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.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

rate this answer

Thursday - June 28, 2012
From: San Antonio, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Lists, Drought Tolerant, Herbs/Forbs, Shrubs
Title: Blue Natives for San Antonio
Answered by: Brigid & Larry Larson
QUESTION:
What are the best flowers or trees to buy since we are always in stage 2 and sometimes in stage 3 water conservation? I love flowers that are blue, preferably year around. THANK YOUANSWER:
You’ve come to the right place! Native Flowers and Trees have evolved to live successfully in this climate, so they should be adapted well enough that they can survive our harsh summers all by themselves! If you can water them a little bit, you will be rewarded with some very healthy plants.
We’ve got a great way to find local native trees and plants that flower blue. However, I don’t believe any of them flower year around, that’s the realm of plastic plants! Here’s how you can find some suggestions.
We have a set of recommended plants for nearly every area of the US. If you check out the recommended plants for Central Texas, there is a option to the side where you can select only native plants that flower in the blue. This option leaves 12 plants to choose from! As you want year-around blue – you may want to consider an interplanting of plants that bloom at differing times. This way it’s possible that you can have one or more plants with blue blossoms visible most of the year! The list below has this list of blue bloomers for Central Texas by the first month it may bloom and with the possible length in parenthesis.
February Bloomers: Tradescantia edwardsiana (Plateau spiderwort) ( 4 months), Sophora secundiflora (Texas mountain laurel) ( 2 months)
March Bloomer: Tradescantia gigantea (Giant spiderwort) ( 2 months]
April Bloomers: Salvia farinacea (Mealy blue sage) ( 7 months), Passiflora incarnata (Purple passionflower) ( 6 months), Delphinium carolinianum (Carolina larkspur) ( 4 months), Amorpha fruticosa (Indigo bush) ( 3 months), Tradescantia pedicellata (Edwards plateau spiderwort) ( 2 months), Salvia engelmannii (Engelmann's sage) ( 2 months)
July Bloomers: Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue mistflower) ( 5 months). Eryngium leavenworthii (Leavenworth's eryngo) ( 3 months)
In thinking about this collection, two prime candidates were missing. The South Texas Plains Collection also applies to San Antonio and Lupinus texensis (Texas bluebonnet) [March, 3 months] and Salvia azurea (Pitcher sage) [September, 3 months] did show up there!
Enjoy your nearly year-long blue flowers!
From the Image Gallery
More Shrubs Questions
Age at which native agarita produces berries
July 28, 2004 - At what age does agarita produce berries? Is this plant self pollinating?
view the full question and answer
Short evergreen shrub for Virginia
April 10, 2009 - I have been looking everywhere for an evergreen shrub that is 3-4 ft. in height, non-poisonous to humans, and that thrives in zone 7 to no avail. Please help!
view the full question and answer
Recovery of water-stressed Agarita
August 11, 2014 - Hello! I planted a small agarita at the end of May and then
left town for six weeks. During that time it was supposed to receive weekly deep irrigations to help it establish, but it seems that som...
view the full question and answer
Shrubs for Privacy Fence in Hawaii
July 06, 2016 - I live in Hawaii and need to create some privacy along a wall of my house. The septic drain field is 5' away and I am looking for 6'-8' shrubs that have shallow roots. Would something like cordyline f...
view the full question and answer
Small shrubs and perennials, low maintenance, for San Antonio
February 06, 2010 - I am helping my 87 year old father landscape his yard in San Antonio. His small yard is about a block from the SA River, near the zoo, and has clay and loam from the river. He wants very low to low wa...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |