Western Sun Garden
Backyard gardening in Far West Texas - growing what works, learning from what doesn’t, and transforming our desert garden one season at a time.
Backyard gardening in Far West Texas - growing what works, learning from what doesn’t, and transforming our desert garden one season at a time.
Western Sun Garden
🌿 Plantober Day 24: White Sagebrush
Today’s plant proves you don’t necessarily need bright flowers to bring color into a garden.
White Sagebrush has beautiful silvery foliage that really stands out against all the greens, browns, and warm colors of a Southwest landscape.
It’s a native perennial with aromatic leaves, and it can spread through underground stems to gradually form larger patches.
That soft silver color and loose natural shape are exactly why this one caught our attention. I can already imagine it mixed among grasses, wildflowers, and some of the other plants we’ve featured this month.
And naturally, we had to try getting all that silvery foliage into the sketchbook too. ✏️🌿
Plantober Day 24 is up — only seven more to go!
If you’ve been enjoying the series, give the Short a like and subscribe to Western Sun Garden so you can finish Plantober with us!
#Plantober #WhiteSagebrush #NativePlants #SouthwestGardening #DesertGardening #Inktober
2 days ago | [YT] | 0
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Western Sun Garden
💜 Plantober Day 23: Dotted Blazing Star
Today’s plant has one of its best survival tricks hiding underground.
Dotted Blazing Star produces these beautiful upright spikes of purple flowers, but below the surface it can develop a remarkably deep root system that helps it survive dry prairie conditions.
That means you get something that looks soft and colorful above ground while being incredibly tough underneath.
It’s also a great plant for pollinators, which makes it even easier to imagine mixed into a native meadow someday.
Naturally, we had to try getting those fuzzy purple flower spikes into the sketchbook too. ✏️💜
Plantober Day 23 is up!
If you’ve been enjoying the series, give the Short a like and subscribe to Western Sun Garden so you can finish Plantober with us.
#Plantober #DottedBlazingStar #LiatrisPunctata #NativePlants #PollinatorGarden #Inktober
3 days ago | [YT] | 0
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Western Sun Garden
🌼 Plantober Day 22: Four-Nerve Daisy
Today’s plant gets its name from a detail you could easily miss.
Look closely at those yellow ray flowers and you’ll see dark veins running through them — the little markings behind the name Four-Nerve Daisy.
It’s a small native perennial, but it’s built for some pretty tough conditions. Give it sun, rocky well-drained soil, and not much water, and it can keep producing those bright yellow flowers through a long stretch of the growing season.
Basically another reminder that “drought-tolerant” definitely doesn’t have to mean boring.
And naturally, we had to try getting those little flowers onto paper too. ✏️🌼
Plantober Day 22 is up!
If you’ve been following the series, give the Short a like and subscribe to Western Sun Garden — we’re getting close to the finish line!
#Plantober #FourNerveDaisy #NativePlants #ChihuahuanDesert #DesertGardening #Inktober
4 days ago | [YT] | 0
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Western Sun Garden
🌵 Plantober Day 21: Fishhook Barrel Cactus
Today’s plant has one of the coolest nicknames in the desert.
Some mature barrel cacti develop a noticeable lean toward the south or southwest, which is why you’ll sometimes hear them called “compass barrels.”
But Fishhook Barrel has another pretty obvious feature — those long, curved central spines that look a whole lot like fishing hooks.
It’s tough, heavily armored, perfectly adapted to dry desert conditions… and then flowering season comes along and suddenly this intimidating cactus starts showing off.
That contrast is probably my favorite thing about it.
Naturally, we had to try getting all those ribs and hooked spines onto paper too. ✏️🌵
Plantober Day 21 is up! Ten more to go.
If you’ve been enjoying the series, give the Short a like and subscribe to Western Sun Garden so you can finish Plantober with us!
#Plantober #FishhookBarrelCactus #BarrelCactus #ChihuahuanDesert #DesertPlants #Inktober
5 days ago | [YT] | 0
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Western Sun Garden
🔥🌿 Plantober Day 20: Flame Acanthus
Today’s plant is basically a hummingbird invitation.
Flame Acanthus is a Texas native shrub that produces bright orange-red tubular flowers through the warm season, often right when the garden could really use an extra shot of color.
It handles heat, dry conditions, and sun really well — and hummingbirds seem to know exactly what to do when those flowers open.
This is one of those plants that makes drought-tolerant gardening feel pretty easy to get excited about.
And naturally, we had to get those fiery little flowers into the sketchbook too. ✏️🔥
Plantober Day 20 is up!
If you’ve been enjoying the series, give the Short a like and subscribe to Western Sun Garden so you can follow the rest of Plantober with us.
#Plantober #FlameAcanthus #HummingbirdGarden #NativePlants #SouthwestGardening #Inktober
6 days ago | [YT] | 0
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Western Sun Garden
🌸🐦 Plantober Day 19: Texas Hummingbird Mint
Some plants make the wish list because they’re tough.
This one made it because of the hummingbirds. 😄
Texas Hummingbird Mint produces tall spikes of pink flowers that are perfectly shaped for hummingbirds, along with aromatic foliage that gives the plant even more character.
It’s also well suited to hot, sunny, relatively dry conditions — so it gives you that combination we keep looking for with Plantober: less water without giving up flowers or wildlife.
And naturally, those flower spikes had to make their way into the sketchbook too. ✏️🌸
Plantober Day 19 is up!
Would you plant something like this mainly for the flowers, or for the hummingbirds?
#Plantober #TexasHummingbirdMint #HummingbirdGarden #NativePlants #PollinatorGarden #Inktober
1 week ago | [YT] | 0
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Western Sun Garden
🍫🌼 Plantober Day 18: Chocolate Flower
Today’s plant has probably the easiest fun fact of the entire series.
It smells like chocolate.
Chocolate Flower — Berlandiera lyrata — produces bright yellow flowers with dark centers, and those blooms can give off a surprisingly chocolate-like fragrance, especially in the morning.
It’s also drought-tolerant, loves the sun, and provides flowers for pollinators.
So yes, we’ve officially reached the point in Plantober where the desert is giving us chocolate-scented wildflowers. 😄
Naturally, we had to try getting this one onto paper too. ✏️🌼
Plantober Day 18 is up!
Would you plant this one for the flowers… or just for the smell?
#Plantober #ChocolateFlower #NativePlants #PollinatorGarden #SouthwestGardening #Inktober
1 week ago | [YT] | 0
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Western Sun Garden
🌾 Plantober Day 17: Black Grama Grass
Today’s plant isn’t trying to steal the show — but it helps create the entire stage.
Black Grama is one of the native grasses that gives Southwestern desert grasslands their texture and movement. It grows in clumps, spreads gradually across the ground, and is incredibly well adapted to dry conditions.
That might not sound as dramatic as a cactus covered in flowers, but grasses like this are a huge part of what makes these landscapes work.
And honestly, I love the idea of bringing some of that natural grassland look into the garden someday.
Naturally, we had to try getting all those fine blades and seed heads onto paper too. ✏️🌾
Plantober Day 17 is up!
Would you ever replace part of a traditional lawn with native grasses?
#Plantober #BlackGrama #NativeGrass #ChihuahuanDesert #DesertGardening #Inktober
1 week ago | [YT] | 0
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Western Sun Garden
🌺 Plantober Day 16: Autumn Sage
Today’s plant is one I can very easily imagine finding a spot for in the garden.
Autumn Sage is a small native shrub from Southwest Texas and northern Mexico that handles heat and dry conditions really well — but it still gives you a surprisingly long season of flowers.
Those tubular blooms are especially attractive to hummingbirds, and depending on the variety, you can find Autumn Sage flowering in everything from red and pink to purple and white.
That combination is kind of the whole reason we started making this list: plants that actually belong in our climate without giving up color or wildlife value.
And yes, we had to get those little flowers into the sketchbook too. ✏️🌺
Plantober Day 16 is up!
Who else has Autumn Sage growing in their yard?
#Plantober #AutumnSage #SalviaGreggii #NativePlants #HummingbirdGarden #Inktober
1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 0
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Western Sun Garden
🌵 Plantober Day 15: Sotol
Sotol is one of those plants that instantly looks like it belongs out here.
You might mistake it for an agave or yucca at first, but Sotol — also called Desert Spoon — belongs to the genus Dasylirion and has its own very distinctive look.
The plant forms this big fountain of narrow leaves, and when it flowers, a stalk can shoot several feet above the foliage and completely change the silhouette of the plant.
It’s tough, drought-adapted, and right at home in the Chihuahuan Desert.
Basically everything we’ve been looking for with Plantober.
And naturally, all those skinny leaves had to make their way into the sketchbook too. ✏️🌵
Fifteen plants down. Sixteen to go.
Agave, yucca, or sotol — which one has your favorite desert look?
#Plantober #Sotol #DesertSpoon #ChihuahuanDesert #NativePlants #Inktober
1 week ago | [YT] | 0
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