Native Plants

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Sunday - November 28, 2010

From: New Braunfels, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Seed and Plant Sources
Title: Sources for native trees in New Braunfels TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I live just north of New Braunfels in the Hill Country. I would like to plant the following trees this December: Anacacho Orchid Tree, American Smoke Tree, Golden Leadball Tree, and perhaps a Lacebark Elm. Do you know where I might purchase these trees?

ANSWER:

The first suggestion we have is that you check out our webpage on our annual Tree Talk Winter Walk. Not only will you be able to talk to tree experts and visit some native trees on the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center grounds, but there will be trees for sale in the courtyard. The plant list for this sale is not yet available, so we don't know if the specific trees you want are going to be on sale that day.

Your second source of information is our National Suppliers Directory. Type in your town and state in the "Enter Search Location" box and you will get a list of native plant suppliers, seed companies and landscape professionals in your general area. All have contact information so you can determine in advance if they have the tree you are looking for, and prices.

Next, we are going to go through your shopping list and find out if each tree is native to your area of Central Texas, what kind of conditions it needs to flourish, and light requirements. Follow each plant link to our page on that plant for more information.

Bauhinia lunarioides (Anacacho orchid tree) - according to this USDA Plant Profile, this tree does not grow natively in Central Texas, but only in a few counties of South Texas.

Cotinus obovatus (American smoke tree) - USDA Plant Profile shows this tree growing in a few Central Texas counties, blooms pink, yellow, purple April and May, needs sun to part shade.

Leucaena retusa (Goldenball leadtree) - evergreen, blooms yellow April to October, part shade, mostly found in Chihuahuan Desert of South Texas but apparently cultivated in a couple of Central Texas counties. USDA Plant Profile.

Ulmus parvifolia, Lacebark elm - This tree is native to China, Japan and Vietnam, and therefore falls out of our area of expertise. This USDA Plant Profile shows it not growing in Texas at all. It is very invasive and subject to fungal infections; we do not recommend this as a landscape tree, especially in Texas.

Images from our Native Plant Image Gallery:

Bauhinia lunarioides

Cotinus obovatus