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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.
Common name: Blackfoot Daisy
Native region: Central Texas, Southwestern Desert
Common name: Firewheel
Native region: Central Texas, Tallgrass Prairie
Common name: Antelope-horns
Native region: Central Texas
Common name: Sundrops
Native region: Central Texas
Common name: Dayflower
Native region: Central Texas
Common name: Rain Lily
Native region: Central Texas
Common name: Bluebell Gentian
Native region: Central Texas
Common name: Prairie Verbena
Native region: Central Texas
Common name: Cardinal Flower
Native region: Central Texas
Common name: Prairie Coneflower
Native region: Central Texas
Common name: Bunchberry Dogwood
Native region: Eastern Woodlands
Common name: Yellow Lady’s-slipper Orchid
Native region: Eastern Woodlands
Common name: Showy Lady’s Slipper
Native region: Eastern Woodlands
Common name: Twinflower
Native region: Eastern Woodlands
Common name: Scarlet Catchfly
Native region: Eastern Woodlands
Common name: Western Columbine
Native region: Pacific Northwest
Common name: Pipsissewa
Native region: Pacific Northwest
Common name: Farewell To Spring
Native region: Pacific Northwest
Common name: Oregon Sunshine
Native region: Pacific Northwest
Common name: White Avalanche-lily
Native region: Pacific Northwest
Common name: California Poppy
Native region: Pacific Northwest
Common name: Thickstem Aster
Native region: Pacific Northwest
Common name: Wild Tiger Lily
Native region: Pacific Northwest
Common name: Mountain Pride
Native region: Pacific Northwest
Common name: Fireweed
Native region: Rocky Mountains, Pacific Northwest
Common name: Rocky Mountain Columbine
Native region: Rocky Mountains
Common name: Heartleaf Arnica
Native region: Rocky Mountains
Common name: Sego Lily
Native region: Rocky Mountains
Common name: White Marsh-marigold
Native region: Rocky Mountains
Common name: Bluebell
Native region: Rocky Mountains
Common name: Heartleaf Bittercress
Native region: Rocky Mountains
Common name: Splitleaf Indian Paintbrush
Native region: Rocky Mountains
Common name: Shrubby Cinquefoil
Native region: Rocky Mountains
Common name: Subalpine Larkspur
Native region: Rocky Mountains
Common name: Desert Marigold
Native region: Southwestern Desert
Common name: Sunray
Native region: Southwestern Desert
Common name: Apache Plume
Native region: Southwestern Desert
Common name: Desert Rosemallow
Native region: Southwestern Desert
Common name: Desert Poppy
Native region: Southwestern Desert
Common name: Dwarf Mentzelia
Native region: Southwestern Desert
Common name: Santa Catalina Mountain Phlox
Native region: Southwestern Desert
Common name: Whitestem Paperflower
Native region: Southwestern Desert
Common name: Badlands Mule-ears
Native region: Southwestern Desert
Common name: Western Pearly Everlasting
Native region: Tallgrass Prairie
Common name: Butterfly Milkweed
Native region: Tallgrass Prairie
Common name: Finger Coreopsis
Native region: Tallgrass Prairie
Common name: Beargrass
Native region: Tallgrass Prairie
Common name: Snow On The Mountain
Native region: Tallgrass Prairie
Common name: Texas Bluebell
Native region: Tallgrass Prairie
Common name: Sweet William
Native region: Tallgrass Prairie
Common name: Maximilian Sunflower
Native region: Tallgrass Prairie
Common name: Large Blue Iris
Native region: Tallgrass Prairie
