Covenant's Color Garden

American Beautyberry

A sprawling, arching shrub with delicate white to soft-pink flowers followed by clusters of magenta berries. Pollinators love the flowers and birds love the berries. It earns a perfect score of 10 in Texas A&M’s Earth-Kind index for high heat tolerance, low water use, low soil requirements, high pest resistance and low fertilization requirements. Native

Crapemyrtle, ‘Ebony & Ivory’

A small variety with dark burgundy leaves and white flowers summer through fall, it’s expected to grow to 12’H x 8’W. It likes full sun and is drought tolerant once established. 
Burgundy is one of the color themes in the garden. ​

Duranta, ‘Sapphire Shower’

A small variety with dark burgundy leaves and white flowers summer through fall, it’s expected to grow to 12’H x 8’W. It likes full sun and is drought tolerant once established. 
Burgundy is one of the color themes in the garden. ​

Mexican bauhinia (orchid)

A small, pest-free ornamental tree that attracts swallowtail butterflies, it has interesting two-lobed leaves and delicate-looking, showy white blooms. ​

Palo Verde, ‘Desert Museum’

If you’ve parked in Hermann Park’s parking lot on Hermann Drive, you have seen this tree. Its Spanish name means “green stick” due to its unusual green bark that participates in photosynthesis. This fast-growing tree with feathery leaves and yellow flowers casts a light shade. Native.

Possumhaw Holly

This is a deciduous holly tree whose leafless female trees are covered in red berries in the winter. Hollies are rather discrete about their gender until they set fruit, and the females are apparently indiscriminate about what kind of holly pollinates them. Two will go in the garden, but only one carries a few berries at this time. Nurseries usually carry the ornamental females, but it remains to be seen whether we have one of each or two females. ​