Native Plants

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Sunday - June 21, 2015

From: Leander, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Lists
Title: Plants for strip between sidewalk and street
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Dear Sir, My name is Brandon. I live in Leander TX (just North of Cedar Park). I have an area that is in the "street strip" (in between sidewalk and asphalt) of my home that I would like to do natives in. I would like something that stays between 2-3 ft (ish) tall so I don't have to maintenance it much. Please keep in mind that the area will have lots of radiant heat between the sidewalk, street and preexisting basalt gravel that I've used as filler. I looked at the Autumn Sage as a possibility because it flowers and the Mrs. loves her some flowers! Plus it's evergreen (ish) in nature. Do you have any other recommendations possibly? And where is the best place for me to locate these plants in Williamson/Travis County. Thank you for your time, B-

ANSWER:

On our Special Collections page, near the bottom of the page, we have an area called JUST FOR CENTRAL TEXANS. Two of the lists there look as if they could be useful to your selection of plants—Sun Garden Plants for Central Texas (this is an assumption on my part that the area is in full sun) and Drought Resistant Plants for Texas and Beyond.

From the first list, Sun Garden Plants, here are a few suggestions:

Chrysactinia mexicana (Damianita) is evergreen and usually less than 2 feet high.

Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida (Prairie verbena) is low-growing and blooms nearly year round.

Lantana urticoides (Texas lantana) is a spreading shrub that can be pruned to maintain size.

Melampodium leucanthum (Blackfoot daisy) grows less than a foot high and blooms over a long period.

Salvia greggii (Autumn sage) is evergreen and is certainly a good choice.

Tecoma stans (Yellow bells) can grow as tall as 6 feet but it usuallly produces a wonderful show of yellow blooms in the Central Texas area.

Tetraneuris scaposa var. scaposa (Four-nerve daisy) is a low-growing evergreen.

Many of the same plants appear on both lists, but here is one from the Drought Resistant Plants list that should work well:

Nolina texana (Texas sacahuista) is evergreen and grows to 2.5 feet.

There may be other plants that you prefer on either of these two lists.

You can look for nurseries that specialize in native plants in your area by searching in our National Suppliers Directory.

From the Image Gallery

Damianita
Chrysactinia mexicana

Prairie verbena
Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida

Texas lantana
Lantana urticoides

Blackfoot daisy
Melampodium leucanthum

Autumn sage
Salvia greggii

Yellow bells
Tecoma stans

Four-nerve daisy
Tetraneuris scaposa var. scaposa

Texas sacahuista
Nolina texana