Duranta

— A simple stop at an ice cream shop in Port Aransas led me to discover this beautiful flowering shrub. The shop owners had no idea what this shrub was called, but a quick online search provided me the answer I needed. Duranta erecta is a member of the Verbena family. There are some 30 species varieties of Duranta in the American tropics. The shrub can get as tall as 10-15 feet and over 5 feet wide. It flowers spring until the first frost and is also drought resistant. It might also even survive winters in Central Texas. Its vibrant color is what caught my eyes right at first.