Coppell, TX, is part of growing Zone 8, one of the warmest in the United States. This area gets plenty of sunshine, is less prone to rain, and has periods of occasional drought. Choosing plants that will survive and thrive is essential. There are several choices if you’re looking for easy-to-care-for plants, fruits, vegetables, shrubs, and more that your kids can help you grow. Our Crème de la Crème staff has shared some strategies for planting low-maintenance gardens in Coppell, TX.

Drought-Tolerant Plants

An open sunflower in the sun

Black-eyed Susan by fishhawk is licensed with CC BY 2.0

All plants need substantial amounts of water until their roots take hold. But for drought-tolerant plants, after their roots have settled, they can continue to grow with very little moisture. Low-water plants can help your garden flourish in Zone 8, where rainfall is sometimes scarce. If your garden requires a great deal of water, you’ll need to compensate for the lack of rain with frequent watering. This takes a lot of work, which is why low-water plants are your best bet if you want to keep gardening easy and low effort.

Low-Water Perennials

Perennials are plants and flowers that grow and bloom again every year in the springtime. Low-water perennial options to plant in Coppell, Texas, include:

  • Black-eyed Susan: These are cheerful plants with bright, golden-yellow blooms and black centers. The bright colors of their flowers contrast nicely with their deep green foliage, making it a great plant to add a lively, colorful cheer to your garden.
  • Mexican bush sage: This sage variety has bright white or vivid purple-blue blooms that attract bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies throughout the summer. Planting Mexican bush sage in your garden is an effective way to draw in pollinators and help the endangered bee population thrive.
  • Yarrow: This is a native plant to Zone 8. Its leaves are fern-like, its blooms are tightly packed in clusters, and it comes in various intense colors, making for a dramatic, showy plant that will add flair to your garden.
  • Daylily: This flowering plant is easy to grow and comes in diverse forms and colors, so you can tailor the shades of your daylilies to complement the other colors in your garden.
  • Globe thistle: This type of thistle has huge globes of steely blue flowers and large, grayish-green leaves. Its ample blooms are excellent for filling up large spaces in your garden.
  • Purple coneflower: These are hardy prairie plants that can withstand droughts and still thrive with lovely petals in pinkish-purple, rosy-red, or white hues.
  • Coreopsis: Commonly known as “tickseed,” this perennial plant has a long bloom period and loves the sun. It has tall stems with bright yellow flowers that resemble daisies.

Annuals

Annuals are plants and flowers that bloom for a while and then die out. If you wish to include them in your garden again, they must be replanted. Annuals that thrive in Coppell, Texas, include:

  • Moss rose: This low-growing plant with lush foliage yields small, vibrant blooms.
  • Mexican sunflower: This sunflower variety grows exceptionally tall. Its leaves feel velvety, and its orange flowers appear in summer and fall.
  • Cosmos: These plants grow tall and produce large, delicate blooms in several colors.
  • Globe amaranth: This garden plant loves ample sun and blooms throughout summer. It has abundant pom-pom flowers in shades of red, white, and pink, with fuzzy leaves.
  • Gazania: Also known as the “treasure flower” or “African daisy,” these flowers show their blooms all summer long and resemble vibrant orange and yellow daisies.

Vines and Groundcovers

Another great backyard garden plant option for the Coppell, Texas, area includes vines and groundcovers, such as:

  • Yellow Lady Banks rose: This climbing rose grows quickly with a large mass of small, double yellow-colored roses.
  • Creeping phlox: This plant is true to its name, as it spreads fast to cover the ground with lavender, purple, white, red, or rose-colored blooms, creating a lush, pretty, colored carpet in your garden.
  • Cast-iron plant: These plants are perfect for Zone 8, as they’re incredibly hardy and tolerant of droughts. It thrives best in full or partial shade.
  • Creeping juniper: This juniper variety is an evergreen that grows low to the ground and is shrub-like. This plant is bright green or blue-green.

Vegetables

If you’re hoping to plant vegetables in your garden in Zone 8, you can do so once or twice a year. If you wish to plant twice a year, you must get your seeds in the ground in early spring or even late winter. Then you can sow again in early autumn to enjoy a winter harvest. This method is suitable for cool-season vegetables, which can grow in temperatures 10 to 20 degrees cooler than warm-season vegetables.

Some cool-season vegetables to plant in early fall include peas, broccoli, celery, collard greens, radishes, and beets. If you sow these seeds early, you can eat the veggies in early summer. Warm-season vegetables for early spring and summer include carrots, corn, cucumber, cauliflower, spinach, and squash.

Fruits and Herbs

You’ll want to focus on trees and brambles when planting fruit in your garden, as shrubs and fruit trees are good choices for the local climate. You can start your backyard orchard by planting apple, cherry, pear, apricot, fig, citrus, and nut trees. Try strawberries and prickly pears for fruits you only have to plant once to return year after year.

Other good fruits to grow in your garden include blueberries, grapes, and watermelon. If you’re craving some choices a bit out of the ordinary, you can grow guava, pomegranates, or persimmons. Most herbs grow well in Zone 8, including thyme, marjoram, and chives.

Now you know about the best low-maintenance plants and flowers for your Texas garden. Gardening is a wonderful family activity, and our Crème de la Crème of Coppell staff encourages you to have your kids help out. It’s a great way to get them to appreciate flowers and plants and even teach them how to grow their own food. Making the connection between gardening and eating the food they grew with you is exciting and fun for little ones. We wish you happy gardening together.