Compiled by Ellis County Master Gardeners
This list of recommended native and adaptive plants for Ellis County is by no means complete. There are many other natives that thrive in this area. Most of the following plants are drought-tolerant, have a long bloom season, and feed hummingbirds, butterflies, and birds.
Grasses & Lawns
| Buffalograss |
| Bermudagrass |
| Zoysiagrass |
| Texas Bluegrass |
ANNUALS AND SHORT-LIVED PERENNIALS
| Texas Bluebell |
| Ox-Eyed Daisy |
| Indian Blanket |
| Black-Eyed Susan |
| Bluebonnet |
| Cardinal Climber (Cypress Vine) |
PERENNIAL FLOWERS FOR SUN
| Common |
| Mexican Petunia |
| Summer Phlox |
| Blackfoot Daisy |
| Wine Cup |
| Wild Blue Aster |
| Purple Coneflower |
| Turk’s Cap |
| Butterfly Weed |
| Four-Nerve Daisy |
| Texas Star Hibiscus |
| Mealy Blue Sage |
| Zexmenia |
PERENNIAL FLOWERS FOR SHADE
| Common |
| Louisiana Iris |
| Hinkley’s Columbine |
| Wild Red Columbine |
| Obedient Plants |
| Inland Seaoats |
| Pigeonberry |
| Cedar Sage |
PERENNIAL VINES
| Common |
| Virginia Creeper |
| Trumpet Vine |
| Carolina Jessamine |
| Coral Honeysuckle |
SHRUBS
| Common |
| American Beautyberry |
| Dwarf Southern Wax Myrtle |
| Gregg’s Salvia (Autumn Sage) |
| Texas Sage (Cenizo) |
| Flame Acanthus |
| Lantana |
ORNAMENTAL TREES
| Common |
| Redbud |
| Yaupon Holly |
| Possumhaw Holly |
| Flame Leaf Sumac |
| Mexican Plum |
| Sweet Bay Magnolia |
| Texas Buckeye |
| Scarlet Buckeye |
| Desert Willow |
Excellent sources for more information: Best Plants and Trees to grow in Texas landscapes
Warm-season Annuals
*Plants designated as Texas SuperStar® have been proven to be super-performing plants under Texas growing conditions.
| NAME | SUN EXPOSURE | HEIGHT, WIDTH (INCHES) | NOTES |
| Pansies |
sun/part shade |
6-10; 6-12 |
time tested hardy annual; old-fashioned “happy faces” type with colorful combinations of purple, yellow, maroon, and black; modern single-color varieties come in many colors. |
| Poppy |
sun/part shade |
24-36; 12-18 |
can be seeded easily or transplanted; good cut flower in red, pink, purple, and white; fancy carnation-form flower and simple peony type available; closely related Iceland and California poppies also adapted in Texas |
| Snapdragon |
sun/part shade |
6-24; 6-12 |
dramatic spike flower in all colors but blue; attracts butterflies and hummingbirds, shorter varieties are easier to grow; taller varieties have a longer bloom season |
| Stock |
sun/part shade |
12-24; 8-12 |
dense, spiked bloom, fragrant blooms in soft red, pink, and white |
| Sweet Pea |
sun |
24+-24 |
mounding or climbing vine; fragrant flowers in all colors; can be planted from seed easily |
| Viola |
sun/part shade |
6-8; 6-12 |
a smaller version of the pansy and larger than Johnny-jump-up; solid colors of yellow, white, purple, and blue |
| Torenias |
sun or shade |
12 inches by 24 inches |
golden, white, purple, violet, blue , yellow flowers; plants can be lifted for winter bloom indoors |
| Warm Season Annuals – Planted outdoors in spring once danger of frost is past | |||
| NAME | SUN EXPOSURE | HEIGHT, WIDTH (INCHES) | NOTES |
| Ageratum |
sun |
6-20; 8-20 |
good source of blue color; spider mite problem |
| Amaranthus or Joseph’s coat |
sun |
36-48; 12-18 |
brilliant foliage of reds, yellows, and greens |
| Baby’s breath |
sun |
24-24 |
quick flowering; mass of small flowers |
| Begonia |
shade/sun |
6-12; 6-12 |
sun tolerant new varieties available; flowers in red, pink, and white; bronze foliage on some varieties can take more sun |
| Caladium |
shade/sun |
18-20; 12-16 |
sun-tolerant varieties available; bold foliage, varieties of white or red/pink combined with green |
| *Caricature plant |
full sun to dense shade |
24-48 |
dark green to chocolate bronze foliage with white, cream, or pink centers; likes moist soil |
| Cockscomb or Celosia |
sun |
8-24; 8-12 |
crested and plume type flowers in red, pink, orange, yellow, and purple |
| *Coleus |
sun to shade |
24-36; 12-18 |
grown for its many different colors of foliage; many new varieties are sun tolerant; ‘Plum Parfait’ and ‘Burgundy Sun’ are super-sun coleus and Texas SuperStars® |
| Copper plant |
sun |
24-36; 24-30 |
large plant with bold, multicolored foliage of copper, maroon, bronze, green, and cream |
| Cornflower |
sun |
24-36; 12-15 |
blooms pink, blue, white; attracts butterflies and seed eating birds; easily grown from seed; self-sows eagerly |
| Cosmos |
sun |
18-36; 12-24 |
can be seeded or transplanted; wide variety of flower colors in red, pink, orange, yellow, and mixtures |
*Plants designated as Texas SuperStar® have been proven to be super-performing plants under Texas growing conditions.
| NAME | SUN EXPOSURE | HEIGHT, WIDTH (INCHES) | NOTES |
| Cypress vine |
sun |
vine |
fernlike leaves; colorful flowers; attracts butterflies and hummingbirds |
| *Fan flower or Scaevola |
full sun to part shade |
6-8; 12-18 |
blue, purple, pink, and white fan shaped flowers; superior in containers or baskets where the stems are allowed to cascade over the rim; ‘New Wonder’ is a Texas SuperStar® |
| *Firebush or Hamelia |
sun |
18-30; 12-18 |
Scarlet red, tubular blossoms with deep red throats; foliage turns blood red in the fall; attracts hummingbirds |
| *Firecracker Jatophra |
full sun to part shade |
36-60; 36-48 |
spectacular in bloom with glossy leaves and clusters of star-shaped bright scarlet or vermillion flowers; attracts butterflies and hummingbirds |
| Four o’clock |
sun to part shade |
20-26; 20-36 |
bright flowers; open in evening; pleasant scent; can be a pest |
| Geranium |
part shade |
12-18; 12-18 |
red, pink, or white flowers; needs shade to endure summer; attracts butterflies |
| Globe amaranth or Gomphrena |
sun |
8-24; 12-24 |
red, purple; attractive cut or dried flowers |
| *Gold Star Esperanza |
sun |
36-48; 24-36 |
yellow bell-shaped flowers; butterflies and hummingbirds relish the nectar; to promote new blooms remove the seed pods or leave them for the birds |
| Impatiens |
part shade/ shade |
12-24; 12-16 |
brightly colored flowers in red, pink, salmon, white; sensitive to salty irrigation water; best in containers; New Guinea impatiens also available |
| Love-in-a-Mist |
sun |
14-18; 8-12 |
sow seeds in the fall for early spring bloom; blooms in blue, white, and rose; dies out and re-seeds in hot weather |
| *Marigold (Mari-mum) |
sun/part shade |
12-24; 8-12 |
simple or pompom flowers of yellow and orange; performs particularly well in late summer to fall; spider mites often a problem; Mari-mum, a fall bloomer, is a Texas SuperStar® |
| Mexican heather |
sun/part shade |
12-24; 10-12 |
tiny purple blooms and fine textured green foliage; sometimes perennial in zone 8A; tropical look for a pool |
| NAME | SUN EXPOSURE | HEIGHT, WIDTH (INCHES) | NOTES |
| Moon vine or Moonflower |
sun/part shade |
36+; 24 |
fast growing vine with large, fragrant, white tubular flowers; blooms after sundown and into the night |
| Morning glory |
sun |
36+; 24 |
fast growing vine with large purple or white tubular blooms |
| Nasturtium |
full sun to afternoon shade |
8-15; 12-18 |
trailing; likes cool weather; re-seeding; edible flowers and leaves; attracts hummingbirds |
| Nicotiana or flowering tobacco |
sun/ part shade |
18-30; 6-12 |
tall flower adds height to the garden; star-shaped flowers in white, pink, maroon, lavender, green, red, and yellow; wonderful evening fragrance |
| *Ornamental peppers |
sun |
12-36; 12-24 |
unusual, striking plant; some peppers resemble Christmas light, others – black pearls; ‘NuMex Twilight’ is a Texas SuperStar® with white blooms becoming purple peppers and maturing to red (hot but edible) |
| *Penta |
sun to part shade |
12-48; 10-15 |
attracts butterflies and hummingbirds; blooms in red, pink, lavender, cranberry, white, and violet; ‘Butterfly Deep Pink’ is a Texas SuperStar® |
| *Petunia |
sun |
6-8; 12-24 |
several types based on bloom size; withstands some frost; Wave and Carpet series is heat tolerant; ‘Laura Bush’, ‘Tidal Wave Silver’ and ‘Tidal Wave Cherry’ are Texas SuperStars® |
| Pineapple sage |
sun to part shade |
24-48; 18-24 |
scarlet red flowers for the hummingbirds; leaves have the aroma of crushed pineapple; young, tender leaves can be used for flavoring; may survive as a perennial if mulched well |
| Portulaca or Moss rose |
sun |
6-8; 6-12 |
excellent heat tolerance; prolific bloomer in all colors but blue |
| *Purslane |
sun |
6-8; 6-12 |
excellent heat tolerance; prolific bloomer in all colors but blue; only problem is it blooms from midmorning until late afternoon; ‘Large-Flowered Purslane’ is a Texas SuperStar® |
*Plants designated as Texas SuperStar® have been proven to be super-performing plants under Texas growing conditions.
| NAME | SUN EXPOSURE | HEIGHT, WIDTH (INCHES) | NOTES |
| Salvia |
part shade/shade |
12-18; 8-12 |
spike bloom in red, pink, purple, and white; will not tolerate summer heat without shade; not be confused with native perennial salvias |
| Spider flower (Cleome) |
sun to part shade |
24-48; 12-24 |
nectar source for butterflies, moths, hummingbirds; blooms in white, pink, violet; grown easily from seed; re-seeds |
| Sunflower |
sun |
2 to 10 ft; 18-24 |
easily grown from seed; new varieties ranging from tall plants with single mammoth flower to shorter plants with masses of flowers; wide range of colors and fancy-form flowers in red, yellow, orange, brown, and multicolor |
| *Thyrallis or Shower-of-Gold |
full sun to very light shade |
24-36; 24-36 |
spikes of bright, yellow flowers; tolerates summer heat in patio container |
| Torenia or Wishbone flower |
sun to shade depending on series |
8-12; 18-36 |
bi-color flowers in blues, pink, rose, violet, burgundy and plum; ‘Summer Wave’ series makes great groundcover and outstanding in hanging baskets; |
| *Variegated Tapioca or Manihot |
full sun to part sun; more colorful in full sun |
36-48; 24-36 |
non-blooming plant grown for its leaves that form chartreuse/yellow pattern; clean plant with tropical look for the pool area |
| Verbena |
sun |
6-12; 8-12 |
heat tolerant groundcover; flowers in all colors but blue; annual form is not as tough as native perennial verbenas |
| *Vinca |
sun |
12-24; 12-24 |
many colors; excellent heat tolerance; aerial blight problem; ‘Cora’ and ‘Nirvana’ Texas SuperStars® are new and improved varieties resistant to disease |
| Zinnia |
Sun |
6-36; 6-36 |
easily grown from seed; plant multiple times from spring to late summer; old-fashioned simple and pompom blooms and newer daisy-type blooms; heat tolerant; blooms in all colors but blue; must be deadheaded for continual bloom; attracts butterflies |