Plant Index
Canopy Trees
Ornamental Trees
Shrubs, Grasses, and Groundcover
Autumn Sage
Salvia greggii
| Size: normally 2-3 feet, can reach 5 feet
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Shrub Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: Red, pink, orange, white, or purple. Color varies by breeding and provenance.
Bloom time: March-November Description: Cold and heat tolerant but must have a well-drained site. Be careful planting near heavy foot traffic because the stems are very brittle. |
Big Bluestem
Andropogon gerardii
| Size: 4-8 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Grass Sun preference: Sun, part shade Water needs: Low to medium |
Bloom color: Red, blue, and brown
Bloom time: August-November Description: Big Bluestem needs more moisture than Little Bluestem to look its best. It has high drought-tolerance but if planted in a garden with too much water, shade, or fertilizer, it can grow top-heavy and fall over. |
'Blond Ambition' Blue Grama
Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition'
| Size: Foliage usually no more than 4 inches high, seedheads 1 to 2 feet
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Grass Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Low to medium |
Bloom color: Yellow
Bloom time: July-October Description: Blue Grama can survive with as little as 7 inches of rain annually making this the most drought-tolerant native turf grass. The taller it grows, the less water it needs. |
Bur Oak
Quercus macrocarpa
| Tree size: 70-80 feet tall
Leaf type: Deciduous Sun preference: Full sun Water needs: Moderate |
Fruit type: Nut
Tolerates: Pollution and heat stress Description: Slow grower at increases of less than 12" per year. |
Butterfly Weed
Asclepias curassavica or Asclepias tuberosa
| Size: 1-2 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Herb (not culinary) Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: Orange and yellow
Bloom time: May-September Description: Butterfly weed has a very interesting flower structure and likes to be planted among other mid-sized perennials. Inevitably it will get aphids. Leave them for ladybugs to eat or spray the foliage with soapy water. |
Calylophus
Calylophus spp.
| Size: Up to 1 foot tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Herb (not culinary) Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: Yellow
Bloom time: March-September Description: This bushy plant is great for rock gardens and features broad, showy yellow flowers. |
Cedar Elm
Ulmas crasslfolia
| Tree size: 30-60 feet tall
Leaf type: Deciduous Sun preference: Part shade Water needs: Moderate |
Fruit type: Samara
Bloom time: July-October Description: Cedar Elm is a hardy, drought tolerant shade tree. The leaves turn a vivid yellow in autumn and the small foliage composts nicely (no need to rake!) |
Desert Willow
Chilopsis linearis
| Tree size: up to 40 feet tall
Leaf type: Deciduous Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Low |
Fruit type: Capsule
Bloom time: April-October Description: Drying out between waterings will encourage more extensive blooms. Cold and heat tolerant with high drought tolerance. |
Dwarf Wax Myrtle
Myrica corifica 'Don's Dwarf'
| Size: 3-6 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Shrub Sun preference: Sun, part shade, shade Water needs: Medium |
Bloom color: Silver-blue berries on female plants
Bloom time: March-April Description: A smaller version of the wax myrtle tree form. Leaves are aromatic and makes a nice hedge. |
Eve's Necklace
Styphnolobium affine
| Tree size: up to 30 feet tall
Leaf type: Deciduous Sun preference: Part shade Water needs: Low |
Fruit type: Legume
Bloom color: White and pink Bloom time: March-May Description: Eve's necklace grows from seed to 6 ft in 3 years. So named because of its clustered pink blooms that mature into black, bead-like strings of seeds. The planting site must be well-drained or it will get chlorotic. |
Evergreen Sumac
Rhus virens
| Tree size: up to 10 feet tall
Leaf type: Evergreen Sun preference: Sun, part shade Water needs: Low |
Fruit type: Drupe
Bloom color: White Bloom time: June-November Description: Cold and drought tolerant. When soaked in water, the red berries make a tart tea this is high in vitamin C. |
Fall Aster
Symphiotricum oblongifolium
| Size: up to 3 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Herb (not culinary) Sun preference: Sun, part shade Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: Purple and violet
Bloom time: September-November Description: Fall Aster is a late bloomer with small purple flowers in the fall season. Thin regularly to control so it doesn't colonize. The plant may "open up" if it gets to top heavy so keep it thick by pruning it back no more than half in June. Wait to cut back the basal rosette in late fall, early winter. |
Flame Acanthus
Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii
| Size: Normally no more than 3 feet tall, some can reach 5 feet
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Shrub Sun preference: Sun, part shade Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: Red and orange
Bloom time: June-November Description: This drought and cold tolerant shrub blooms best in full sun but can tolerate light shade. Adapts to a variety of soils and does well in patio pots too. |
Four-Nerve Daisy
Tetraneuris scaposa
| Size: up to about 16 inches tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Herb (not culinary) Sun preference: Part shade Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: Yellow
Bloom time: March-June, may bloom year-round under the right conditions. Description: Four-nerve daisy prefers well-drained and dry soils. The grass like leaves work well in sunny rock gardens, container gardens, and borders. |
Henry Duelberg Salvia
Salvia farinacea
| Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Herb (not culinary) Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: White and blue
Bloom time: April-October Description: Grows well in perennial borders and hummingbirds and butterflies enjoy the nectar. When new basal foliage appears, cut the old flower stems to keep the plants lush. Wet soil will make this salvia leggy and weak. |
Indiangrass
Sorghastrum nutans
| Size: Up to 8 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Grass Sun preference: Sun, part shade, shade Water needs: Medium |
Bloom color: Yellow
Bloom time: August-October Description: The bright yellow flowers contrast attractively with the blue-gray foliage. Best planted in a group or in a wildflower meadow, the grass stays low most of the year and then gets tall before blooming in early autumn. |
Little Bluestem
Schizachyrium scoparium
| Size: Up to 7 feet tall, usually shorter
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Grass Sun preference: Sun, part shade Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: White, green, and brown
Bloom time: June-December Description: Little Bluestem provides visual dynamics ranging from blue-green in late summer to golden with cotton-tufted seedheads in winter. It is not recommended for small gardens because it reseeds. |
Lynns Legacy Texas Sage
Leucophyllum langmaniae
| Size: 4-5 feet
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Shrub Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: Lavender
Bloom time: June-October Description: Named after the legendary Texas plantsman, Lynn Lowery, who selected this shrub for its abundant and long flowering. It is longer blooming than most other Texas Sage. Plant in full sun with well-drained soil and this sage is extremely drought and heat tolerant. |
Meadow Sedge
Carex praticola
| Size: Up to 3 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Grass Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Medium |
Bloom color: White, green, and brown
Bloom time: March-August Description: Meadow Sedge is heat tolerant and can be used as a grass substitute for low-traffic lawns. |
Mexican Buckeye
Ungnadia speciosa
| Tree size: up to 30 feet tall
Leaf type: Deciduous Sun preference: Sun, Part Shade Water needs: Low |
Fruit type: Capsule
Bloom time: March-June Description: Pink flowers in spring and early summer turn to yellow in the fall. Small tree or tall background shrub, Mexican Buckeye is rapid-growing, drought resistant, and resistant to cotton root rot. Can be pruned into a single trunk. Warning, mildly poisonous seedpods. |
Mexican Sycamore
Platanus mexicana
| Tree size: Large
Leaf type: Deciduous Water needs: Moderate |
Fruit type: Nut
Tolerates: Drought, alkaline soils Potential problems: Fruit and leaf drop. May not be cold tolerant. |
Narrowleaf Gayfeather (Texas Blazing Star)
Liatris mucronata
| Size: 1-3 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Herb (not culinary) Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: Purple
Bloom time: August-December Description: Blazing Star is heat and drought tolerant. It prefers drier soil as too much water leads to root rot. |
Pale Leaf Yucca
Yucca pallida
| Size: up to 30 inches tall not in bloom, up to 6 feet tall in bloom
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/ Cactus-Succulent Sun preference: Sun, Part Shade Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: White
Bloom time: May-June Description: Requires good drainage. Can be grown in a shade garden but may not bloom as well as those in sun. |
Possumhaw Holly
Llex decidua
| Tree size: up to 30 feet tall
Leaf type: Deciduous Sun preference: Sun, part shade Water needs: Medium |
Fruit type: Drupe, commonly referred to as berries
Bloom time: March-May Description: Possumhaw have small white blooms in spring and the female trees have red berries to provide winter color. Cold and heat tolerant. |
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea
| Size: up to 4 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Herb (not culinary) Sun preference: Sun, part shade Water needs: Medium |
Bloom color: Pink and purple
Bloom time: April-September Description: Popular due to its smooth stems and long-lasting, lavender flowers. Purple coneflower can become very aggressive with growth. |
Tifsport Bermuda Sod
Cynodon dactylon x c. transvaalensis
| Size: mowing height 1/4" to 1 1/2"
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Grass Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Medium |
Bloom color: N/A
Bloom time: N/A Description: Tifsport is a hybrid variety of Bermuda grass intended for commercial, golf, residential, and sport use. It tolerates close mowing and regenerates rapidly from activity damage. |
Red Oak (Shumards Oak)
Quercus shumardii
| Tree size: 50-90 feet tall
Leaf type: Deciduous Sun preference: Sun, part shade Water needs: Moderate |
Fruit type: Nut
Bloom time: March-May Description: Red Oaks are cold tolerant and relatively fast-growing. Quercus shumardii is an adaptable oak that is quite drought resistant and can handle short-term flooding. |
Shenandoah Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum shenandoah
| Size: 3-4 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Grass Sun preference: Sun, part shade Water needs: Medium |
Bloom color: Pink
Bloom time: August-November Description: Foliage emerges blue-green but rapidly turns burgundy-red (by late June). This variety of switchgrass is topped in summer by finely-textured, reddish-pink flower panicles which hover like a cloud over the foliage. |
Turk's Cap
Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondil
| Size: Up to 10 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Shrub Sun preference: Part shade, shade Water needs: Medium |
Bloom color: Red and white
Bloom time: May-November Description: Turk's Cap is drought tolerant and prefers partially shady areas. It can adapt and thrive in different sites except for unremitting sun. |
Undaunted Ruby Gulf Muhly
Muhlenbergia reverchonii 'undaunted'
| Size: up to 3 feet tall
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Grass Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Medium |
Bloom color: White, pink, and brown
Bloom time: August-November Description: Also known as Seep Muhly, these grasses are native to Oklahoma and Texas. This perennial requires full sun, has high drought tolerance, cold tolerant, and heat tolerant. |
Wolly Stemodia
Stemodia lanata
| Size: up to 3 feet long
Longevity/Habit: Perennial/Herb (not culinary) Sun preference: Sun Water needs: Low |
Bloom color: White, purple, and violet
Bloom time: April-November Description: Evergreen ground cover |
For information from local experts, check out the Frisco Garden Club, opens a new window.
Information gathered from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center website at wildflower.org, opens a new window.
