The best flowers for containers in Texas often aren’t flowers at all.
They’re succulents.
These carefree beauties can take the Texas heat and sun, need little water, and will wow you with their unique colors and textures. 
Cory Essman, Division Manager at North by Northwest, likes combining a centerpiece standout succulent in the center of the container with intriguing trailing varieties that cascade over the sides.
“The idea is that you want a variety of unique, vibrant colors,” he says.
When it comes to succulents, texture is often as impressive as color. And some of their names are really fun, from jelly beans to donkey tails.
Here are Essman’s picks for some of the best container plants for Austin:
1. Senecio ‘Blue Chalksticks’
Small and low growing, this succulent is often used as a ground cover but is perfect for planters, too.
Powdery blue-green fleshy leaves look a lot like chalk. Give them lots of heat and sun and they take on a fun purple hue.
2. Ghost Plant
A powdery coating covers this succulent’s pinkish-gray leaves, hence the spooky name.
Fleshy, pointed leaves grow along trailing stems and form rosettes ranging in color from pale blue gray in bright shade to yellowish pink in full, hot sun.
In mid-spring, star-shaped white flowers pop up — boo! 
3. Mahonia ‘Soft Caress’
Essman loves using this small, soft evergreen shrub as a centerpiece plant in containers.
Its feather-like foliage looks a bit like a fern. In early winter, bright-yellow flowers appear. followed by clusters of blue berries. 
4. Variegated Heartleaf Iceplant
This pretty creeping ground cover is a great trailing plant to spill over the sides of containers.
Its glossy, heart-shaped leaves are lined in white. Watch for rose-red flowers that bloom all summer. 
5. Sedum ‘Lemon Coral’
Another good trailing plant, Lemon Coral Sedum sports lime-green leaves and small star-shaped summer-blooming flowers.
6. Sedum ‘Aurora’
Commonly called Pink Jelly Beans or Pink Pork and Beans, this succulent offers stunning color combinations in pink, cream, and lime green.
Their plump leaves resemble jelly beans. 
7. Donkey Tail Plant
That’s right, this great trailing plant looks like a donkey’s tail. with fleshy blue-green leaves.
Red, yellow, or white flowers can emerge in late summer.
8. Caladium
Sun-loving succulents don’t always fit the bill. Sometimes you need the best container plants for shade.
Essman likes the pinks and greens of tropical caladium combined with ferns and maybe a vigorous sweet potato vine tumbling over the side for shady spots where sun-loving succulents don’t thrive.
Caladium’s lush, multicolored leaves look like they were hand painted with striking combinations of green, white, pink, and red.
Why No Flowers?
Most flowers are not the best container plants for Austin and the Texas heat, Essman says. They’re too needy.
“Succulents aren’t as hard to maintain, watering-wise, for our clients,” he says. “I try to use plants that require less maintenance, since most of these planters are not irrigated and the clients’ staffs have to water them.“
The goal is to have colorful, healthy, interesting containers, not pots full of thirsty and struggling flowers, he says.
“Containers are typically one of the main attractions at the entries of our commercial and multi-family properties,” he says. “We want them beautiful and of the utmost quality.”
Need the Best Container Plants for Austin? Trust North by Northwest
Here at North by Northwest, we love getting creative with containers.
But we know the prettiest pot of plants does you no good if you have to drop what you’re doing twice a day to water them.
That’s why we create carefree stunners that impress your visitors, customers, and residents without the frequent tending that flowers need.
And if you have other landscaping needs on your commercial property, we can meet those, too.
Look for a company that has a lot of tricks up their sleeve.
Are you ready for stress-free landscaping? Schedule a time to meet with one of our experts today. We’ll gather the details, create a customized plan just for you, and you can stop stressing as we improve and beautify your Austin, TX property.
Image Sources: Senecia 'Blue Chalksticks', Ghost Plant, Mahonia 'Soft Caress', Variegated Heartleaf Iceplant, Sedum 'Lemon Coral', Sedum 'Aurora', Donkey Tail Plant, Caladium