Please list your natives that are doing well for you.
I want to add more to my beds...if you have some extras to trade, LMK.

@Frostweed have sent me some of hers few years back: the cowpen daisy and swamp sunflower.
I'm collecting my bluebonnet seeds (almost time to sow). Got plenty of bachelor buttons seeds, too.

Betsy - Where do you live - what city. You and I are in the same zone. I'm near downtown Houston.

Everything I ever get from Frostweed has done really well. Her NPSoT chapter is having their fall sale in September. I have a conflict with the date but I think I know which side the coin toss will end up on.

When still in DG, some Houston and Houston area members would come up our way and I have perennials growing, including a crinum, that they gave me.

I have some Turk's Cap (a red and a pink) that I got from Lowe's last year. They've survived a year of mostly neglect, including only a couple of supplemental waterings in August (the ones in almost full sun have been a little wilty, but still growing). They grow in sun, part shade, or full shade, and tolerate my clay soil without amendment. This is one of my favorite plants, and it's going to form the backbone of the foundation planting I'll start putting in this fall.

Last year I dug up violets from my mom's yard (where they grow as weeds, but weeds in a well-watered lawn), planted them in dry shade under an ash tree, and babied them for 6 months with lots of water. This year I let them sink or swim on their own, and they've mostly sunk. I hope more of them are dormant than dead, but we'll see in October when the ones that are going to come back do so.

I have some Texas Bluebells (sold as Lisianthus at Home Depot; they're sold as annuals but they're perennials here). More of them have died than not, but I planted them in full sun in late spring and haven't been able to give them much supplemental watering, so it's not their fault.

I grew a variety of baptisias from seed last winter (baptisa bracteata, baptisia alba, baptisia australis, baptisia australis minor). The bracteata has been thriving and everything else has been clinging to life, except for the baptisia australis var. minor, which have all died.

The backyard was full of straggler daisy / horseherb when we moved in, which is a nice little steppable native plant. But the neighbors' St. Augustine grass from either side has been slowly invading and choking it out. I guess I'm OK with that.

I love Turks Cap. It was one of the first things I planted when I got my house. I love that they grow in sun or shade and thrive despite abuse. Aside from that first one, which is very big, I have a 3 year old that's blooming; a 2 year old that wants to bloom; and a 1 year old that's just hanging on.

Rosemary does well everywhere and is evergreen.

Have horseherb in the backyard. It came with the house. For years I didn't know what it was. Assumed it was a weed but let it be. Now I'd love to get some growing in other areas. Definitely would if it was evergreen.

Take a look at Flame Acanthus. It's a native perennial that loves sun and pollinators love it.

There are a lot of salvias that are native perennials and should be happy in your area.

I'm curious on the Turks Cap... do you guys find it blooms more, less or the same in shade versus sun? Mine sun stays terribly wilty in mostly sun.

I have a Turk's cap that's in bright shade most of the day (gets 1-2 hours direct sunlight in the AM). It blooms a bit less than the one that gets hours of afternoon sunlight, and is definitely less tall. But I see established Turk's caps in shade (in other people's yards) that bloom nicely, so maybe it'll catch up once established.

My oldest one is going crazy right now despite the fact that I rarely water it. It's hard to say how much sun it gets as it's surrounded on all sides except east by large trees. It probably leans a bit more toward the sun.

I have a 3 year old one that is shaded by trees and faces north. And it's blooming now.

Two others are babies but also shaded. I do try to water them but maybe I shouldn't.

Maybe I'll go outside and take some pictures. I've posted pics before of the big one but looking at it yesterday I realized it was blooming more than ever.

My only wish is that they were evergreen! Oh, I also wish that little Peter Cottontail didn't use the big one as a hiding place.

Ooh, forgot to mention that I put in 6 allium cernuum (nodding onion) in my "hell strip" garden last spring. Don't make the same mistake! The gosh-darn thing is a weed. There are over a hundred of that plant now. Gotta rip them out, and I fear that I've set myself years of work to eradicate them. I'd had it in a pot in part shade for a year after buying it on sale, and it never bloomed for me, so I don't know that containing it is a viable solution, either. No more native alliums ever!

I took some pics of my Turks caps. The first picture is my oldest one. It shows the sunny side. After that will be the shadier side. The only real difference is how many trees are behind the fence.







Here's my 3 year old. Barely gets any sun. You can see how the sun stops inches before the plant.



And yet it's blooming.



The 2 yr old probably gets sun for an hour or two and not consecutively. So it's little but has a few little blooms!



Here you can see 1 bloom on it. I had to get up really close to see it.



Even the baby has a bud on it.

What a great plant!

Thanks for the photos... the oldest one is loaded with blooms.

@Tx_flower_child,Your Turks cap look very nice and that large one is covered with blooms and buds. I tried one a few years ago and was a total failure trying to grow it. PS I got some very nice melons with the seed you sent me Thanks.

@Txtea — I'm glad some of the seeds I sent were viable. 👍
Wish I had enough sun to grow fruit and vegetables.

For those who have trouble growing turks cap:
I didn't grow any of my turks cap from seed. All were started from transplants. Maybe that's what makes the difference. Plus I rarely do anything to help them. That 3yr old could use a bit more sun as well as water. I'm not about to buy a new hose since mine is perfectly fine. It's just a little too short to hit that one. So sometimes when I'm watering the perennial bed I'll turn the hose end sprayer to the 'jet' setting in order to get some water to it. In fact it just occurred to me that I might be watering the little ones too much. Guess my suggestion to grow turks cap is too ignore it. Let it fend for itself.

My perennials all do well. They also grow from small 4" transplants. Because of the heat and drought this year I've watered them more than usual. And I water whatever time of day I get around to it. Breaking all the 'rules'.

I know I'm getting to be a broken record about growing native perennials. But think about it. They boldly grow where . . . (sorry, couldn't resist.)

Was at Lowes last night and even tho these were oddly pretty, I had to pass them up.



Plus read their accompanying description. Made it extra hard to pass them up.


🚀🌵😝

"New spines emerge as a glistening white or golden yellow." That simply means artificial color has been added to the plants and what you see is entirely unnatural. If they survive the dye to grow, they will never, ever have this appearance again. At least they are telling you that, but I wonder how many people realize that as soon as the color is gone, it is gone forever and ever and ever. Also, I wonder what the plant looks like as the artificial color is fading and how long it takes for it to completely disappear. In the first case I'd think it probably gets unattractive. In the second, since cacti in general tend to grow slowly, that fading color might make it look ratty for a long time.

Well it does say, 'Boldly going'.
Gotta admit they're eye catching. 😝

Someone is going to be in for a big surprise if they don't read the fine print. But wait! I took a picture of a small, maybe 5x7 sign. I didn't notice any info with the individual plants. Or maybe they're being sold as a package deal. I'll be curious to see how long it'll take for them to make it to the dollar rack.

@LynneHTx, it was me that came to your house to trade some plants; you gave me the pride of barbados (it is blooming gorgeously now) that was 3 yrs ago. I've got in planted in SugarLand.

@Frostweed, the cowpen daisy is starting to bloom.

The salvia coccinea, red and pink, are doing very well...self-sowing everywhere, which is a slight problem.
My turk's cap is very old - over 25 years...still blooming; it gets sun/dappled sun all day.
'Henry Duelberg' Salvia both the blue and white is doing well.

I know that there are a wealth of native plant sales in the DFW area. So many that some are on the same day.

Since I have nothing better to do I thought I'd do a little searching around for Fall Native Plant Sales in other parts of the state. Found a number of them and bet I'll find more. Except for the ones in my area none of these are posted in the Calendar of Events on NGA.

I can post them in the Calendar but would be glad to make a list here if y'all think it would be helpful. Or If I feel like typing I might do it anyway. 😈

Let me stress that I'm only looking at Fall Native Plant Sales that various groups/societies do, usually as fundraisers. I know that @Frostweed is involved with 2 such sales in September. Lot of work for her and her compadres but also a great way for the rest of us to find plants that most nurseries either don't sell or else sell for megabucks.

Just give me a 'thumb' if you think I should make a list. And of course others should feel free to add on to it.

But wait!! Maybe I should start a new thread? That would be the only way to add on and keep it on track. Or I can just put everything in the Calendar and y'all can do searches there. Hmm. @Bubbles — opinion?

@tx_flower_child I don't see any problem with listing plant sales. I would certainly look at the sales! Maybe if we could mark "expired" those that are out of date. I'm more likely to follow the thread than the calendar.

Good. I'll start a new thread. That's probably the easiest way to keep up.

Most plant sales should be listed in the Classifieds area. That's where most people look for plant sales.