Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

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.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
1 rating

Sunday - May 04, 2014

From: San Antonio, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shrubs, Vines
Title: Evergreen vine for wall and long-blooming shrubs in San Antonio TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

What is a good native vine that stays green all year to plant along a rock courtyard wall? Also what are native bushes that flower for the longest period of time? Thanks.

ANSWER:

We will go to our Recommended Species section, click on Central Texas (on the map) to get this list of native plants recommended for Central Texas. Using the selection list on the left hand side of that page, we will select on "Vine" for HABIT. This selection list has no provision for choosing "evergreen" and you did not mention what amounts of sunlight are available where you want to plant the vines, so those two specifications you will have to learn by following each plant link to our webpage on that plant for information. We will use the same procedure for finding "shrub" under HABIT, again without knowing the sunlight available and looking at each selected shrub to see how long it blooms. You did not mentiion if you wanted evergreen shrubs, but more shrubs tend to be evergreen than do vines.

Evergreen vines for San Antonio: exactly one - Lonicera sempervirens (Coral honeysuckle). There were 11 on the list of vines,  but all the rest are deciduous.

Long-blooming shrubs for San Antonio: 28 on the list; for "long-blooming," we chose only those that were shown to bloom 5 months or more, of which there were 9

Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii (Flame acanthus) - blooms June to October

Chrysactinia mexicana (Damianita) - April to September

Erythrina herbacea (Coralbean) - March to November

Eysenhardtia texana (Texas kidneywood) - May to October

Lantana urticoides (Texas lantana) - April to October

Leucophyllum frutescens (Cenizo) - January to December, depending on rainfall

Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii (Turk's cap or turkscap) - May to November

Pavonia lasiopetala (Rock rose) - April to November

Salvia greggii (Autumn sage) - March to November

 

More Shrubs Questions

Varieties of Ceanothus suitable for Illinois
September 07, 2012 - Ceanothus Velutinus is the smell of western Montana, my home, to me, and I have relocated to Illinois. I miss it so much that whenever I go home I bring back a jar of ceanothis leaves and keep th...
view the full question and answer

Non-flowering plants in Scottsdale AZ
July 01, 2013 - I have three plants that are supposed to do well in Arizona but mine are not flowering. The yellow bells and orange jubilee I have get full sun, drip watered 3 x a week for 1 1/2 hrs (at 4am) and are...
view the full question and answer

Scarifying seeds of evergreen sumacs from Lockhart TX
May 19, 2013 - Dear Smarty Plants, We would like to grow our own evergreen sumacs. Consulting Nokes book, How to Grow Native Plants on page 310, it says to scarify fresh uncleaned seeds for 30-45 minutes. On page...
view the full question and answer

Native, non-invasive plants for Canaan Valley, WV
April 23, 2006 - I recently purchased a home on an acre of land in the middle of Canaan Valley, WV. The front yard is flat and sunny, the back is on a ridge and is a little forest with a creek at the bottom. The tre...
view the full question and answer

Source for manzanita from Leakey TX
March 19, 2012 - Where can I buy manzanita plants in Texas?
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.