Texas Native Plants – Easy Care Beauty, the Natural Way!

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Texas native plants are those that were in Texas when the first Europeans came in to this area, generally from the 1500’s – 1700’s. Texas is a very large state, so not all its native plants are adapted to our area. Also, since plants do not recognize state or national borders, some of these plants are also native to other states or Mexico. Generally, these plants have adapted to the vagaries of Texas’ climate, including temperatures and rainfall, so they do not demand the care of many modern hybrids. Much of the wildlife of Texas is dependent upon these plants for survival. There are about 5,000 species of native plants in Texas and there are about 20 of them are in our Texas Native Plants Bed.
Native plants are, in a word, local. They are plants that have been growing in a particular habitat and region, typically for thousands of years or longer. Also called indigenous, they are well adapted to the climate, light, and soil conditions that characterize their ecosystem.

The native ranges of plants vary. Woody plants are typically indigenous to substantial portions of our continent. Northern Red Oaks, for example, are native from Nova Scotia, southern Ontario, and Minnesota, through the eastern and central U.S. to Georgia, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. Yet, not all ranges are this big. Rhodora, a beautiful, bog-loving azalea, is native from Labrador and Quebec, south to the mid-Atlantic states. A few unique and rare plants are even more specialized and indigenous to quite small regions.
This year, 2016, we enjoyed seeing a number of Gulf Fritillary butterflies feeding on and laying eggs on our Maxmillian Sunflower and Passion Flower vine. This presented some great photographic opportunities as seen in the image below. We enjoyed seeing the butterflies so much that we plan on putting in a butterfly garden next year.

Texas Native Plants Plant List

List includes past and current plants

Texas Lantana	Passion Flower Vine	Salvia, Greggii red	Inland Sea Oats*	Maxmillian Sunflower
Rudbeckia Maxima, large Coneflower	Flame Acanthus	Henry Duelberg Salvia	Turk’s Cap	Milkweed
Pepper, Chile Pequin	Spiderwort

Rodney Huffman	The bed head for the Native Plants bed is Rodney Huffman. Rodney became a Master Gardener in 2019 and immediately started taking on positions of responsibility.  He first became Treasurer for two years and in 2021, took on the position of Native Plants Bedhead.  Thanks to Rodney and all the other MGs that may have helped him with the Native Plants bed to make it as beautiful as possible.

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