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Native plants for Texas
Texas spans five distinct eco-regions, so 'native' means something different in El Paso than in Houston. The plants below are workhorses across most of central and south Texas — chosen for drought tolerance, heat, and the alkaline soils common to the Hill Country and Blackland Prairie.
USDA zones 6b–9b · Regions: Hill Country, Blackland Prairie, Gulf Coast, West Texas, Piney Woods
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61 native plants for Texas
Agarita
Berberis trifoliolata
A spiny blue-grey evergreen that bees swarm in late winter and birds nest inside for protection.
American Beautyberry
Callicarpa americana
Grown for its show-stopping clusters of electric-purple berries in fall — a feast for mockingbirds and dozens of other birds — on a graceful arching shrub..
Autumn Sage
Salvia greggii
The workhorse of the water-wise Texas garden: a small evergreen shrub that blooms nearly year-round and shrugs off heat, drought, and deer..
Black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta
The classic golden prairie daisy — cheerful, tough, and endlessly reseeding.
Blackfoot Daisy
Melampodium leucanthum
A tidy mound smothered in honey-scented white daisies for most of the year.
Buffalograss
Bouteloua dactyloides
North America's true native turf grass — a fine, soft, blue-green sod that forms a low lawn on a fraction of the water Bermuda or St.
Cardinal Flower
Lobelia cardinalis
Spikes of the most intense scarlet of any native flower, rising from moist shade in late summer.
Cedar Elm
Ulmus crassifolia
The toughest large shade tree for central Texas — takes heavy clay, drought, and heat, then turns gold in fall.
Cedar Sage
Salvia roemeriana
A little scarlet sage made for the dry shade under cedar and oak — one of the few natives that lights up those difficult spots with true red bloom..
Cedar Sedge
Carex planostachys
A fine, arching native sedge that forms a soft green carpet in the dry shade beneath cedars and oaks — one of the very few things that will grow, and hold soil, there..
Coral Honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens
A well-behaved native vine — none of the invasive habit of Japanese honeysuckle — with clusters of coral trumpets that hummingbirds cannot resist..
Coralberry
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus
A modest suckering shrub for shade that comes into its own in fall, when the arching branches string themselves with clusters of coral-pink berries the birds strip by spring..
Crossvine
Bignonia capreolata
A vigorous semi-evergreen climber that covers a fence or arbor in orange-red trumpets in early spring — timed for the first returning hummingbirds.
Damianita
Chrysactinia mexicana
A low evergreen cushion of fine, aromatic foliage smothered in golden daisies in spring and again in fall.
Desert Willow
Chilopsis linearis
A slender desert tree that produces orchid-like trumpet flowers all summer on almost no water.
Engelmann Daisy
Engelmannia peristenia
A deep-taprooted prairie daisy that blooms yellow for months and shrugs off drought better than almost anything — its flowers even fold in the midday heat to conserve water..
Escarpment Live Oak
Quercus fusiformis
The iconic sprawling evergreen oak of the Hill Country, holding its leaves through winter and dropping acorns that feed everything from jays to deer..
Evergreen Sumac
Rhus virens
A lush, glossy evergreen that looks far too refined for how tough it is — a superb native screen or hedge that bees work in late summer and birds fruit on in fall..
Fall Aster
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium
A mounding aster that vanishes into the background all summer, then bursts into a haze of blue-purple daisies in October — a lifeline of late nectar for pollinators..
Flame Acanthus
Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii
A wispy, tough shrub that throws tubular orange-red flowers through the worst of the summer heat — exactly when hummingbirds are fueling up for migration..
Flameleaf Sumac
Rhus lanceolata
A small native tree grown for the best red-orange fall color in central Texas, plus summer flower panicles for bees and red berry clusters that feed birds into winter..
Four-nerve Daisy
Tetraneuris scaposa
A tidy evergreen tuft that lofts cheerful yellow daisies on wiry stems in nearly every month of the year.
Fragrant Sumac
Rhus aromatica
A low, spreading shrub that blazes orange-red in fall and holds slopes with its suckering roots.
Frogfruit
Phyla nodiflora
A flat, spreading mat that takes light foot traffic and blooms with tiny pollinator flowers — the leading native lawn substitute for sun to part shade in Texas..
Gayfeather
Liatris mucronata
Spires of feathery purple that open top-down in fall, when Monarchs are moving through and desperate for nectar.
Gregg's Dalea
Dalea greggii
A silvery, trailing groundcover that spills over walls and banks and dots itself with small purple flowers.
Gregg's Mistflower
Conoclinium greggii
A butterfly magnet without equal — its fuzzy blue flowers are the single best plant for pulling Queen and Monarch butterflies into a Texas garden..
Gulf Muhly
Muhlenbergia capillaris
For a few weeks each fall this clump grass erupts into a cloud of glowing pink — the most spectacular native ornamental grass for the South..
Horseherb
Calyptocarpus vialis
A soft, low groundcover that quietly replaces lawn in the shade where turf fails, threading tiny yellow flowers through its foliage for pollinators nearly year-round..
Indian Blanket
Gaillardia pulchella
The red-and-gold pinwheel daisy that blankets Texas roadsides all summer.
Inland Sea Oats
Chasmanthium latifolium
The rare ornamental grass that thrives in shade, dangling flat, papery seed heads that shift from green to bronze and rustle all winter.
Lindheimer's Muhly
Muhlenbergia lindheimeri
A big, fountain-shaped clump grass topped with silver-blond plumes in fall.
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
The backbone grass of the American prairie, turning coppery-mahogany in fall and silver-tufted in winter.
Maximilian Sunflower
Helianthus maximiliani
A towering prairie sunflower that lines its tall stems with gold in fall, feeding late pollinators and then a run of seed-eating birds.
Mealy Blue Sage
Salvia farinacea
Spikes of soft blue that hum with bees from spring to frost.
Mexican Hat
Ratibida columnifera
A whimsical prairie flower whose drooping petals form a sombrero beneath a tall central cone.
Mexican Plum
Prunus mexicana
A single-trunked native plum that clouds itself in fragrant white blossom in late winter — one of the earliest nectar sources of the year — then sets small plums the wildlife take..
Pink Evening Primrose
Oenothera speciosa
The pink cups that wash over Texas fields and roadsides in spring.
Possumhaw Holly
Ilex decidua
Drops its leaves in fall to reveal branches packed with scarlet berries that glow through winter and feed cedar waxwings and robins in late season..
Prairie Verbena
Glandularia bipinnatifida
A low, spreading mat of purple flower clusters that bloom nearly nonstop and draw butterflies constantly.
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
A prairie staple whose big rosy daisies feed butterflies in summer and finches in winter.
Purple Passionflower
Passiflora incarnata
An extravagant, fringed purple flower unlike anything else native, followed by egg-sized edible fruit.
Purple Prairie Clover
Dalea purpurea
A fine-textured prairie legume with thimbles of purple bloom ringed in orange pollen.
Rock Rose
Pavonia lasiopetala
A soft, ever-blooming little shrub-perennial covered in pink hibiscus-like flowers that open each morning.
Scarlet Sage
Salvia coccinea
An easy reseeding sage that blooms scarlet from spring to frost, even in part shade — one of the few hummingbird plants that flowers reliably out of full sun..
Sideoats Grama
Bouteloua curtipendula
The state grass of Texas, hanging its tiny oat-like seeds along one side of each stem, tinged with orange-red pollen.
Standing Cypress
Ipomopsis rubra
A tall biennial spike of fiery red tubular flowers that hummingbirds chase up and down.
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
An upright prairie grass with airy pink-bronze seed clouds and gold fall color.
Texas Betony
Stachys coccinea
Soft mounds of felted leaves send up scarlet flower spikes for months, thriving in the part shade where few hummingbird plants will bloom..
Texas Bluebonnet
Lupinus texensis
The Texas state flower — a spring-blooming annual lupine that carpets roadsides in cobalt blue.
Texas Kidneywood
Eysenhardtia texana
An airy shrub that throws spikes of vanilla-scented white flowers after every rain, drawing clouds of bees and butterflies.
Texas Lantana
Lantana urticoides
The true native lantana, with orange-and-yellow clusters that never stop through summer heat.
Texas Mountain Laurel
Dermatophyllum secundiflorum
A slow-growing evergreen with glossy leaves and drooping clusters of purple flowers that smell exactly like grape soda each spring.
Texas Redbud
Cercis canadensis var. texensis
A small understory tree that lines its bare branches with magenta pea-flowers before the leaves appear — the classic first sign of a Texas spring.
Texas Sage
Leucophyllum frutescens
A silver-leaved desert shrub that bursts into purple bloom after rain — earning its nickname 'barometer bush.' Thrives on neglect in the hottest, driest corners of a Texas yard..
Turk's Cap
Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii
The go-to native for shade that still wants color.
Wax Myrtle
Morella cerifera
A fast, dense, aromatic evergreen that makes an ideal privacy screen and fixes its own nitrogen.
White Mistflower
Ageratina havanensis
A rounded shrub that erupts in fragrant, frothy white bloom in autumn — perfectly timed for migrating Monarchs, which can cover it in numbers..
Winecup
Callirhoe involucrata
A sprawling perennial that spills chalice-shaped magenta flowers across the ground each spring.
Yaupon Holly
Ilex vomitoria
An adaptable evergreen holly that takes sun or deep shade, wet or dry, and covers itself in translucent red berries that hold all winter for the birds.
Zexmenia
Wedelia acapulcensis var. hispida
A tough, low mound of orange-gold daisies that blooms right through the summer with no help at all.
Guides
How-to guides for Texas
How to Replace Your Lawn With Native Plants in Texas
A step-by-step plan for killing your turf and replacing it with low-water Texas natives — from smothering the grass to choosing groundcovers, sedges, and native lawn grass.
The Best Native Plants for Clay Soil in Texas
Heavy black clay doesn't have to be a curse. These Texas natives evolved in it — trees, shrubs, grasses, and wildflowers that thrive in the dense, alkaline clay of the Blackland Prairie and beyond.
Native Plants for Shade and Dry Shade in Texas
The north side of the house, under the oaks, along the fence — the shady, root-filled spots where grass and most flowers give up. These Texas natives bloom and thrive there anyway.
Gardening with natives in Texas
Hot summers, mild winters, and highly variable rainfall — droughts are the design constraint. Alkaline, rocky, or heavy clay soils dominate much of the state.
Every plant on this page is native to Texas and chosen for how it performs in a real yard — not just for wildlife value. Use the filters in the plant finder to narrow by your exact conditions: sun exposure, how much water you're willing to give, mature size, bloom season, and whether deer are a problem.