Two of my all-time favorite landscape plants choose late summer as their time to shine. I’m talking about Pride of Barbados and Blue Plumbago. If you look around at what’s blooming like crazy right now you’ll be sure to see lots of the almost neon orange and red of the Pride of Barbados and plenty of the periwinkle blue of the Plumbago. Both are gorgeous on their own but if you plant these two together the combination is just glorious!
The Pride of Barbados-Caesalpinia pulcherrima is a heat loving perennial that comes from the West Indies. Butterflies love its showy blooms almost as much as we humans do. It will grow to 8’ tall from new spring growth as it tends to die back completely during South Central Texas’ normal winters. During mild winters you can expect it just go dormant but retain some leaves and stems. This plant tends to get leggy so I advise cutting it back almost to the ground if it doesn’t freeze in winter. Here is a great link to learn more details about this great plant. TAMU-PrideofBarbados
The Blue Plumbago-Plumbago auriculata is an easy to grow perennial that has been a staple in Central Texas gardens for many years. It will bloom spring to frost and if the winter is a mild one will often continue to bloom into December. It can tend to take over other less vigorous plants so you may need to prune it more than once during the growing season. But if you want an low maintenance, consistent bloomer that loves the summer heat include a Plumbago in your garden. This plant will also take some shade and still bloom nicely.
Both of these plants make a nice addition to any landscape that has some room to spare and another bonus is that both are pretty darn deer resistant!
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