Lantana would be my first choice - evergreen (mostly), colorful over a long season, drought tolerant and relatively low growing.

Desertgarden... look for blog by Pam Penick. She lives in Austin and you'll probably find a lot of good info on her blog. I would also recommend walking or driving around your neighborhood to see what is planted in other gardens to give you some ideas of what does well here. Salvias are mostly drought resistant and there are many shapes and sizes to choose from. Katie Ruellias are shorter and would be good fillers in the front of the bed. Skullcap, too. Many of our natives would be great additions to your yard.

dwarf Barbados cherry.

Thank you all! Salvia is a favorite, but I have only grown it in a desert setting with drip irrigation and did not know how the plants would respond to be watered via sprinklers?

The Dwarf Barbados cherry is very pretty, loprelicomal. Does the fruit make a major mess? Attract birds?

The Katie Ruella is very pretty. It reminds me of liriope. Thank you for the suggestion. Castro-gardener!

Lantana is a lot of bang for the buck, Gardengal. It was herbaceous in Las Vegas zone 9A. I have to look into that one too! Thank you!

Desert, we only water by sprinklers, if we water. I have at least a dozen different types of salvias in the yard. After all, what happens when it rains? Regarding the barbados cherry....I think the birds will get the berries before they have a chance to make a mess. Good luck !

Ha ha... right., it rains here... approximately 4.5" ANNUALLY in Las Vegas...

Good news re: salvias!

I'm also in Austin and my experience with Lantanas is that they're typically a dieback perennial here. While they're as tough as nails, if you're preference is something evergreen, it's certainly a consideration.

I'm probably just doing something wrong, but I've had poor luck with Dwarf Barbados Cherry. Mine have barely grown in three years. If they don't show some major growth this year, they'll getting shovel pruned next spring. My guess is maybe they're getting too much shade? My point is that your results may vary with that one.

I wholeheartedly agree that it's hard to go wrong with Cherry Sage for what you're looking for.

While it may push the larger end of what you're looking for, Rock Rose is another possibility to consider. They can grow in sun or shade and are semi evergreen. They can be pruned back hard periodically to be kept in check.

The same applies for Mexican Honeysuckle. They seem to prefer more shade than sun, but can handle both. In a mild winter, they're evergreen. If it's a hard winter they will be a dieback perennial. I have some going gangbusters for me in a mostly shady location.

While there's a few plants in there I don't necessarily agree with, generally speaking, the Grow Green Guide put out by the City of Austin is a great resource. Most garden centers keep hard copies on hand (it's free) or you can view it online.

It's definitely a learning curve in gardening moving from one part of the country to another!

Damianita (Chrysactinia mexicana) is another evergreen worth considering. Doesn't like wet feet in clay when there's a hard freeze, but should be reliable in most of the Austin area.

Jerusalem artichoke, plumbago, Hesperaloe parviflora, gay feather, calylophus, flame acanthus, iron weed, Mexican oregano, gazania, black foot daisy, four-nerve daisy, variegated artemisia (inconspicuous, flowers but colorful foliage), zexmenia and tick flower come to my mind when I think about short colorful drought tolerant plants that grow well in Central Texas.

I would plant some daisyliron plants among the flowers to add interest.

Omar

I know there is going to be a learning curve, but fortunately I am familiar with and grew some of these plants in Las Vegas:) Good to see they are native to or perform well here.

You are right about a learning curve - hope you have fun while learning!

I don't know where in Austin you are but the geography is quite variable. My gardening friends here have an assortment of garden situations - hills, caliche, big rocks, few rocks, well drained gardens, flat lots that are prone to flood, or heavy clay that dries into concrete. It helps if you know what kind of Austin soil you have.

Also some parts of Austin get colder than other areas in winter. In my far NW late-1970's neighborhood the Barbados cherries freeze down to 1-ft tall most winters and the lovely little Blackfoot daisies don't last more than a year or two. Anisacanthus & Mexican Honeysuckle live and bloom but don't stay evergreen in winter for me.

Not long after we moved here I read this in a Travis County Master Gardener guide

"Three distinct vegetation areas meet in Austin: the Edward's Plateau, the Blackland Prairie and the Post Oak Savannah. Each of these areas has different soil types with different planting requirements. the native and adaptive plants that will thrive on these soils are also very different"

Good luck!

I am familiar with rocks and caliche (major issues in Las Vegas) and have gardened in clay and rocky, sandy soil. I am in zone 8b, coming from 9a. I have yet to figure out exactly where I am right now. I was speaking to a person from the DMV this morning and he asked if I was close to certain landmarks... I was not very helpful, but could tell him where HEB, which seems to be all over, and a Best Buy, which probably would not be considered in my neighborhood are. I have the area narrowed to the Edwards Plateau and an Intermediate Zone. I think when I get out there with a shovel and a hose in a couple of weeks, that might answer some questions...

I don't think anyone answered your question about Dwarf Barbados cherry. Their fruit making a mess is not a problem. I suppose the birds eat them although I haven't actually seen them do it.

Here in San Antonio it is a very hardy, mostly evergreen, drought tolerant shrub for sun or shade, only loosing leaves maybe one year out of three and that happens only after a sudden hard freeze.

Wishing you the best in your Austin garden!

Hi,

Is Dwarf Barbados Cherry invasive? I think I read somewhere that it is but am not sure... maybe I am confusing it with the Ruella...

I am also looking for a fast growing evergreen shrub. This is really an area where I do not think I am familiar with. Would Viburnum work? I have a space that will be in a good amount of shade from the tree across the fence, and I need something that will become large ( 6-7', but not huge). Any suggestions?

Are geraniums...like geranium Rozanne good plants for Central, TX. ?

I have had bad luck with viburnums in my garden (except for V. sandankwa, which I ended up getting rid of it)

I saw some pretty Forest pansy redbuds for sale in HEB Kyle ($100 / about 6' tall). Barton Springs Nursery may carry Eve's necklace trees.

Omar

Desert, I've had two barbados for many years. never had any seedlings pop up anywhere else. Ruellia can be invasive, depending on which one. Barbados is more of a bush with small pink flowers. Ruellia, depending on the variety can be tall or dwarf, or even a texas native. They all have the same sort of flower, but the different varieties can look very different. The tall version, brittoniana, in the purple will spread through underground runners. These have been the worst for me. Yet, they give me color in the area of our yard where we don't usually water. This seems to keep them from getting out of hand. The pink version propagates by seed, so any babies are quite easy to pull up. The dwarf Katie varieties seem to better behaved in my yard, but they can spread by seed also. I would not call them invasive in my yard. The ruellia squarrosa can be used for more of a groundcover, although mine doesn't get past a one-foot point. They are low growing, and prefer part sun/shade. I like the velvety leaves, which are completely different from the others. I don't much care for the natives, although they have the same pretty flowers, they will pop up everywhere. The ruellias which have seeds will pop when water hits the seed pods. So you might want to wear eye protection around them. :-)

There's also an online searchable version of the central Texas plant guide mentioned earlier by BJB817 that will let you filter plants by native to Edwards Plateau, Blackland Prairie, both, or elsewhere in Texas, as well as other criteria - so you can quickly customize a pretty solid starting list for your lot location.

Links to both the searchable and pdf versions are here: https://www.austintexas.gov/faq/where-can-i-get-copy-native-adapted-landscape-plants-guide. You can hold the "control" key to multi-select (or deselect) values in the online search.

Thank you for the information! It is definitely useful. I am also interested in grasses... only green. I have seen pretty green grasses in images but have no idea what they are. I would like something that remains under 3'. I saw the grass on Pam Penick's blog, and then checked a guide that was recommended, but nothing looked like the grass I saw...

Her blog page: https://www.penick.net/digging/?p=66145

Actually, I like every plant I see in the image... She referenced the penstemon and other plants but not the grass

It looks like Mexican Feathergrass to me - I know Pam used to grow it but am not sure it's in her garden right now. Or maybe one of the Muhly grasses

Here's a link to Feathergrass from the Wildflower Center

Looks like Mexican feather grass.

Inland sea oats gets right at 3' with the seeds and is an alternative for heavy shade - though will spread if seeds are not removed before dropping.

Desert...forgot to comment about your Geranium question: I don't think they like our heat. It would look good in the spring, but would probably falter once the death star makes itself at home.

Perhaps the 'grass' you're thinking of that Pam uses in place of a lawn is sedge. Search the Digging blog under that term and lots of references will come up. In a recent post she has photos of two kinds of sedge that a neighbor is using for a lawn.

A beautiful native ground cover that I don't see talked about much is snake herb. I have thick stands of it growing in two places; one sun and one part shade. It's about 8 to 10 inches tall.

...

Although I don't grow it for the flowers it does bloom off and on throughout the summer. Amazingly for something so lush and green it requires very little water and is evergreen in a mild winter. It has no problem returning quickly in the spring if it freezes back.

...

Although not known for it's flowers a dense green shrub that grows fast and which heartily recommend is Viburnum suspensum. Mine grows broadly and is easy to keep neat and at the height I want using a battery operated hedge trimmer a couple of times a year.

I used to dread hauling out the cord to trim hedges, but with the battery Black and Decker it's a snap.

I like the Snake Grass, Rosalee. It seems to be pretty low maintenance too...