Last weekend, Houston played host to the annual Texas Nursery and Landscape Expo - a trade show for the nursery industry. I spent my time combing the miles and miles of displays for new plants and garden items - The trend for plants with low water needs continues to grow. - there were lots of Yuccas, succulents, grasses, and native trees. I did search for Pam's (Pam Penick of
Digging fame)
Whale's Tongue agave.
There were lots of grey-green
Chisos Agaves, Agave havardiana - but no Whale's Tongue. Grasses of all kinds were another hot item. I'm thinking about trying some new ones in pots.
One thing I did notice that was new to me were these Henna Coleus - I'm a sucker for any lime colored leaves! But the serrated leaf edges were what originally caught my eye. I hope one of my local garden centers stocks some of these. This Henna Coleus is chartreuse and copper on top with dark burgundy undersides.
I did run across a new-to-me palm - a Teddy Bear Palm!
Dypsis leptocheilos gets its name from the fuzzy feel of its crownshaft. Its hardy to zone 9a so should do fine in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
Another item that I think could be pretty ingenious are these large wire and fabric pots. I love the handles and the fact that they are very light weight, When you plant something growing in it, you just cut and tear away the fabric cover, then lower the whole thing (wire cage and all) into the planting hole. No wrestling a huge rootball out of a plastic pot - or having to cut the pot in order to release the plant. And
I always end up cutting myself when I have to cut a pot in half. 
Well, I'll be interested to see if any of my favorites from the trade show make to my local stores any time soon.
Who would have thought that I would stumble upon my new favorite gardening tool in Target? This nifty little gadget opens up to a nice tall container that holds tons of weeds and trimmed branches. Now, I'm not much of a shopper - so this may be a really old product that I'm just now "discovering".
It doesn't fall over and the sides don't cave in like other reusable bags I've tried. An hours worth of weeds easily fits - and it's lightweight to carry from spot to spot. No wheelbarrow needed! 
