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.
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Tuesday - August 19, 2008
From: Houston, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shade Tolerant
Title: Plants for shade
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I live in hot, humid Houston and the tree coverage of my yard is nearly 100 percent (so, little sunlight reaches the ground). Can you suggest a plant or two that would thrive in these conditions?ANSWER:
You can find a list of East Texas Recommended plants, native plants that are commercially available for landscaping in East Texas, by choosing the East Texas section of the map on our Recommended Species page. From that list of over 130 species, you can narrow your search to plants that do well in the shade. First, select the Narrow Your Search option at the top of the list, then under Light Requirement select 'Shade - Less than 2 hours of sun per day'. There are more than 30 plants—trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants—that fit these requirements. Here are a few that Mr. SP particularly likes:Chasmanthium latifolium (Inland sea oats)
Cornus florida (flowering dogwood)
Hydrangea quercifolia (oakleaf hydrangea)
Iris brevicaulis (zigzag iris)
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinalflower)
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Phlox divaricata (wild blue phlox)
More Shade Tolerant Questions
Shrubs and other plants for shady area in Austin
March 22, 2010 - I am looking for what kind of shrubs, plants that I can plant under my very shady oak trees in South Austin. Soil is good, I want to have some lushness under my trees instead of dirt, I have a small a...
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Illinois native grasses for shade
June 27, 2013 - Hello, my grass has died in a very shady area (standard buffalo grass), and I took this as an opportunity to plant some native grass varieties. I originally thought of buffalo grass, but learned that ...
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March 10, 2014 - Dear Mr. Smarty Plants,
Our property is adjacent to the highway for ~ 200ft. I'm looking for partial-to-full shade tolerant evergreens that will grow to be relatively tall. Our soil is clay and g...
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Low evergreen shrubs for shade in Spring TX
February 19, 2009 - I am looking for an evergreen plant that grows no taller than 2 feet and will grow in shade. I would love to have one that would also produce flowers. Please help and thanks.
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June 24, 2012 - I need fast growing evergreens or large shrubs, flowering or non-flowering, for privacy. They will need to flourish among large oak and hickory trees that are 75 plus years old. We don't want to dama...
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