Here's Western-y poetics for ya..... Snakeweed, Shindagger, Horsecrippler, Dogweed, Cowblinder, Rattlesnake Master, Flameflower, Scullcap, Starvation Cactus, Antelope Horns, Mosquito Grass (or Skeeter Grass if you're a real hick), Barometer Bush, Rabbitbush, Winterfat, Mormon Tea, Indian Blanket, Mexican Hats, Scrambled Eggs, Texas Yellow Star, Locoweed, Bitterweed, Scorpion Flower, Devil's Claw, Navajo Tea, Prince's Plume, Leadplant, Indian Tobacco, Desert Spoon, Beargrass, Soap Tree Yucca, Buckwheat, Firewheel, Deergrass. Beargrass and of course Sitting Bull Falls Cardinal Flower. Its not really poetry but its a bit of brief story telling. I'm not in the horticulture or nursery business so unless I need to specify or pin a species down for some reason I use the vernacular, some people frown on this. I do look them up when necessary. Semi-arid, wide skies & flat windy landscapes sounds like it would be perfect for many of the natives around here. What kind of soil, I'm interpreting that you are saying there is a lot of natural peat? BTW, wantanamara is in a primo-de-la-primo spot for native plants-- the Texas Hill Country-- the place is famous for their natives. They've got the Lady Bird Johnson Native Plant Demonstration Gardens and everything. Lady Bird did more for stirring up interest in natives than anyone else I know of. Our highway wildflower plantings, among other things, show her influence. Each year I collect gobs of seeds stored in several ziploc bulk sized baggies with various SW & prairie natives to keep my populations in check since I have more limited space than some lucky people I could mention. If I lived on an acreage, I'd just let them fall. I'd be glad to to send them later in the year for fall sowing, I try to pass them along to anyone really interested in naturalizing natives. Most are easy, low growing & long blooming making them good for naturalizing with reliable color. This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Thu, May 8, 14 at 18:20

Carrie - For overwintering perennials, I mulch my pots and pull them close to the building wall - that little bit of warmth is helpful. So far, so good. I did lose my fig tree in 2007's late Easter freeze - I neglected to cover it with a sheet that year (which was a relatively mild winter). STILL regretting that one ... PV

You say he doesn't overwinter them? I'd scope out the dumpster on the property late in the season. I've gotten some great plants that way. They look pretty straggly. But some love and a good trim usually brings most of them back! (Didz who loves any excuse to dumpster dive)

Tom - what they said. Plus, I like to let my WS perennials get some size to them before planting out. They didn't sprout late. I was planning to enlarge the free-form butterfly bed but didn't get to dig the sod until mid-September. Hurricane Irene and it's aftermath got in the way of garden chores, followed by Storm Alfred. You saw the photos of what that did to my little green acre. I spent today on clean-up same as I have the past 14. As I was picking up branches, I saw a spot where I could plant something so I grabbed my spading fork, gloves & trowel et voila! One less pot to overwinter inside the garage. It's not the spot I had planned but it's in the ground where it belongs and I can move it next year. As I mentioned on docmom's thread, the soil is still workable this time of year, the sun is lower in the sky and the temperature is cooler. The plants are naturally going dormant with the fewer hours of daylight so planting them now isn't going to trigger a sudden growth spurt. One other advantage to planting out this time of year is no bugs--no gnats, no mosquitoes, no bees or flies. Also, there's no need to wear a hat or only work where there's shade. As trudi said, "...the perennials will wait." If Santa Rosa Gardens is still shipping plants this far north, that's another vote for planting late in the season.