Perennial · Deer-resistant
Texas Betony
Stachys coccinea
Also called: Scarlet Hedgenettle
Soft mounds of felted leaves send up scarlet flower spikes for months, thriving in the part shade where few hummingbird plants will bloom.
Growing & care
Handles dry shade better than most nectar plants. Trim spent spikes to keep it going. Reseeds and spreads gently into a colony.
Bloom season
In bloom: Mar–Oct · Colors: red
Where to buy
Look for texas betony (Stachys coccinea) at: native Texas nurseries.
Sources
Range, nomenclature, and the USDA symbol above come from the federal plant record for this species. Check it yourself:
Good for
Plant it with
Natives that pair with texas betony
Same conditions, same uses — species that share texas betony's growing requirements and belong in the same bed.
Cedar Sage
Salvia roemeriana
A little scarlet sage made for the dry shade under cedar and oak — one of the few natives that lights up those difficult spots with true red bloom..
Desert Willow
Chilopsis linearis
A slender desert tree that produces orchid-like trumpet flowers all summer on almost no water.
Horseherb
Calyptocarpus vialis
A soft, low groundcover that quietly replaces lawn in the shade where turf fails, threading tiny yellow flowers through its foliage for pollinators nearly year-round..
Scarlet Sage
Salvia coccinea
An easy reseeding sage that blooms scarlet from spring to frost, even in part shade — one of the few hummingbird plants that flowers reliably out of full sun..
Autumn Sage
Salvia greggii
The workhorse of the water-wise Texas garden: a small evergreen shrub that blooms nearly year-round and shrugs off heat, drought, and deer..
Cedar Sedge
Carex planostachys
A fine, arching native sedge that forms a soft green carpet in the dry shade beneath cedars and oaks — one of the very few things that will grow, and hold soil, there..