Native Plants

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Sunday - May 18, 2014

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Container Gardens, Cacti and Succulents, Ferns, Wildflowers
Title: Hanging plants for Austin, TX
Answered by: Larry Larson

QUESTION:

I'm looking for a hanging potted flower suggestion for Austin. Most locations are shaded under a large tree, but some locations may have several hours of afternoon sun. I'd love to see some hummingbirds and/or butterflies enjoying these flowers. Kindest regards

ANSWER:

You seem to have walked into a really popular topic! To start with, we suggest you read two of our How-To Articles: A Guide to Native Plant Gardening and Container Gardening with Native Plants. I went tripping through the Mr Smart Plants archives and found advice for wedding plants, for hanging plants, for the sun and for the shade! Here’s the whole list of them, but I’ll go ahead and summarize following this list.

Growing Texas wildflowers indoors for a March wedding from Austin

Living blooming plants for November wedding in Austin

Suitable container plants for Austin

Native plants for container gardens in Central Texas

Hanging container for west-facing house in Austin TX

Plants for hanging flower boxes from Austin

Container plants for part shade in Bee Cave TX

Texas native shade plants for metal troughs in Austin

Container plants for shade in Austin

Container plant for shade in Austin

Native plants for small pots in sun in Austin

Plants for big pots by pool in Austin

There are many recommendations above, it seems almost any native can be successfully grown in captivity – but here are some of the ones mentioned most frequently for the applications you mentioned:

Flowers: Salvia coccinea (Scarlet sage), Coreopsis lanceolata (Lanceleaf coreopsis), Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine), Chrysactinia mexicana (Damianita), Melampodium leucanthum (Blackfoot daisy)

Cactus: Coryphantha echinus (Rhinoceros cactus), Coryphantha sulcata (Nipple cactus), Echinocereus coccineus var. coccineus (Scarlet hedgehog cactus)

Sun: Salvia greggii (Autumn sage), Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida (Prairie verbena), Pavonia lasiopetala (Rock rose), Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue mistflower), Capsicum annuum (Chile pequin)

Shade[ferns]: Dryopteris ludoviciana (Southern woodfern), Osmunda cinnamomea (Cinnamon fern), Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas fern