Question
I live in the Dallas Texas area and the back of my backyard is kind of a hump up to the fence line.  I would like to plant a variety of small trees, shrubs, grasses and flowers on the hump that are low maintenance and can stand the texas heat.  I prefer it to look as best as it can all year and not totally go dormant.  Kind of like a wild flower garden look.  The area spans the entire width of the yard so it is quite large and would be the view from the patio. In front of the hump is where water from rain drains so I plan to make that a fake river bed with rocks.  Any suggestions on what plants would do well?  Also what kind of rocks/stones that I should ask for?  Thanks

Answer
A tall order.  For trees, shrubs, & groundcovers, i use a website to select plants at http://www.growit.com/PlantInfo/LandScape.Htm

You are in a Zone 8 (Dallas, Tx), so be sure to check that box as well as any other feature you'll want to look out for.  There are many pictures and information at this site - just click on the resulting names on the lists that you will generate (You'll want to search trees, shrubs, etc. seperately).

As far as a wildflower garden, these are seasonal, as any flowering plant is not going to be "doing its thing" come December.  So for winter color, you'll have to rely on bark color, like the yellow-twig or red-twig dogwoods (they grow in zone 8).

For rocks, you'll want river rocks, which come in various sizes, from the bigger 8-inch to the smaller 3/4''.  A good mix of sizes looks more natural.  Here, the bigger ones are usually are about 2 to 3 inches below the surface of wherever you need to dig a hole!

~M