Drought Watch: Keep Plants Blooming without Watering - KAUZ-TV: Newschannel 6 Now | Wichita Falls, TX

Newschannel 6 wanted to know what kind of plants you can put in your yard that will bloom and require little to no water. It turns out there's a pretty large selection. Plants that are native to our area and Texas as well as Oklahoma are the top choices that require little watering.

Morgan Parker stopped by Wichita Valley Monday afternoon to buy some potting soil. She plants a lot and has noticed how difficult it is to keep plants growing without any rain.

"Even when you're watering when it gets too hot and dry it doesn't seem to make a difference," she said.

Fortunately that doesn't have to be the case. Paul Dowlearn's inventory at Wichita Valley is about  60 percent full of plants from the area.

"Those are called Texas Mountain Laurel," he said as he showed Newschannel 6 the plant. "They're evergreen. They live in the Texas Hill Country."

He gets a lot of people coming in asking questions about what plant to buy, what
tree to buy that require little to no watering. He always has a good list in mind.

"Craig, Salvia or Autumn Sage is another very good plant and both of these are woody shrubs that bloom," he said.

A purple/pink plant that's blooming in the front of his business is called a Desert Mallow. It's one many other species that are colorful and most importantly require very little water. It's just about doing your research before you buy.

"Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Native Plant Society of Texas both have great websites that show you pictures. he said.

When designing a landscape, design it so that plants will survive off our normal rainfall. If they require much more it's likely they won't last with this drought and our stricter water measures.

Click here to reach Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Click here to reach Native Plant Society of Texas.

Click here to reach Wichita Valley.

Crystal Hall Newschannel 6.