That's a great suggestion. I'll look for damianita the next time I'm in a couple of nurseries. Thanks.

This may get too big, but gaura is one of my favorite xeriscape plants. Non-stop blooming ... I love how wispy they are ... and butterflies love them. :)

I usually plant white ones, but also got a couple of pinks this year. I had 5 white ones at my last house.

(Not mine, google pic)—

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Bressler, I’ve never had Damianita ... will have to try them!

Mexican feather grass and four nerve daisy are looking good together right now in my yard. Both take hot, baking all day sun in stride and look good through all four seasons.

@Miz_G I really like guara and I have a couple in my other flower bed. That's definitely a good suggestion too.

@roselee that's a beautiful combination. I like ornamental grass and surprisingly I don't have any in my yard. I used to have pink muhly grass but grubs ate the roots and it died.

Blackfoot daisy can last several years, but have found it fickle in the blackland prairie soils of north Texas. We lost our oldest one, too - though hadn't really expected any to survive after the record rain in February.

Damianita (Chrysactinia mexicana) is similar. We've had one for several years in a dry sandy bed along a south-facing brick wall, but all the ones we've tried in unimproved clay have not survived the winter wet feet, even in similarly sheltered spots. Some sources say spring through fall blooming, though not so for us; a nice evergreen plant with a long flush of flowers in spring and more subdued flowering in the fall. Slow growing, but easy to start from seed.

I may try Blackfoot daises again now that I've amended the soil and added lots of decomposed granite and gravel. I had some damianita that I started from seed a few years ago but it died one winter because it was in a pot. There's a nursery a couple of towns away that sells native plants. I'll make a trip there to see if I can find the plants everyone suggested.

Adding to Miz_G's gaura recommendation: there are now several new compact gaura cultivars that should fit your space better. I'm currently shopping the compact 'Ballerina' series for a spot in the front where 'Snow Fountain' would get too big; current colors available are white, blush, and rose. There are several others - usually with a "petite" or "dwarf" in the trade tag/catalog name.

I think I have the Ballerina Rose in another flowerbed. I got it for 50 cents at Lowe's a couple of years ago. The leaves also have a reddish hue to them. Right now some spider lilies are covering it but once they die back, it will get plenty of light.