There is a long list of Texas natives and a much shorter list of plants that reliably come back after both a hundred-degree August and a week below freezing. These are the ones we keep specifying.
For full sun and no mercy
Blackfoot daisy, damianita, and autumn sage. All three shrug off reflected heat from a driveway, which kills most things.
For the shade under a live oak
Turk’s cap, inland sea oats and cedar sedge. Dry shade is the hardest condition in an Austin yard, and these three handle it.
What we have stopped planting
Anything sold as drought-tolerant that came out of a greenhouse in another state. It is native to somewhere, just not here.