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Native Plant Society of Texas

Texas Native Plant Week

NPSOT Archive

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To promote the importance of our state’s special sense of place, the Texas Legislature has designated October 15-21 as Native Plant Week. Local communities throughout Texas are planning events for the public to foster the use of native plants in the landscape.

Wildflower walks, tours of native plant gardens, educational talks given by professional botanists and biologists, and other events will be among those offered by local communities to the public. The events are designed to appeal to a diverse audience — botanists, gardeners, biologists, naturalists.

Texas Native Plant Week has been an annual event since 2009. Previously there had been an annual Wildflower Day since 1980. In fact the Native Plant Society itself was first organized during a Wildflower Day celebration at Texas Women’s University.

This year the event will be celebrated around the state by our chapters. Check out our Facebook page or the webpage of the chapter nearest you to see what activities are planned. You may find a native plant sale. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin will have their massive fall plant sale on October 21, with a members only preview sale on October 20.

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**ARCHIVED POST AUTHOR: Bill Hopkins

About the Region

2026 Fall Symposium Logo

This low-elevations region of Texas extends inland from the barrier islands, about 60 or so miles, and stretches from Brownsville to Louisiana. In total, it covers about 9.5 million acres, with a high point of 150 feet in elevation. More than 1000 species of plants can be found in this region. On the southern end, species more common in Mexico (such as Sabal mexicana) and Central America occur.

The barrier islands provide us with dune systems, and clay flats to the inland side, which have species found in these areas alone. Many plants here, such as Ipomoea pes-caprae (beach morning glory), can be found throughout tropical regions of the globe. I’ve encountered the same species on the beaches of Guam.

Once inland, vast marshes and wet prairies occur. Occasionally, oak (Quercus fusiformis) groves can be found. Common grasses include species of Bothriochloa, Paspalum, and Sporobolus; eastern gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides); and switchgrass (Panicum species). Many rivers and creeks cut through the Gulf Prairies, and along these riparian areas various species of trees, Sabal minor, and other plants adapted to clay soils can be found. Due to overgrazing, farming, and fire suppression, woody species such as mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) and huisache (Acacia farnesiana), and invasive species such as chinaberry (Melia azedarach), Brazilian pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius), and Chinese tallow (Sapium sebiferum) have increased and displaced our native flora.

Source: Wildflowers of Texas by Michael Eason