Native Plants

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Wednesday - August 13, 2008
From: Wichita Falls, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Seed and Plant Sources
Title: Wildflower seeds for Nocona, Texas
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I have a place on Lake Nocona in Nocona,TX and am wanting to buy native wild flower seeds that will take the heat and little water. I have both sunlight and shade. I,m interested in the western prairie petunia and what ever else you suggest. I just need to know where to order them. Thanks.ANSWER:
First, I am assuming that you want to make a kind of wildflower meadow, not wildflowers in flowerbeds. If that's the case, I suggest that you read our How-to-article, Meadow Gardening, for hints on preparing and planting your area. Next, I recommend that you visit the web site of Native American Seed in Junction, Texas to see their variety of wildflower mixes for Texas. The species that they list, especially in the Texas-Oklahoma Native Roadside Mix, should meet your criteria.I'm not sure whether you mean Ruellia occidentalis (western wild petunia) or Ruellia humilis (fringeleaf wild petunia) [called by some prairie petunia]. Neither are for sale on the Native American Seed site. I did a search in our National Suppliers Directory for other Texas nurseries that specialize in native plants and found the following:
Wichita Valley Nursery in Wichita Falls, Texas has several Ruella spp., but doesn't list R. humilus or R. occidentalis.
Rohde's Nursery in Garland, Texas lists assorted Mexican petunias (Ruellia spp.) for sale, but not R. humilus or R. occidentalis. [Note: Ruellia brittonniana syn. Ruellia caerula (Mexican petunia or Britton's wild petunia) is not native to Texas.]
Stuart Nursery in Weatherford, Texas lists Mexican petunia.
Weston Gardens in Bloom in Fort Worth also lists several Ruellia species.
You can see a list of native plants that are commercially available for landscaping for North Central Texas by choosing that area on the map on the Recommended Species page.
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