklace and Mexican Buckeye are poisonous, so keep this in mind in case you have small children.

Mountain Laurel seeds are also poisonous...

I know they're everywhere and usually I don't recommend planting things that are "overplanted", but what about a Crape Myrtle? They come in all sizes, many flower colors and bloom for months on end. They survive with little water, but will bloom much longer with a few extra drops.

Nana,
You've got some good suggestions. Can I take a different turn? What does your house look like? What color is it and your trim? Reason why I'm asking is that I'm painting the trim on my white frame house: light and medium sage with a burgundy edging. I've planted Tx Sage for my foundation plants in front. The sage replicates the color on the window frames. Better still is that IF it should ever rain next year, the Ceniza will bloom magenta thereby bringing my house down into my landscaping or vice versa. I've also got lots of other magenta colored plants: salvias, 2 crepe myrtles, native liatris, Desert Willow (Bubba, which is solid magenta - not the 1/2 and 1/2 with white = long blooming), "Flare" a (Texas Superstar performer) hardy hibiscus, Germander (evergreen miniature edging), purple trailing lantana and the list goes on. Also have a "Don Juan" climbing rose over an arbor leading from my front steps to the gate with plans to put "Climbing Pinkie" on the porch posts. With all the magentas planted now, the companion plants come next. BTW, can you tell that my yard is drought tolerant which by the way would serve you well, too, as the years progress and water becomes increasingly more scarce. My front yard isn't that big, but it's starting to get packed. After this year, I'll take a closer look to see if something needs to come out.

Were my house another color other than white, I would have selected a series of different colors. I'm thrilled to see how it is coming together now. You've already got a good beginning with the decomposed granite. A big plus which needs to be turned into the soil. So, what hardscaping do you have out there?

So, if you want any more feedback, you'd need to send me some jpgs.

Good luck, Austin is a beautiful area to live in. I'm an hour north of you and on nights like tonight, I wish I were 3 hours south of you.
Xtal

Here is a link that might be useful: