Hardy, Drought-Resistant Annuals for Your Houston, Texas Garden

Are you the type of gardener who sometimes forgets to water your plants, or maybe forgets to weed or fertilize your garden? Or does the word "forget" just sort of describe your overall gardening style? If so, take heart, for you can still have a beautiful Houston, Texas garden. There are many beautiful annuals that you can plant that will survive heat, drought, disease, neglect and extreme cold. Think a few of these hard to kill annuals might be just what you need for your Houston, Texas garden? Then see below.

Flamenco Rumba Cuphea. These annuals have large red flowers with purple centers, making them a gorgeous choice for your Houston, Texas garden. In addition to being hard to kill, these annuals will also attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your garden. They do best in full sun, although partial shade is fine, too. These annuals are a good choice for containers. They are disease resistant, drought tolerant, and can take cold temperatures down to 25 degrees.

Sulphur Cosmos. If you are looking for orange, red or yellow flowers for your Houston, Texas garden, try planting these hard to kill annuals. They do best when planted in full sun, and will flower all summer and fall in your Houston, Texas garden. These hard to kill annuals can take lack of water, extended heat and humidity, and other attempts to do them in. They will die in an extended freeze, though (which is rare in Houston, Texas). These annuals can grow to be over six feet tall, and may need to be staked.

Angel Mist Angelonia. Also called Summer Snapdragons, these annuals will bloom from May through November in your Houston, Texas garden. Very hard to kill, they are disease resistant, drought tolerant and can take cold temperatures down to 32 degrees. These pretty annuals will also bring butterflies to your Houston, Texas garden. Plant them in the late spring in full sun to enjoy their lovely pink flowers. These hard to kill annuals are a good choice for groundcovers and mixed borders.

Sun Alabama Coleus. In general all Coleus are hard to kill, and Sun Alabama are especially lovely. They have lime green leaves splashed with red, as well as purple flowers. Plant them in full to partial sun in your Houston, Texas garden for flowers all summer long, although they will also do well in the shade. These hard to kill annuals are disease resistant and can take the cold down to 35 degrees, as well as tolerate the direct Houston, Texas sun.

Amaranth Globe. These very pretty annuals will bloom in pink, purple, red and white flowers from April through October in your Houston, Texas garden. Plant them in the spring in full sun, as this hard to kill flower loves the heat! These annuals also make great flowers for dried arrangements. They are hard to kill but won't tolerate an extended freeze (rare in Houston, Texas.)

Penta. Flowering in pink, rose, purple, red and white from April through October, these annuals are a perfect choice for your Houston, Texas mixed border or shade garden. Plant these hard to kill annuals from spring through early summer in full sun to partial shade, and they will bring butterflies to your Houston, Texas garden. These hard to kill flowers are drought tolerant and disease resistant, and can take cold down to 32 degrees.

Mexican Hat. These hard to kill annuals have sombrero-shaped flowers that are red, gold and multicolor. Plant these Texas natives in the full sun in your Houston, Texas garden from fall through spring, and enjoy their pretty flowers all spring. You will see these wildflowers in fields and alongside the roads in Houston, Texas, where they can reach heights of up to four feet. These hard to kill annuals are disease resistant and drought tolerant.

Source list:

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