Native Texas Gardens

Explore more than 600 gardens that make the most of the Lone Star State's home-grown greenery.

In today’s South, where fine gardening is a tradition, many homeowners and professional gardeners are discovering a vast “new” palette of plant materials—native plants. They are realizing that these native wildflowers, trees, shrubs, groundcovers, vines, and grasses are far better suited, and therefore easier to grow and maintain, than most of the imported plants that populate traditional landscapes. In this book, the authors offer an exciting vision of the many possibilities and advantages of “going native.” Lavishly illustrated with more than 250 gorgeous color photographs, this book is both an introduction to more than 200 of the most familiar and easiest-to-find native plants of the South and a basic primer on how to use them effectively.

An indispensable guide with 21 landscaping design plans for every type of terrain found in Texas.

While many growers focus on attracting adult butterflies to their gardens, fewer know about the plants that caterpillars need to survive. Native host plants—wildflowers, trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and sedges—not only provide a site for the butterfly to lay its eggs, they also provide a ready food source for the emerging caterpillar. Think of these plants as the nurseries of the garden. This user-friendly, heavily illustrated field guide describes 101 native larval host plants in Texas. Each species account includes descriptive information on each plant, a distribution map, and photos of both the caterpillars and adult butterflies who frequent those plants. An adult butterfly may nectar on a wide variety of flowers, but caterpillars are much more restricted in their food sources. Some feed on only a limited number of plant species, so female butterflies seek out these specific plants to lay their eggs. For example, the host plants for Monarch caterpillars are various species of milkweed. Often, these plants are not the same as the ones the adult butterfly will later use for nectar. Learning more about the plants caterpillars need is crucial for butterfly conservation. Butterflies’ dependency on specific caterpillar host plants is one of the key factors restricting their range and distribution. Armed with this knowledge, readers can also hone their ability to find specific species of breeding butterflies in nature. This is a handy guide whether you are in the field searching for butterflies or on the hunt for butterfly-friendly options at your local plant sale.

This groundbreaking book shows beginners and experienced gardeners alike how to create gorgeous gardens with the easiest, colorful, low water plants that north central Texas has to offer. It features over 1000 spectacular photos of annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees that thrive with little or no irrigation and only require minutes of care per year - plants that can breeze through hot, humid, Texas summers while attracting butterflies, birds and hummingbirds. Shop for plants like a pro by taking the book with you to garden centers and checking out the latest information on the newest plants around from people who have grown them! Create traffic-stopping color combinations from the over 150 easy examples shown.

In this comprehensive, richly illustrated guide, author George Oxford Miller provides the "how-to," "when-to," and "what-to" for gardeners, landscapers, and homeowners throughout Texas. Have you ever planted a beautiful—and expensive—shrub in your yard and watched it slowly die because it was in the wrong location? Insufficient sunlight, too much water, improper soil, or too hot an exposure can turn the nursery-perfect specimen into an eyesore. This all-in-one DIY guide helps you beautify your yard using low-maintenance native plants specifically adapted to your local growing conditions. Whether as foundation hedges, mass plantings, or accent shrubs, Texas’ vast offering of native species can bring year-round beauty to any lawn space. Covering wildflowers, shrubs, trees, vines, cacti, and groundcovers, this book selects the species that combine ornamental qualities, growth habit, adaptability, and year-round beauty for the highest landscape value. Chapters include photos, maps, charts, and design samples to provide guidelines for species selection and planting, ongoing maintenance, landscape design, and water and energy conservation. Plant descriptions provide detailed habitat requirements for hundreds of native plants, and photos illustrate how each plant looks in the landscape. In Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas, new and experienced gardeners alike will find the facts and advice needed to choose the plants best adapted for their particular landscape. The ornamental beauty of Texas’ native species and the economic advantages of using plants adapted to the local climate demonstrate that the best for our landscapes often comes from our own backyards. And perhaps most importantly, using native plants encourages the repair and preservation of natural plant communities and the wildlife they shelter.

In this eloquent plea for compassion and respect for all species, journalist and gardener Nancy Lawson describes why and how to welcome wildlife to our backyards. Through engaging anecdotes and inspired advice, profiles of home gardeners throughout the country, and interviews with scientists and horticulturalists, Lawson applies the broader lessons of ecology to our own outdoor spaces. Detailed chapters address planting for wildlife by choosing native species; providing habitats that shelter baby animals, as well as birds, bees, and butterflies; creating safe zones in the garden; cohabiting with creatures often regarded as pests; letting nature be your garden designer; and encouraging natural processes and evolution in the garden. The Humane Gardener fills a unique niche in describing simple principles for both attracting wildlife and peacefully resolving conflicts with all the creatures that share our world.

Contains plans for ten gardens designed for specific regions in Texas, each relying almost exclusively on indigenous plants; includes eleven plans for themed gardens; and features profiles and photographs of 364 native Texas plants.