Forgot to put the zone.

I don't know what you consider "fast" growing, but I love my Cassia trees that bloom so beautifully in the fall. They don't get that big and require little attention.

You might get some ideas by looking around on this Texas Garden Blog call "Digging Austin". You'll find hundreds of photos of drought tolerant plants, lots of garden tours and all sorts of recommendations.

She shows lots of wonderful agaves which I love. I've never been stuck by one, but as a precation I go around and cut the points off the end of the leaves just in case :-)

Some of the short palms make a nice contrast with rounded shrubs and so do the perennial grasses and some of the grassy looking agaves.

Keep clicking as there are many plants and gardens to look at.

Here is a link that might be useful: Digging Austin -- Xeric plants ...

Mountain laurel would be nice, but it doesn't grow exceedingly fast.

Texas Sage would work, but I don't know how fast they grow in the sun, mine was in part shade.

You might look into carolina jessamine. It is actually classified as a vine, but left alone it makes a huge round clump with yellow flowers in the spring. A few of them will definitely fill in an area. Each one can get about 10 feet wide, so you have to space them accordingly. They can be trimmed if you want. If not trimmed, they may tip root. They will likely need some water the first year to get going, and they will drop some leaves if it is too dry (drought times), but overall they do pretty well. They are evergreen and are pretty leafy.

For something not as leafy and huge, look into the yaupon hollies. They are grown all over the state, stay evergreen and provide red berries in winter that the mockingbirds love. They can be trimmed or left alone. They are more "twiggy" than leafy, so if you want something totally filled in this may not be the choice. The yaupons will get taller than the jessamines, but are more tree-like.

Hope that helps.

Carla near Austin

Vitex and Wax Myrtle

What about rosemary? Not fussy, interesting foliage, smells great and little maintenance is its perfect world. There might even be some on sale now since they are sold at Christmas time cut into little tree shapes.

Here in Arlington, I spotted mass plantings of what looks like Rosemary between highways near intersections near
THAT BIG STADIUM.

happy planting
c

I've had great luck with altheas, pomegranate, beauty berry, vitex, forsythia, bridal wreath, spirea, rock rose, West TX yellowbells, yellow butterfly bush, hummingbird shrub, cordia and red Texas quince bushes/shrubs. All of them are flowering, some bloom all summer long. They do very well with minimal watering. Last summer I planted several others I didn't mention as I don't know how fast they grow.

Stuart's Nursery in Weatherford is my go-to place for native shrubs and trees as they have a great selection and are much more affordable than the nurseries in the Fort Worth area.

I think some of out Austin bloggers are retreating from Santa Fe chic and rediscovering the virtues of "tried and true." "No more pansy-[expletive] plants for me," one says.

The shrub that has made the least demands on my time is Sandankwa viburnum. Unlike most taller shrubs, it does not require pruning to keep it from getting "leggy" at the bottom. It will grow fairly rapidly to 10 or 12 ft. I water mine only during extended dry spells, with a soaker hose. (You can't expect this from them before they get established, of course.) Mine are shaded from the morning sun. I have no idea how they would do in full sun.

I have a deutzia (Godsall Pink) in a sunny part of my bed and it's done wonderfully. Blooms early in the spring, has an arching habit.

I also like pomegranates, winter honeysuckle, banana shrub (Michelia figo). And of course no sunny spot is without a fig tree here.

What is your soil like?

Lin