Native Plants

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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Friday - June 06, 2008

From: Mount Pleasant, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shade Tolerant
Title: Native ground covers for shade in East Texas
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I live in Mount Pleasant, Texas which is in northeast Texas. I would like a list of ground covers that would do well in our area. The place I want to put it gets a lot of shade. The ground is clay. Thanks.

ANSWER:

We found four low-growing part shade groundcovers for your area, but since there were so few low ones, we are also going to suggest some native grasses. They may be taller, but they will cover the ground and be low water usage, as well. And very attractive, year round. None of these would take much foot traffic, but a path of stones or pine needles through the groundcovers would alleviate that problem. When you look at our list, go to the linked webpage for each one, and read all the information about it to help you select the ones you're interested in. All of our suggestions are commercially available, at native plant suppliers. Go to our Suppliers section, put your town and state in the Enter Search Location box, and you will get a list of nurseries and seed suppliers for native plants in your general area, with websites or phone numbers so you can check for availability before you go.

LOW GROUND COVERS

Phyla nodiflora (turkey tangle fogfruit)

Hydrocotyle bonariensis (largeleaf pennywort)

Dichondra carolinensis (Carolina ponysfoot)

Phlox divaricata (wild blue phlox)

GRASSES

Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama)

Chasmanthium latifolium (Inland sea oats)

Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)

Sorghastrum nutans (Indiangrass)