Common name: Firecracker Penstemon
Botanical name: Penstemon eatonii

This perennial grows at a moderate rate to 1' x 1-1/2'. Bright green leaves form a rosette at the base of the plant. Scarlet spikes of flowers appear late winter to spring. Reseeds easily. Plant in fall for spring flowers. Attracts hummingbirds and butterflies. Accepts full sun to partial shade. Native to the southwest U.S. and Mexico. Similar to Penstemon barbatus but eatonii is earlier and more compact.

Common name: Texas Ranger
Botanical name: Leucophyllum frutescens

Rounded dense shrub that grows quickly to 6' x 6'. Flowers are white, pink or purple and appear as a result of monsoon rains. Tolerates reflected sun. Good informal hedge. Native to the Chihuahuan Desert.

Common name: Spotted Emu Bush
Botanical name: Eremophila maculata

This evergreen shrub that reaches a size of 3' x 6'. Bears relatively dense, narrow foliage and showy, tubular light red flowers with creamy throats spotted with dark red. The petals recurve at the mouth. When in bloom, this is a very showy plant.

Common name: Mexican or Texas Needle Grass
Botanical name: Nassella tenuissima

The Mexican Fan Grass is a beautiful, fine, airy grass that is emerald green in color. It has many soft yellow-beige flower stalks in the spring. This grass grows 1' x 2' and is drought tolerant.

Common name: Weber's Agave
Botanical name: Agave weberi

This is a striking medium-sized agave that grows at a moderate rate to 6' x 6'. The leaves are blue-green and have smooth margins. Accepts full sun or partial shade. Very frost tolerant. This is a bold specimen plant. After several years a flower stalk will appear in spring with yellow flowers. Like all agaves it will die after flowering but often produces offsets that can be transplanted.