13 plants
Black-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia hirta
The classic golden prairie daisy — cheerful, tough, and endlessly reseeding.
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..
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..
Gayfeather
Liatris mucronata
Spires of feathery purple that open top-down in fall, when Monarchs are moving through and desperate for nectar.
Indian Blanket
Gaillardia pulchella
The red-and-gold pinwheel daisy that blankets Texas roadsides all summer.
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.
Mexican Hat
Ratibida columnifera
A whimsical prairie flower whose drooping petals form a sombrero beneath a tall central cone.
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
A prairie staple whose big rosy daisies feed butterflies in summer and finches in winter.
Purple Prairie Clover
Dalea purpurea
A fine-textured prairie legume with thimbles of purple bloom ringed in orange pollen.
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.
Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum
An upright prairie grass with airy pink-bronze seed clouds and gold fall color.
Texas Bluebonnet
Lupinus texensis
The Texas state flower — a spring-blooming annual lupine that carpets roadsides in cobalt blue.
Choosing for meadows for Texas
These 13 species are all native to Texas and suited to this use. Because they belong to the local climate, they'll do the job with far less water and care than the non-native alternatives usually sold for it. Open any plant for full growing details, or use the finder to narrow further by sun, size, and bloom.