To celebrate shrub planting season, the cooler weather and the gorgeous fall blooms that come along with it, we’ve decided to highlight a few of our favorite fall-blooming native perennials and shrubs. If you’ve never considered choosing native plants for your landscape, we hope you’ll take a few minutes to visit our blog, “Native plants to Ease the Workload of Landscaping”, to see some of our reasons that native plants are successful landscape options.
Fragrant Mist Flower (Eupatorium havanese)
This small, shrubby, native plant puts on a gorgeous fall display with masses of profuse white blooms that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Deciduous in nature, fragrant mist flower will keep foliage until spring. We love that its biggest bloom period happens later in the year after many other plants blooms have faded out. This native plant thrives in full sun to partial shade in well-draining soil, grows 2-6 feet, tolerates heat and is cold hardy to 10°- 20° F.
Apache Plume (Fallugia paradox)
While Apache Plume produces pretty, fragrant, snow-white flowers continually from May through October, it’s wow factor comes from the pink, feathery, seed tassels that practically cover the shrub from fall to winter. Apache Plume has a nice rounded shape, grows 2-8 ft., needs well-draining soil and thrives in full sun to partial shade. This native plant flowers on new spring growth, so is should be pruned in winter. Although the semi-evergreen Apache Plume is drought tolerant; an occasional deep soak throughout summer will encourage continuous blooms.
Flame Anisacnathus (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii)
Also called the Hummingbird Bush, the Flame Anisacanthus, is true to its name; hummingbirds are drawn to this native plant in droves. Vibrant, orange-red tubular flowers are present spring through fall. Cutting back your plant in August ensures a mass of blooms in fall that rival any spring bloomer. Full sun to partial shade is preferred and well-draining soil is a must. Drought and heat tolerant, Flame Anisacanthus is deciduous and cold hardy to 10° F and root hardy to 0° F. This native plant reseeds itself easily.
Rock Rose Pavonia (Pavonia lasiopletala)
Pretty in pink is the best way to describe this spring through fall, profusely blooming, native plant. A deciduous perennial that grows 2-4 ft, in full sun to part shade, Pavonia Rock Rose is heat tolerant and cold hardy to 10-20°F. Even if it freezes to the ground it will return from roots in spring. Showy, true-pink, hibiscus-like flowers will be produced until the first freeze. Well-draining soil is a must, but other than that, it is not picky about soil type. Cutting Pavonia Rock Rose down each year will keep this native plant looking its best.
Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbicualtus)
If you haven’t heard of Coralberry, you are in for a treat today. This native plant is not heralded for showy blooms but rather for its clusters of profuse red berries that adorn the low-growing plant in fall. We love the arching branches of Coralberry and the way it spreads quickly and thickly, making it a great option for an erosion control specimen. We also appreciate that Coralberry is one of our native plants that prefers partial to full shade. Coralberry is drought tolerant and cold hardy to -20°F. berries feed native birds throughout the winter.
Of course these are just a few of the numerous native shrubs and perennials you can choose. We also love our fall-blooming, butterfly-attracting Sennas, hummingbird magnets Turk’s Cap, bird-feeding American Beautyberry and much, much more. We haven’t even started talking about the gorgeous fall color of native trees like Texas, Chisos, and Shumard Oaks, or the brilliant fall foliage of Flameleaf Sumac and Rusty Blackhaw. We will make sure to continue to bring you information on more intriguing native plants in the months to come. Please give native plants a chance. You won’t be disappointed.
The Happy Gardener, Lisa Mulroy
Do you carry Dwarf Buford Holly Scrubs?
Hi Nancy,
We do carry Dwf. Buford Holly, but honestly our inventory changes right before our eyes. Do you have an idea how many you would need at what size? Is there a location that you prefer to shop at? I can find out if we can hold some for you when they are in stock if I know your specifications. You are always welcome to come browse our selections too, Thursday and Friday are a great day to shop since we get most of our trucks for the week in by then.
I’m looking for a “scentsational” honeysuckle vine. Do you or will you have one in your nursery? It can be the one that best grows here. I just want the scent.
So sorry Kay,
I missed this comment. Have not had the “scentsational” honeysuckle recently. However, the inventory has been changing very quickly lately, so I’ll keep an ear out for when any would be arriving.
Earth kind rose is a description or an actual shrub? Is it similar to the knockout roses? Available in a variety of colors?
Earthkind® roses are a special designation given by TAMU Agrilife Extension services based on research and field trials and awarded to roses that exhibit excellent pest tolerance with outstanding landscape performance. There are many cultivars within this designation, Knock Outs, Belinda’s Dream, Carefree Beauty, Mutablis, New Dawn, etc…are some examples.
Do you sell the white sage
We get Salvia apiana from time to time but, rarely. It generally goes in a day when we have it. I will ask to be alerted if it is on an order and can email you when/if any comes in.
Hi Mike,
I know you were looking for white sage earlier this month. Just wanted you to know that our Thousand Oaks location just received a shipment of Salvia apiana. If you haven’t found it elsewhere already, you might want to give them a call to hold some for you, or make a trip in today. They generally do not last on the tables very long once the word is out.
Do you have the shrub plant, Prides of Barbafos at the Nursery Todsy?
Sorry just seeing this, both locations have some of the original red/orange Pride of Barbados in stock as of today. Mostly 1 gallons, but a few 3 gallons as well.
I killed a Kangaroo Paws, but i don’t know what I did wrong. Can you help me? Since the stalks are nice and firm with this new plant, while the flowers are spent, should I cut the stalks back to allow for further growth?? Or cut back the flower head??
Hope you can help.
Thanks,
If your stalks are nice and firm it doesn’t sound like you killed the plant. You can remove the spent flower stalks all the way down to the base to encourage new blooms. But I would wait until the end of summer/mid August to fully cut back the plant. Leave at least 1/3 of the plant. How is your soil? Does it drain well? Do you have your plant in full sun? Why do you think you killed it?
I’m looking for evergreen sumac. Do you have it or know of someone that does?
Hi Ron, I just wanted to give you an update….we finally got some astilbe in stock. As of 5/6/23 we had some in one gallon containers at our Bandera location.