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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Monday - July 02, 2012

From: Corpus Christi, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Lists, Trees
Title: Small native trees/shrubs for Corpus Christi, TX
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Which small native trees or tall shrubs would do well in full sun in Corpus Christi for privacy along a fence line? Blooms are a bonus and evergreen is preferred.Searches on the website aren't producing results.

ANSWER:

A good place to search for small, native evergreen trees that will do well in Corpus Christi, Texas is on the Texas Forest Service's Texas Tree Planting Guide.  You can use their Custom Tree Selector feature to select the best small trees for Nueces County to fit your needs.   I selected "Nueces County"; from Option 1—"A small area"; from Option 2—"Small", from Option 3—Evergreen. and from Option 4—"Is a Texas native."  This gave me a recommendation of five small, native evergreen trees suitable for Nueces County.   They are:

Cordia boissieri (Mexican olive)

Condalia hookeri (Bluewood condalia)

Sideroxylon celastrinum [syn. = Bumelia celastrina] (Coma saffron plum)

Sophora secundiflora (Texas mountain laurel)

Morella cerifera [syn. = Myrica cerifera] (Wax myrtle)

You can use their Custom Tree Selector to vary the characteristics that you want to find different trees.

 

From the Image Gallery


Mexican olive
Cordia boissieri

Mexican olive
Cordia boissieri

Bluewood condalia
Condalia hookeri

Bluewood condalia
Condalia hookeri

Saffron plum
Sideroxylon celastrinum

Saffron plum
Sideroxylon celastrinum

Texas mountain laurel
Sophora secundiflora

Texas mountain laurel
Sophora secundiflora

Wax myrtle
Morella cerifera

Wax myrtle
Morella cerifera

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