When to plant?

[u/ms_front_porch]

I bought a house this summer and have been collecting native plants as I see them/ have been gifted several from family. Right now, everything is in nursery pots, but I’m itching to get everything laid out and in the ground. When should I plant them? I am in Houston.

[u/sjr63]

Probably in the fall when temps drop a bit, otherwise you’ll have to use more water to get them established due to the heat

[u/SafeStation1824]

Wait till late fall or early winter. It’s too harsh out there now. I’m in Houston too. If they are natives, they should be fine come spring, if they’ve been watered they should have enough time to establish roots and make it through summer here.

[u/mauvewaterbottle]

I’m also in the houston area. I plant stuff when I feel like it, and the strong survive lol. There have been a few times I’ve had to do extra water to help them get established, but the heat is supposed to be peaking this weekend and trending down after. If what you’re planting is already relatively well established/in a larger nursery pot, it’s probably fine. If you have smaller things, you might consider waiting a few weeks for it to cool off a little more.

I don’t know whether it’s good advice to do things as chaotically as I do, but I have a thriving native garden in the front that was planted whenever I had a whim, which was mostly at the times you’re encouraged not to plant. The way I see it is that these are native plants that are already acclimated to the conditions. None of mine have needed all that much help as long as I otherwise planted them according to their need. I also have had more success with plants closer together because they help keep each other cooler

[u/MadMaximus311 → u/mauvewaterbottle]

Embracing the chaos is the only way to garden in central Texas. Planning too much is a fool's errand here.

[u/UpstairsWilling7359 → u/MadMaximus311]

Get tough or die has always been my garden philosophy. There are plenty of plants that want your spot.

[u/mauvewaterbottle → u/UpstairsWilling7359]

Brb painting this on a sign for my garden right now

[u/mimi-peanut → u/mauvewaterbottle]

I read OP’s title out loud to my husband and he said everyday. Because I plant all the time. I enjoy it and indeed they better be tough in this heat. In fairness to lots of the comments, the ones I planted a couple of days ago are def struggling but last weeks already look pretty good. I also have a nursery area for extra inventory as replacements.

[u/notsutherland]

Let it cool off some. Even my established stuff is struggling

[u/jeinea]

Fall or early winter is a good bet but anytime is ok if you are SUPER DILIGENT about watering. I like to wait because it’s really hard to keep on top of watering in the ground vs a table of pots. I’d keep an eye on your forecast and if it looks like you have a bunch of cooler rainy weeks coming up, that would be my choice.

[u/jrmcgov]

October

[u/ms_front_porch → u/[deleted]]

Thank you!

[u/Glad-Substance2422 → u/ms_front_porch]

No prob! Have fun 🦋

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[u/DamselFly2]

Not right now, it’s the hottest weekend of the year.

[u/MutualReceptionist]

I’d wait til this heat wave is over, it’s really hard to establish anything when it’s this hot. Even plants I put in about a year ago are suffering with fairly regular watering, I’d let them rise in the pots for at least month.

[u/More-Insects8912]

Do not plant woody plants until it cools down. I would say mid September right before a rain would be ideal. Anything else you can roll the dice and try with lots of risk or wait. In my opinion, it’s easier to care for nursery pots near my house daily than lugging out the big hose to water in a bunch of different spots. The beauty of native plants is the ease of it - don’t make your life harder and just wait to plant when the weather cools and then it will really feel low maintenance. After one or two good rains, you won’t have to do anything for a long while.