Native Texas Plant
We hear a lot these days about how important native trees and plants are. Cedar Elms are one of my favorite native Texas trees. Here are five of the things I most love about cedar elms! GREAT FOR URBAN YARDS! Cedar Elm doesn’t grow as wide a canopy as some shade trees so it’s a…
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What to do now Last week we were all focused on power and water. Less than a week later, our yards are a constant reminder of winter storm Uri. Our tree farm has been getting many calls asking for landscaper recommendations. We keep an every-changing list of landscapers in the Rio Grande Valley that you…
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Sunday was the perfect day to spend outdoors – cool and sunny. After burning the branches already in the fire pit, we wandered through the yard trimming dead wood to keep the fire going. It gave us a chance to take a good look at our trees – how they’ve grown, what looks good, and what…
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A signature plant of south Texas, the mesquite tree’s popularity as a landscape tree is growing rapidly. Its spreading canopy gives dappled shade and relief from our brutal summer sun. The mesquites pictured above are growing along a slope leading down to a resaca. Mesquite trees are not picky about the soil…
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I am hoping that this winter the stars will align and we will have the perfect conditions for some of our trees to give us a little fall color. Cedar Elms are one of the few species that show off their bright yellow and golden orange leaves. This Texas native is often overlooked but has lovely characteristics and is…
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We see Washingtonia palms all over south Texas. It is by far our most common palm tree. Washingtonia filibusta are cold hardy, water wise, and look awesome! Even untrimmed, the girth of this Washingtonia palm is pretty darn impressive. TYPES OF WASHINGTONIAS I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people refer to…
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The honey mesquite tree (Prosopis glandulosa) is a pod-bearing tree native to South Texas. This time of year, you may notice the sap oozing from parts of the trunk and branches. Well, that’s exactly why it’s called HONEY Mesquite. Some may say it’s for the sweet, honey producing flowers but I don’t think it’s that…
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Texas Persimmons, also known as Chapote, is a small semi-deciduous tree with dark green leaves. It is often low forking or multi-trunked. In South Texas, Texas Persimmons performs much like a live oak, retaining its leaves throughout the winter and then dropping them shortly before flushing fresh leaves in the spring. It prefers well drained, alkaline soils. …
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Although not technically a tree, one of our favorite “trees” is Yucca trecleana, or Spanish Dagger. This is a water-wise plant commonly found in brush lines and in the ranch country. It has stiff wide leaves with extremely sharp tips. I’ve read that an Indian tribe used these leaves to stab around…
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It is rare that I ever see a rostrata blooming. Ours were five years old before the first bloom – and then it wasn’t like the entire field bloomed – less than 5% had a flower stalk. The flower spikes are less structured than other Yuccas but the petals are large, airy, and quite striking.…
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