A mountainside filled with orange poppies.
Plants & Animals
Stacker Studio

WRITTEN BY:

Jill Jaracz
August 12, 2022
Jason Busa // Shutterstock

The perfect yard with a green lawn and manicured garden is as American as baseball and apple pie—but that doesn’t mean it’s good for the land.

Lawns and gardens featuring non-native plants, flowers, and grasses require a great deal of water and fertilizer for maintenance. In drier areas of the country, lawn maintenance can drink up three-quarters of a household’s annual water usage, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that as much as half of all water used outdoors for activities like lawn care is wasted due to evaporation and runoff. Meanwhile, fertilizers and weed killers used to maintain non-native turf may contain harmful chemicals that run off into larger bodies of water and contaminate local ecosystems and drinking water.

Many gardeners have turned to native gardening, a technique incorporating plant species that occur naturally within an ecosystem, for a more eco-friendly take on the American lawn and garden. These plants then provide food for local wildlife, including butterflies, birds, and other animals native to a region. Pollinating insects, bees, and butterflies help the plants we eat bear fruit and vegetables, further providing a benefit to humans.

Native gardening reduces the need for fertilizer and pesticides, requires less water, and promotes biodiversity. For states that regularly experience moderate to severe drought, in particular, reining in water by gardening with native plants can more easily promote a healthier environment. Native gardening requires less maintenance, too: Homeowners don’t have to spend as much time or money on mowing, weeding, fertilizing, watering, and maintaining lawn equipment.

For those interested in incorporating native grasses and plants into their yards, Texas Real Estate Source compiled a list of wildflowers native to various U.S. regions from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas at Austin. All flowers on this list have bloom times between August and December and are native to one of these six regions of the U.S.: Central Texas, Eastern Woodland, Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Southwestern Desert, and Tallgrass Prairie. The flowers are grouped together by region, and the regions are shown in alphabetical order.

White daisies with orange centers.
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trinityfoto // Shutterstock
Melampodium leucanthum

Common name: Blackfoot Daisy

Native region: Central Texas, Southwestern Desert

Bright orange and yellow firewheel flowers.
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Canva
Gaillardia pulchella

Common name: Firewheel

Native region: Central Texas, Tallgrass Prairie

Round ball-shaped flowers in light green.
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Canva
Asclepias asperula

Common name: Antelope-horns

Native region: Central Texas

Delicate, bright yellow flowers.
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Canva
Calylophus berlandieri

Common name: Sundrops

Native region: Central Texas

A dayflower with two light blue petals on top and a yellow center.
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Canva
Commelina erecta

Common name: Dayflower

Native region: Central Texas

A field of white flowers.
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Owen Suen // Shutterstock
Cooperia pedunculata

Common name: Rain Lily

Native region: Central Texas

Delicate purple flowers with yellow centers.
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Johanna Veldstra // Shutterstock
Eustoma exaltatum

Common name: Bluebell Gentian

Native region: Central Texas

Light purple flowers.
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Canva
Glandularia bipinnatifida

Common name: Prairie Verbena

Native region: Central Texas

Bright red tall flowers.
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Canva
Lobelia cardinalis

Common name: Cardinal Flower

Native region: Central Texas

Orange and yellow coneflowers.
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Canva
Ratibida columnifera

Common name: Prairie Coneflower

Native region: Central Texas

A low green plant blooming with white flowers.
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agatchen // Shutterstock
Cornus canadensis

Common name: Bunchberry Dogwood

Native region: Eastern Woodlands

Yellow Lady's Slipper Orchid.
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Agnieszka Bacal // Shutterstock
Cypripedium parviflorum

Common name: Yellow Lady’s-slipper Orchid

Native region: Eastern Woodlands

Pink and white orchid flowers.
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Canva
Cypripedium reginae

Common name: Showy Lady’s Slipper

Native region: Eastern Woodlands

Light pink funnel-shaped flowers hanging down.
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Canva
Linnaea borealis

Common name: Twinflower

Native region: Eastern Woodlands

Bright red star-shaped flowers.
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Agnieszka Bacal // Shutterstock
Silene virginica

Common name: Scarlet Catchfly

Native region: Eastern Woodlands

Different color combinations of Western Columbine flowers, including purple, yellow and red.
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Canva
Aquilegia formosa

Common name: Western Columbine

Native region: Pacific Northwest

Small pink flowers with green centers.
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Toshio Umekawa // Shutterstock
Chimaphila umbellata

Common name: Pipsissewa

Native region: Pacific Northwest

Bright pink flowers.
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Canva
Clarkia amoena

Common name: Farewell To Spring

Native region: Pacific Northwest

Bright orange flowers with a blurred out mountain background.
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Canva
Eriophyllum lanatum

Common name: Oregon Sunshine

Native region: Pacific Northwest

Large white star-shaped flowers with yellow centers.
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Canva
Erythronium montanum

Common name: White Avalanche-lily

Native region: Pacific Northwest

Shades of orange funnel-shaped blooms.
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Canva
Eschscholzia californica

Common name: California Poppy

Native region: Pacific Northwest

Light purple flowers with yellow centers.
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Canva
Eurybia integrifolia

Common name: Thickstem Aster

Native region: Pacific Northwest

Bright orange Lily with dark orange spots.
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Canva
Lilium columbianum

Common name: Wild Tiger Lily

Native region: Pacific Northwest

Bright pink bell-shaped flowers bloom on a rocky mountainside.
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Canva
Penstemon newberryi

Common name: Mountain Pride

Native region: Pacific Northwest

A field full of blooming purple fireweed in front of snow-capped mountains.
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Canva
Chamerion angustifolium

Common name: Fireweed

Native region: Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest

Pale purple and white flowers with yellow centers in the foothills of the mountains.
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Canva
Aquilegia coerulea

Common name: Rocky Mountain Columbine

Native region: Rocky Mountains

Yellow Arnica flowers near a small stream in a rocky valley.
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Canva
Arnica cordifolia

Common name: Heartleaf Arnica

Native region: Rocky Mountains

A pink Sego Lily cup growing on a rocky mountainside.
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Canva
Calochortus nuttallii

Common name: Sego Lily

Native region: Rocky Mountains

Large white flowers with yellow centers in the marsh.
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Canva
Caltha leptosepala

Common name: White Marsh-marigold

Native region: Rocky Mountains

Blue bell-shaped flowers.
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Canva
Campanula rotundifolia

Common name: Bluebell

Native region: Rocky Mountains

Closeup view of dainty white flowers in front of a lake on a mountain summit with snow on top.
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Kristi Blokhin // Shutterstock
Cardamine cordifolia

Common name: Heartleaf Bittercress

Native region: Rocky Mountains

Fire-red flowers growing down a mountainside with the sun setting in the background.
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Canva
Castilleja rhexiifolia

Common name: Splitleaf Indian Paintbrush

Native region: Rocky Mountains

Small yellow flowers.
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Canva
Dasiphora fruticosa ssp. floribunda

Common name: Shrubby Cinquefoil

Native region: Rocky Mountains

Dark purple flowers growing on a green mountainside.
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Canva
Delphinium barbeyi

Common name: Subalpine Larkspur

Native region: Rocky Mountains

Tiny bright yellow flowers in a dry landscape.
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Canva
Baileya multiradiata

Common name: Desert Marigold

Native region: Southwestern Desert

Bright yellow leggy flowers growing in a valley.
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Sundry Photography // Shutterstock
Enceliopsis nudicaulis

Common name: Sunray

Native region: Southwestern Desert

Pale pink wispy flowers against a dark blue sky.
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Canva
Fallugia paradoxa

Common name: Apache Plume

Native region: Southwestern Desert

A yellow funnel shaped flower in front of a desert background.
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Charles T. Peden // Shutterstock
Hibiscus coulteri

Common name: Desert Rosemallow

Native region: Southwestern Desert

Orange Poppies in a green meadow in front of a mountain.
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Canva
Kallstroemia grandiflora

Common name: Desert Poppy

Native region: Southwestern Desert

Bright yellow flower with bees in the center.
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Canva
Mentzelia pumila

Common name: Dwarf Mentzelia

Native region: Southwestern Desert

Field of small white flowers in the middle and pink and purple flowers on the outsides
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Canva
Phlox tenuifolia

Common name: Santa Catalina Mountain Phlox

Native region: Southwestern Desert

Yellow flower bush in a desert landscape.
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Canva
Psilostrophe cooperi

Common name: Whitestem Paperflower

Native region: Southwestern Desert

Yellow flower bush in a desert landscape.
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Canva
Scabrethia scabra ssp. scabra

Common name: Badlands Mule-ears

Native region: Southwestern Desert

White flowers with yellow centers.
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Canva
Anaphalis margaritacea

Common name: Western Pearly Everlasting

Native region: Tallgrass Prairie

Two orange butterflies on an orange milkweed flower.
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Canva
Asclepias tuberosa

Common name: Butterfly Milkweed

Native region: Tallgrass Prairie

Bright orange flowers.
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Canva
Coreopsis palmata

Common name: Finger Coreopsis

Native region: Tallgrass Prairie

Circular prickly looking flowers with stiff stems.
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Canva
Eryngium yuccifolium

Common name: Beargrass

Native region: Tallgrass Prairie

White and green leaves blooming.
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Canva
Euphorbia marginata

Common name: Snow On The Mountain

Native region: Tallgrass Prairie

Bright blue flower with orange center.
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Canva
Eustoma exaltatum ssp. russellianum

Common name: Texas Bluebell

Native region: Tallgrass Prairie

Bright violet flowers with tiny petals.
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Canva
Glandularia canadensis

Common name: Sweet William

Native region: Tallgrass Prairie

Yellow Maximilian Sunflower with dark orange center.
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Canva
Helianthus maximiliani

Common name: Maximilian Sunflower

Native region: Tallgrass Prairie

Large blue irises with yellow centers in a garden.
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Canva
Iris versicolor

Common name: Large Blue Iris

Native region: Tallgrass Prairie

This story originally appeared on Texas Real Estate Source and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.