High Plains Gardening

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Welcome to High Plains Gardening, the free, non-commercial, gardening information website for the Texas High Plains region and surrounding area!

The purpose of this website is to promote a culture of gardening within the Texas High Plains Region by offering information on an easy and successful way to garden. My hope is that many more people will enjoy gardening, and gardening success, in the Texas Panhandle.

My Vision — Gateway to Southwest Gardens

I have several goals, or visions, for the Texas High Plains region. I envision:

The Texas High Plains region will be known as “Gateway to Southwest Gardens”;
Area nurseries will stock and sell a huge selection of low-water use plants suitable for our area;
Area nurseries will promote and sell a wide range of organic gardening supplies; and
TV gardening programs that focus on and highlight area gardens, as well as being informational about southwest gardening, will be broadcast locally.

Establishing and creating this website is just one of the activities I do to draw closer to my vision for our area. I believe all four of my goals are attainable. Read through the rest of the website and give it a try. HighPlainsGardening.com is filled with information that will help you create gardens that are:

Featured Photography

Featured Photos showcases scenes of summer in our garden and other gardens in 2021.

Millenium alliums, a summer blooming perennial onion.

Millenium allium and brunnera in the background.

My Ensete really starts to come on, 3 years old, wintered over inside.

Papyrus and Mojito alocasia in container

Colorful coleus at Amarillo botanical Gardens

Black swallowtail on Verbena bonariensis.

Featured Plants

Check out my top plants for the season

Zinnia grandiflora

Not our old fashioned garden zinnia. Zinnia grandiflora is the native zinnia for most of the Midwest, West and Southwestern parts of the United States. So widespread a wildflower, each region has named it theirs: plains zinnia, prairie zinnia, desert zinnia and Rocky Mountain zinnia. A terrific low growing and spreading groundcover for poor soils needing no supplement irrigation. Rugged! A survivor without being a pest!

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Vitex agnus-castus

The vitex, or chaste tree is a small tree or a very large shrub, depending on water and climate, and is cold hardy to the Texas Panhandle. Low water-use once established, it can grow well in higher water zones. It is called the summer lilac because of the similarities of its flowers to the lilac shrub. Vitex varieties can be found in blue, lavender, and pink fragrant flowers. The leaves are similar to those of the marijuana plant. Vitex will sucker, especially when given ample water. It is native to southern Europe and Western Asia.

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Salvia guaranitica 'Black and Blue'

There are several varieties of Salvia guaranitica that range in shades of blue from light to dark. As with most of the tube-shaped salvia flowers, S. guaranitica is a hummingbird magnet.

Native to South America, S. guaranitica is not zoned cold hardy for the Texas Panhandle, but it has wintered over in protected Amarillo gardens in many locations for many years. It has wintered over for me at least 5 years, unprotected. Deadheading is not required.

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Hesperaloe parviflora

Texas red yucca is technically not a yucca, but has many of the same qualities as yuccas. Thick, succulent dark olive green leaves grow out of the base, as it is stemless. The coral red flowers appear at the top of a long raceme, often 4-6 feet tall. 'Yellow' and 'Red' blooming yuccas are also available. Although it's natural range is north eastern Mexico and West Texas, it is cold hardy throughout much of the Southwest. Allow for sharp drainage in moister climates to prevent root rot.

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Caesalpinia gilliesii

Desert never equates with drab. The flowers on Desert Bird of Paradise are simply stunning! Though classified as a Zone 7 plant, I’ve grown Desert Bird of Paradise for 3-4 years near a south facing wall and have seen several others around Amarillo, without it dying back it to roots. However, if it does, just prune out the dead wood. Eye catching flowers bloom continually from June into fall and attract hummingbirds. Finely divided green leaves. It is said to survive on 8” of rainfall, but monthly soakings enhance it. C. mexicana, Mexican Bird of Paradise and C.

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Anisacanthus quadrifidus ssp wrightii

A native to Texas, flame acanthus loves the heat and full sun! A hummingbird and butterfly plant. Does well in poor soil. May only be cold hardy to Zone 7, however, it has come back for several years in the Panhandle. Grows rapidly and will flower the first year, if you must replant, this is still a good choice for mid to late summer and autumn flowers. Re-seeds some, transplant them early as their roots grow deep.There is another variety with light pumpkin colored flowers, but this one does not bloom as prolificly.

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Recent Garden Notes

Local Butterflies 2021

01/07/2022 - 14:43

Over two dozen different species of butterflies visited my little city butterfly garden in 2021. I profile them with little vignettes in order of appearance from May through October. Also included are some of the best butterfly plants to use in making a butterfly garden of your own.

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The World's Most Popular Spring Flower -- The Daffodil

03/18/2021 - 18:58

The daffodil is the world’s most popular spring flower, according to the National Gardening Association. Daffodils will come back spring after spring with the least of care. But more than that, daffodils herald the end of a long cold, dark, winter, it’s bright yellow beaming through the leaves like the sun. It is overcast today with a chill, stiff wind, and I can attest there is nothing like a daffodil in bloom to lift one’s spirit. A vase of daffodils that includes six to ten of different daffodil cultivars is the most marvelous vase of flowers one can grow in early springtime! Large and small-cupped, jonquils, doubles and split coronas in differing color patterns pair well together.

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Daffodil Organization

03/18/2021 - 18:52

With over 30,000 registered cultivars, how can anyone hope to make sense of the daffodil world? Organization progressed right along with development of the many cultivars, dividing them into 13 divisions and creating a shorthand code that enables breeders and daffodil enthusiasts worldwide to easily communicate. For a cursory look at the governing bodies, learn how you can be "in the know."

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News

NEW Featured Photos: Scenes of summer, mostly from our garden, 2021.

New Garden Notes: Local Butterflies.

Stepping Stones to Gardening Success. Check out the updated section on Stepping Stones, -- what to do in the garden, month to month. The entire year's been updated with some new information and links, and photos added. Just scroll down the Home page; it's on the right. Click on the Intro and choose a month.

Featured Plants focuses on some Plants of Spring Interest.

Also Check out last year's Garden Notes on Local Butterflies

Please email comments and questions to pog@highplainsgardening.com. Angie Hanna, plain old gardener

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Plan and Design

The first vital principle of the Basic Gardening Principles is effective planning and design. Formulating your gardening management statement, determining your garden theory, settling on the style, working out the design, and deciding how the garden will be used should be settled before ground work can begin.

Soil

Understanding our soil and plants soil requirements are two vital keys for the gardener. Without a basic knowledge of soil, a gardener only plays the trial and error game. Amending the soil to conform to one's plan and matching plants to all components: aspect, location (sun, shade, wind), water needs, maintenance requirements and style criteria is vital in expanding one's plant palette.

Landscape Beds

After acquiring a basic understanding of our soils, it's time to apply your knowledge to your garden itself, whether in creating new beds or revitalizing existing beds, borders or lawns. This section discusses different situations gardeners face in creating new beds and borders in an existing landscape, particularly in regards to soil health.

Lawns

Lawns, or turf, is so important to American Gardening, that an entire principle is dedicated to these residential expanses composed of a single plant type, turfgrass. The purpose of lawns, lawnscaping in general, alternatives to lawns, turf type choices, how to take care of turf, and water-conserving tips to implement in traditional landscapes are some of the issues discussed.

Plants

Gardening is all about making choices. None of the other seven basic principles of gardening illustrates the impact of choice quite as much as our choice of plants. Plants are the focus, the purpose, and the reason for the garden and illustrate the garden of our imagination. Choosing regionally appropriate plants that match your choices are essential to success.

Plant Lists

To view lists of plants of different categories, such as native grasses, shrubs, flowers, and Southwest evergreens: cold hardy cacti, agaves, yuccas and other native evergreens suitable for the climate and soil conditions of the Texas Panhandle, click here. Often one just wants to scan a list of possibilities rather than reading through all the plant profiles, however, not every plant on these lists will be profiled.

Trees

The Texas High Plains region is part of the vast and treeless plains, at the southern end of the Great Plains. It is difficult for trees to grow effortlessly. Planting a tree is viewed as an act of hope and trust in the future. Care should be taken to match the tree to soil, location, exposure and water needs.

Efficient Use of Water

Water continues to be a precious resource on the Texas High Plains. Our average annual precipitation of 17-21 inches is sufficient for growing regionally appropriate plants, especially when moisture is used efficiently. In soil, where just adding more water is not always the answer, make every drop count, soak in, quenching the plant's thirst before it moves down the line.

Mulch

Although all of the 7 basic principles of gardening are important and will greatly enhance your gardening success, the easiest to implement is to use mulch. Appropriate mulch covers help preserve moisture, improve soil structure and quality, helps prevent weed seed germination, moderates soil temperature and much more.

Pest Management

A lethal arsenal of products have been developed to eradicate weeds, insect pests and pathogens in the lawn and garden. Integrated Pest Management is a four-step system of managing landscape problems by using the methods that are the least harmful to the environment first, before considering chemical intervention.

Maintenance

Everything worth having requires maintenance, even lower water-use gardens that follow the other six rules of gardening. When a landscape is properly designed and implemented, matching plant to location, maintenance is greatly reduced. Maintaining the garden using correct horticultural methods, not seeking control but cooperating with the normal properties of our plants, is the gardener's simple mission.

Stepping Stones

Gardening is a succession of related tasks, when combined together, orders our garden. Choice of plants, climate, location, water supply, soil type and texture affects design and style choices. Our degree of knowledge, competence and time available to give to gardening affects the outcome. These are Stepping Stones to Success focusing on the week to week, month to month gardening timeline for the Texas Panhandle.

Creating Organic Landscapes

Successful gardens are in harmony with nature, working with soil and climate conditions, not against them. For this section, I've combined the 7 basic principles of gardening and 6 principles of organic gardening and divided them into three sections: gardening practices above and below ground, practices below ground and gardening practices above ground.

Designing for Panhandle Gardens

What garden style differentiates Texas Panhandle gardening from any other region across the world? What plants, accents and hardscape, when combined, bring to mind the Texas Panhandle? I've explored the shortgrass prairie, cliffs and outcrops, the plateaus and playas and have noted features, landmarks, colors and plants to gain some insight in formulating a distinctive Panhandle garden style.

High Plains Gardening

High Plains Gardening

High Plains Gardening

High Plains Gardening

High Plains Gardening

My Vision — Gateway to Southwest Gardens

Featured Photography

Featured Plants

Recent Garden Notes

On Facebook

News

NEW Featured Photos: Scenes of summer, mostly from our garden, 2021.

New Garden Notes: Local Butterflies.

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