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
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
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:
More Herbs/Forbs Questions
Shade tolerant plants for Waynesville MO
April 09, 2013 - We moved to Waynesville, MO (gardening region 6) and when we bought our house there was a nice looking gardening area in front of the house. It is shaded moderately by a Redwood Tree and was "occupie...
view the full question and answer
Natural fibers for lashing bamboo in weaving
May 07, 2008 - I live in Austin and am looking for plants I can use for weaving fibers, e.g. lashing bamboo for a small project. What plants and parts do you recommend? What resources do you recommend for informatio...
view the full question and answer
Replacing St. Augustine with Horse herb in Austin, TX.
December 12, 2012 - I'm considering replacing my St. Augustine grass with a Horseherb/Straggler Daisy ground cover, but I've heard that it provides a mosquito breeding habitat, especially if you allow dead leaves to de...
view the full question and answer
Speed of growth on plants from Plant Sale from Austin
April 28, 2012 - Hello,
I recently attended the native plant sale and bought several plants for a sunny curbside bed in central Austin. Due to financial constraints I stuck with the 3 inch varieties so I could buy 3 ...
view the full question and answer
Standing Cypress Plants in San Antonio, TX
June 26, 2013 - I purchased seeds for standing cypress 2 years ago and this spring they look beautiful. What is the best way to harvest the seeds? Also, will the current plants come back next spring or will I have to...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |