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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Wednesday - August 20, 2008

From: Anson, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shade Tolerant
Title: Plants for xeriscape and shade
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I live in Jones county, Texas. I would like to xeriscape portions of my lawn. The soil is sandy, I have a lot of shaded lawn area. What plants do you recommend that would be low maintenace, low water yet grow in the shade and sandy soil?

ANSWER:

You can find a list of Texas High Plains Recommended native plants that are commercially available for landscaping by choosing that area of Texas from the map on our Recommended Species page. When the list of species appears you can then narrow the list by choosing the Narrow Your Search option and selecting 'Shade' and 'Part shade' under "Light Requirement" and 'Dry' under "Soil Moisture".

Here are a few of Mr. Smarty Plants choices from the list:

Rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac)

Rudbeckia hirta (blackeyed Susan)

Acacia greggii var. wrightii (catclaw acacia)

Atriplex canescens (fourwing saltbush)

Ephedra antisyphilitica (clapweed)

Glossopetalon planitierum (plains greasebush)

Mahonia trifoliolata (agarita)

Melampodium leucanthum (plains blackfoot)

Rhus microphylla (littleleaf sumac)

Yucca glauca var. glauca (soapweed yucca)

Zinnia grandiflora (Rocky Mountain zinnia)