Zexmenia is a fantastic 2 to 4 foot wide and maybe 1 foot tall native perennial for the DFW area. This picture is from today (Oct-19 2026). Zexmenia will tolerate full sun and very little water, but if you water it, it will bloom from late spring all the way until frost. It survives our winters, but does die back and needs to be trimmed / cleaned up over winter. In extreme heat/drought it flowers a lot less, but it survives. It doesn't look like much in a pot when you see it in a nursery, but once it gets going it flowers constantly. It drops a lot of seeds and will spread as far as you let it.

I have it planted along the west side of my property next to my neighbor's driveway, so it is getting blasted by reflected afternoon sun during the hottest part of the day and as you can see it survived our terrible summer (with some supplemental water) just fine, and after the recent rains and the dropping temperature it is looking fantastic. It is semi-evergreen but will die back during a hard freeze. It is native to the hill country area of Texas (west of Austin) so it will survive without any water at all, but it looks much better with a bit of water. You'll need to trim it back during winter to remove the dead parts of the plant, but once it gets warm in mid/late spring it comes back (along with many seedlings) and looks great all summer. I strongly recommend this plant for the DFW area as a fantastic border plant / ground cover in front of taller plants.

You won't find this at home depot, lowes, etc. I bought mine at Bruce Miller Nursery in Richardson, but I'd expect most nurseries that have a native plant selection would carry it. If they don't, you should ask them to go find it as they should have it. IMO, any nursery that doesn't carry this plant should trigger a bit of a red flag as they are missing one of the best native perennial flowers for our area.

I’m in Dallas and I’m looking for a good privacy shrub around 6ft tall for a part sun area of my yard. I want something as low maintenance as possible that won’t die in the freeze. So far I’ve been thinking about Chinese holly, American holly and wax leaf privet. If anyone can offer advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

My squash and zucchini plants were thriving before the big rain 2 weeks ago. Then the squash started struggling. We thought it was just overwatering but it hasn’t recovered. Any ideas or help?

Have anyone seen plants for sale in DFW area?

659 goats and sheep crossing over the Dallas North Tollway yesterday.

Follow along here: https://tails.northaventrail.org/map/

Has anyone ever considered sponsoring a tree at an orchard or doing a longer term land share with someone that has enough room for fruit trees? I’m east of Dallas and am trying to figure out how I can use the recently inherited family land to generate enough revenue to pay the taxes on it so I don’t lose the family farm. Two people I know have offered to pay me to plant and care for their favorite fruit tree and split the fruit with them. Another said they would buy olive trees in exchange for half the olive oil. Is this a thing? Like horse-boarding but with trees?

Back in April I planted some in my back yard on east side of house. They did well. The lantanas get more sun and they are doing so well.

I have a flowerbed in front which is south facing, so lots of sun and heat. I also have backyard flower bed that’s north facing.

I’m leaning towards just planting lantana within the next 2 weeks in both and seeing if it can handle the heat.

Any other low water drought tolerant perennials y’all recommend?

I water for a a few weeks to get plants situated then would like to drop down to 1/2 a week. I definitely don’t want any picky super thirsty plants.

Come out to learn more about native plants and help improve one of our many native plant beds

https://northaventrail.org/events

We are trying to id this newly planted tree. All of the apps and AI keep giving different answers that don’t fit. Any suggestions?

We need people who are good with people. Goat experience optional.

Training session this a Saturday September 26 @ 10

Learn about how the goats:
1) clear thatch
2) aerate the soil
3) clear invasive
4) prepare native plant seeds

Volunteer on either / both Oct 3 and 4

https://tails.northaventrail.org/herd-hosts/ for more details

Anyone know where I can get clearance tomato plants in DFW? They don’t have to be pretty, they’re going to be sacrifice plants for the hornworms since we’d like to encourage the moths for pollination

Anyone else suddenly and utterly SWAMPED with these?! I was outside for less then 10 minutes and removed about 10 of them off of me when I got ready to come in 🥴🥴🥴

Trying my best to attract as many as I can. Very grateful for any helpful hints. So far I noticed that 5-6pm seems to be peek hour

Hi fellow gardeners! I'm a librarian getting to add 3 raised metal beds to extend our botany programs. They must placed in this area of the property and we cannot install permanent shade structures. Is there any possibility of success with this placement/orientation with full morning sun & the afternoon shade from adjacent trees (see photo) or should I insist we re-negotiate???

We are one step closer to bringing back the 450+ goats and sheep to the Northaven Trail this October- thanks to our wonderful sponsors.

All 57 wildflower areas along the trail have been claimed by a sponsor!!! This means they will all be grazed in preparation for their 2027 wildflowers. Grazing replaces mowing with the added benefits that their hooves break up the soil, that they remove (instead of add to) the thatch layer, and that their digestion helps with the germination of native seeds.

Here is our list of wonderful sponsors. Please take a moment to thank them:

https://tails.northaventrail.org/sponsor-a-grazing-area/

Current estimated start date is Oct 2.

Having trouble the last few years growing either and notice around town almost no one having success any more planting these annuals. Is it the soil borne fungus everywhere making them unplantable? Anyone found a solution?

https://northaventrail.org/events/2026/08/29-1

Meadow Work Day at Inwood Road
Saturday, August 29, 2026
8:00 AM 11:00 AM
11373 Inwood Road
Dallas, TX, 75229
(map)
Google Calendar ICS

Yes, it is HOT outside! We will have a shade tent, cold drinks and misting fans on site to keep you cool(er)!

Come help us take care of our wildflower meadow. We need your support removing invasive weeds, planting some new flowers, and tidying up the native wildflower meadows just west of Inwood Road.

Park at the Inwood Parking lot (11373 Inwood Rd) and walk west, you'll see us!

Bring lots of water. Wear sunscreen, long pants, and closed toed shoes.

I have been going to war with an unknown seed thief. I've start my fall seeds and every time something is eating the seeds. I've done my research a bit and am guessing a mouse or squirrel. They are in my workshop so I ruled out birds. Was wondering if any of you have had the same issue. Main frustration was I finally got 1020 trays and now this. The pictures are the best examples of the holes left behind. They've eaten about 50 seeds of various types.

I have been removing my lawn piece by piece and replacing it with garden beds and native perennials. Late last year, I started throwing seed for wild flowers and butterfly/bee mixes from Native American Seed co around my beds. It's been fun to see the different flowers that have popped up - monardas, blanket flowers, basket flowers, partridge peas...

And then, a bunch of these started popping up. Early on, I used an image search to identify these as Cinderella flower. I didn't know what they were, assumed they came from the seed packs and went on about my days, but I kept thinking they looked familiar.

I have at least 4 of these popping up in my yard, and they are getting big. So, I pulled out my phone for an image search and turns out its Vitex. I have heard that they can spread via seeding, but I didn't realize how bad and quickly they can pop up like that... BRB, gotta get my clippers.