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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Friday - October 19, 2012

From: Shamrock, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Lists, Herbs/Forbs, Shrubs
Title: Perennials for flowerbed in Texas Panhandle
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I have a flowerbed in a partially shaded area and want some perennials. I live in the Texas Panhandle, soil is sandy, loamy. Hardiness zone is 6-B.

ANSWER:

We have a Texas–High Plains Recommended list with commercially available native plants suitable for landscaping in your area. You can use the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option and choose "Perennial" from LIFESPAN and "Part shade - 2 to 6 hrs" from LIGHT REQUIREMENT. This will give about 55 choices of all types of plants—trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses. You can narrow down the results even more by choosing the type of plant you want from GENERAL APPEARANCE. Here are some possibilities from the list:

Asclepias tuberosa (Butterflyweed)

Echinacea angustifolia (Black sampson)

Ephedra antisyphilitica (Mormon tea)

Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida (Prairie verbena)

Melampodium leucanthum (Blackfoot daisy)

Mimosa borealis (Fragrant mimosa)

Oenothera macrocarpa ssp. macrocarpa (Bigfruit evening-primrose)

Salvia azurea var. grandiflora (Pitcher sage)

Zinnia grandiflora (Rocky mountain zinnia)

There are other possibilities that you can find for yourself on this list. If you want to find out more about each species, scroll to the bottom of the species page to the ADDITIONAL RESOURCES area and click on the Google link. You can visit our National Suppliers Directory to search for nurseries in your area that specialize in native plants.