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
Friday - March 19, 2010
From: Sweetwater, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Grasses or Grass-like, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Plants for yard in Sweetwater, Texas
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
What plants or grass would you suggest for an area that that is located on the east side of our house - full sun morning through noon, then it's shaded the remainder of the day.. Thanks!!ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants suggests that you visit our Recommended Species page and select the Texas High Plains from the map or from the pull-down menu to find a list of commercially available native plants that are recommended for landscaping in your area. You can limit that list by various criteria—in your case, in the NARROW YOUR SEARCH column, choose "Part Shade" from the LIGHT REQUIREMENT option.
From that list, here are some grasses that should do well:
Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama)
Pascopyrum smithii (western wheatgrass)
Poa arachnifera (Texas bluegrass)
Sorghastrum nutans (Indiangrass)
Here are some shrubs/small trees:
Diospyros texana (Texas persimmon)
Rhus microphylla (littleleaf sumac)
Zinnia grandiflora (Rocky Mountain zinnia)
Finally, here are some showy herbaceous perennials or annuals:
Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed)
Gaillardia pulchella (firewheel)
Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida (Dakota mock vervain)
Melampodium leucanthum (plains blackfoot)
There are many more that you can see on the Texas-High Plains Recommended list.
Here are photos of the above from Image Gallery:
More Grasses or Grass-like Questions
Recreating a wildflower meadow, central Texas
July 02, 2013 - We have an acre on our property that has bluebonnets. Unfortunately, it also has other plants that we don't want -Johnson grass, nettles, burrs.
We plan to do a controlled burn in the fall and re-...
view the full question and answer
Grasses for shady areas
November 24, 2013 - I would like to know which grasses would grow in mostly shady part of the house.
view the full question and answer
Why are there no low-mow lawn grasses composed of only native fescues?
September 09, 2014 - Dear SP, Most blends of ecograss I see are a combination of non-native and native fescues (and sometimes buffalo grass, blue grama, etc.). Why are there (apparently) none that are composed entirely of...
view the full question and answer
Plants for slope in central Alabama
July 26, 2011 - Our home is atop a 20-25' eastern facing sandy loam slope in central Alabama. It was previously covered w/ kudzu. After 3 yrs. of eradication of the kudzu we are ready to plant with native grasses/pl...
view the full question and answer
Plants for shade, poor soil in Park Ridge NJ
June 17, 2010 - Hello! I live in far northeast New Jersey, by the New York state border. I am looking for plants for areas of my lawn that nothing currently grows in - due to shade and poor soil quality - very rocky,...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |