Plants Saved, Bought, and Dead--Part 1

This the "Will Fleming" Yaupon Holly that I killed. It has really colored how I choose other plants. I'm not as impulsive as I was in the beginning. I'm doing a lot more research on the plants I buy. I am also being more thoughtful as to whether I am up to planting something right away and if not I don't buy it until I have the energy to deal with it.

This is the mountain laurel that I moved from the front yard to the backyard. Not sure I want to plant anymore of these, though they used to be my favorite small tree/shrub. It is still kind of iffy. It may not survive. Lesson learned. Plants that I like are not always worth putting in my yard.

This a mix of snail seed and snapdragon vine. It came with the house and is one of the few things that I think I'm going to leave alone. The leaves are really delicate. The snail seed has red berries and the snapdragon vine has purple flowers. They are both native perennial vines most likely brought in by birds.

This is a little pecan tree that probably grew from a nut that a squirrel planted and forgot about. I'm not interested in another large shade tree in the backyard, so in the fall I'm planning to see if I can give it away for the price of someone digging it up. It is really cute right now, but the other pecan tree is such a pain that I really don't want to deal with two. Plus I would then have to think about shade-loving plants for the backyard instead of the sunny ones I've been looking at. The front yard will be the shade-plant area.

This is my hops bush. The flowers are supposed to be a substitute for hops in beer. I'm amazed it is still alive. I bought with the Yaupon Holly that died. It requires more water than other plants I bought.  

This hacienda vine which I bought with the hops bush and Yaupon Holly with the hopes that it would cover the shed is barely hanging on. That will teach me to try to plant things in the beginning of the hottest part of the summer in a drought.

This is a plant that I am not sure I want. It was huge and I cut it to the ground because I didn' t like the way it looked. It is actually a pretty good drought tolerant plant that is non-invasive. Double Wreath Spirea. Another plant that I mistakenly thought was invasive because it came with my yard.

This is a close up of the alligator juniper the second plant I bought after I got the mountain laurel. The "Man" hopes to someday make gin out of the seeds. With this and the hops bush I should of used some kind of level when I planted them. They are both leaning a bit. Ah well, perfection is overrated. They both have a quirky feel to them in their leaning attitudes that makes me smile.