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?

Share

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

Friday - July 02, 2010

From: Bastrop, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shade Tolerant, Herbs/Forbs, Wildflowers
Title: Flowering plants for shady garden in Bastrop
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

We live in Bastrop, 8 miles west of the Historical district. We have a small flower garden in a shady spot around 25 feet from the back patio of our home. We'd like to find out what native plants, flowering and perennial could we plant in this garden. We use only organic preparations on the plants. Thanks for your help!

ANSWER:

Please visit our Texas-Central Recommended page where you will find a list of commercially available native plants suitable for landscaping in Central Texas.  You can use the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option in the sidebar to select any criteria you would like.  For instance, you could choose 'Herb' from the GENERAL APPEARANCE area, 'Perennial' under LIFESPAN and 'Shade - 2 hrs or less' under LIGHT REQUIREMENT.  If your flowerbed receives more than 2 hours of sun per day, you can look for plants that grow in part shade.  You could also change the LIFESPAN to 'All durations' and choose 'Shrub', 'Grass/grasslike' etc.  Here are a few suggestions from the list and you can look for more:

Aquilegia canadensis (red columbine)

Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf tickseed)

Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed)

Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida (Dakota mock vervain)

Wedelia texana (hairy wedelia)

Calylophus berlandieri ssp. pinifolius (Berlandier's sundrops)

Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii (wax mallow)

Nolina texana (Texas sacahuista)

Here are photos from our Image Gallery:


Aquilegia canadensis

Coreopsis lanceolata

Asclepias tuberosa

Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida

Wedelia texana

Calylophus berlandieri ssp. pinifolius

Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii

Nolina texana

 

 

 

More Herbs/Forbs Questions

Can Dicentra exemia survive in Texas from Houston
April 23, 2011 - Is the Houston/Austin area too hot to grow "Bleeding Hearts" dicentra eximia (King of Hearts) They seem to grow in the wild in Maryland, Virginia, and Tennessee.
view the full question and answer

Need suggestions for landscaping along a creek in Lenoir, NC
July 25, 2011 - I live in Lenoir, NC and would like to landscape my creek bank that is about 90 feet long and is 200 feet from my house. I thought about evergeen bushes maybe rhododendron; some grasses; a few trees ...
view the full question and answer

Plants to compliment pine trees in Ohio
May 13, 2009 - We just moved into a new home, the backyard has a above ground island with 5 pine trees (fairly young ones, not big) between the trees are some piney looking shrubs, there is a lot of open space on th...
view the full question and answer

Trimming native salvias in January
January 17, 2008 - I have heard you can trim Hot Lips, Raspberry and other salvias back severely in January, to about six inches from the ground. Is this correct?
view the full question and answer

Correction of tree name from Bay Point CA
October 16, 2013 - The tree should of been Mulberry don't know how it was changed!! Tuesday - October 15, 2013 From: Bay Point, CA Region: California Topic: Non-Natives, Cacti and Succulents, Trees Title: Non-...
view the full question and answer

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