A few years ago I started this project in my friend’s large yard in San Antonio. The yard was previously mostly dead Bermuda grass lawn and a few struggling shrubs. My friend wanted something different, colorful, good for birds and pollinators, and producing food. On one side of the front yard I’ve planted a garden of adapted roses, bulbs, and native pollinator-friendly flowers. On the other side is a food forest of fruit trees and other edible plants, as well as more flowers for pollinators. My hope is that this garden can be a model for other folks to transform their own yards.
List of edibles
Banana
Edible Canna
Rose
Mulberry
Plum
Fig
Asian Persimmon
Peach
Spineless Cactus aka Nopales
Chili Pequin (native)
Turk’s Cap (native)
Perennial Bunching Onion
Sweet Potato
Avocado
Oregano
Moringa
Asparagus
Apple
Pomegranate
Garlic Chives
Pear
Pecan
List of ornamentals and pollinator plants
Rose
Gregg’s Blue Mistflower (native)
Grape Hyacinth
Ornamental Onion
Bluebonnets (native)
Salvias (some native)
Cowpen Daisy (native)
Bearded Iris
Coral Honeysuckle (native)
Mexican Primrose (native)
Winecup (native)
Engelmann’s Daisy (native)
Red Yucca (native)
Agave
Tropical Orchid Tree
Four O’ Clock
Sunflower (native)
Lantana (native)
Texas Mountain Laurel (native)
Coral Tree Erythrina crista-galli
Some helpful resources
What is a food forest?
Grow your own food
Kitchen gardening
Ecosystem restoration
Shopping
Native American Seeds Texas native wildflower and prairie seeds
Sheffield's Seed Company Tree, shrub, flower, and vegetable seeds from around the world
Green Dreams Tropical and Sub-tropical edible plants and Florida natives
Native Seeds SEARCH Arid-adapted vegetable seeds from the Southwest and Mexico
Raintree Nursery Fruit, featuring an astonishing number of Fig varieties
