Hard to Kill Bulbs for Your Houston, Texas Garden

If you plant bulbs in your Houston, Texas garden with the best intentions, but find that they often bloom poorly (if at all) from lack of watering, lack of fertilizer, or just general neglect, take heart. There are plenty of amazingly beautiful bulbs that will survive and even flourish under the harshest Houston, Texas climate conditions, with minimal to no attention from you. Interested in planting some of these hardy beauties? See below.

Stars and Stripes Crinum. These gorgeous hard to kill bulbs have snow white flowers with vibrant stripes of pink, red or burgundy running down the center. A very striking flower for your Houston, Texas garden, this hard to kill bulb will bloom from midsummer through October. Plant it in full to partial sun, and it will tolerate both drought and temperatures down to fifteen degrees (unlikely in Houston, Texas.) These are great bulbs to use as groundcover, or in your shade garden.

Avalanche Daffodil. A beautiful Southern flower that can reach heights of up to two feet, it has very fragrant, pure white blooms with yellow cups. They do best when planted in full sun, but partial sun is fine, too, and these hard to kill bulbs can take cold temperatures down to zero degrees (again, unlikely in Houston, Texas.) Plant them in early winter in your Houston, Texas garden and they will bloom in February and March, with fifteen to twenty blooms per stem. These hard to kill bulbs are a good choice for mixed borders and woodland gardens.

Milk and Wine Lily. Looking for pink, white and multicolor blooms for your Houston, Texas garden? Try planting these hard to kill bulbs, which will bloom from March all the way through December with their fragrant, beautiful flowers. Plant them in full sun to partial shade, and they can reach heights of up to four feet. These hard to kill bulbs are a great choice for your Houston, Texas shade garden, and they also do well in containers.

Cast Iron Plant. The beautiful foliage of these bulbs is lovely for flower arrangements, and will make the perfect addition to your shade or woodland garden. Plant these hard to kill bulbs in the spring, summer or fall in full to filtered shade, and expect heights of almost two feet. Cast Iron Plants are disease resistant, drought tolerant, and overall very hard to kill, although direct sunlight will burn their leaves.

Carolyn Whorton Caladium. These hard to kill bulbs have gorgeous pink leaves that have green and brilliant red veins - perfect for adding color to your mixed border or shade garden. Plant them in filtered sun to partial shade in your Houston, Texas garden in the spring, and they will grow to be almost two feet tall. The color of the leaves of these hard to kill bulbs may vary with the acidity of your soil (higher acids will produce darker colors), as well as sun exposure.

Little Black Magic Dwarf Elephant Ears. The gorgeous purple-black leaves of these bulbs are a fantastic choice for groundcover or shade gardens, and they also do well in containers. Plant these hard to kill bulbs in full sun to partial shade in the spring in your Houston, Texas garden. Dwarf Elephant Ears are also a good choice for your water garden. They can tolerate cold temperatures down to ten degrees (unlikely in Houston, Texas) in your garden.

Source list:

Personal experience

http://www.chron.com/apps/chron_data/plants.mpl