Trying to decide what flowers to plant in the yard this summer?

We found this great article on Houston Chronicle online.  It will be very useful as you start getting out in the yard and garden now that Spring time is in full swing. Enjoy!

Top 10 Texas Superstar plants

By KATHY HUBER, Garden Editor
Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle

“Texas gardeners need plants that tolerate extremes. Searing summer heat. Drought. And as we’ve recently been reminded, winters that can alter the landscape.

Thanks to research led by Texas A&M University researchers and extension horticulturists, we have great options. For 21 years, they’ve tested plants in search of top performers — types that tolerate our extremes with minimal soil preparation and watering and no pesticides.

They’ve deemed more than 50 plants — including trees, shrubs, annuals, perennials and vegetables — Texas Superstars. The list includes plants that scoffed at the miserable summer of 2009 and are now returning from their hardy roots after last winter’s big freezes.

Here are 10 that are showing their resilience after a hard winter. And they’re fascinating whether you’re a Master Gardener or are just beginning to get your fingernails dirty.”

1. My firebush or hummingbird bush (Hamelia patens) was a proud, 8-foot mound last fall and nothing but sticks after last winter. But new shoots are inching upward, and I look forward to visiting butterflies and hummingbirds who love the nectar-filled orange-red tubular blooms.

2. ‘Gold Star’ esperanza, Tecoma stans, is also making a return. This easygoing, 4- to 6-foot shrub produces golden-yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers spring to frost.

3. Plumbago (Plumbago auriculata), an old-time, popular heat- and drought-tolerant wonder, offers a profusion of blue, butterfly-attracting blooms spring until frost. It likes an occasional drink during extended dry spells. In sun or shade, the long, arching stems make a soft mound or can be trained vertically like a vine.

4. Texas lilac vitex (Vitex agnus-castus) earns gold stars for its summer tolerance and fragrant, butterfly-attracting, 8- to 12-inch purple flower spikes. Native to China and India, it has several common names: hemp tree, lilac chaste tree, Mexican lavender, monk’s pepper, sage tree and Indian spice. Improved varieties ‘Montrose Purple’, ‘LeCompte’ and ‘Shoal Creek’ are all marketed under the Texas lilac name.

5. ‘Texas Gold’ columbine (Aquilegia chrysantha hinckleyana) is my favorite April-blooming perennial. Numerous volunteer offspring have reseeded from the “mother” I planted years ago. The soft-yellow, long-spurred blooms wave above lacy, blue-green foliage that looks best in part or bright shade.

Click here to finish reading the article at Chron.com.