Recommended Reading

Over the decades, members have suggested books to one another. The list below includes publications that cover a variety of topics that our members find interesting and useful. However, the books below have not been reviewed and may include some non-native plant resources.

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To recommend a book for this list, contact your chapter webmaster.

Prairie Up: An Introduction to Natural Garden Design

Benjamin Vogt

This approachable introduction to prairies is an accessible and inspirational guide to garden design for those wanting sustainable, beautiful, and functional landscapes.

Title	Author	Summary
The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees	Douglas W. Tallamy	The Nature of Oaks reveals what is going on in oak trees month by month, highlighting the seasonal cycles of life, death, and renewal.
Nature's Best Hope	Douglas W. Tallamy	Nature's Best Hope shows how homeowners everywhere can turn their yards into conservation corridors that provide wildlife habitats.
Gardening With Prairie Plants: How To Create Beautiful Native Landscapes	Sally Wasowski and Andy Wasowski	Filled with practical advice and detailed information, this indispensable guide to prairie gardening shows readers how to choose space, plan a garden, select plants and flowers, and much more.
100 Texas Wildflowers	Dorothy Barid Mattiza	Identifies 100 of the most conspicuous wildflower species native to Texas, keyed to the regions where each may be found. Photos by members of the Native Plant Society of Texas.
A Beginner’s Handbook for Rural Texas Landowners	Jim Stanley	The subtitle spells it out: ” How to Live in the Country Without Spoiling It.” This new book is the perfect introduction for small landowners wanting to be good stewards of their piece of the Hill Country. As the title says, it’s a place to begin and a perfect lead-in to Stanley’s earlier book (above) which contains more specifics.
A Field Guide to Common South Texas Shrubs	Taylor, Richard B., Jimmy Rutledge, and Joe G. Herrera
A Field Guide to Texas Trees	Benny Simpson
A Management Guide for Invasive Plants in Southern Forests	Manning, Steven T.
A Sand County Almanac with Other Essays on Conservation from Round River	Aldo Leopold
Agaves, Yuccas, and Related Plants: A Gardener’s Guide	Irish, Mary and Gary
Aquatic & Wetland Plants of the Western Gulf Coast	Stutzenbaker, Charles D.
Aransas, A Naturalist’s Guide	McAlister & McAlister
Atlas of the Vascular Plants of Texas	Billie Lee Turner, Holly Nichols, Geoffrey C. Denny, and Oded Doron
Attracting and Feeding Hummingbirds	Williamson, Sheri
Attracting Birds to Southern Gardens	Pope, Odenwald, Fryling
Attracting Birds, Butterflies & other Backyard Wildlife	Mizejewski, David
Attracting Native Pollinators: Protecting North America’s Bees and Butterflies: the Xerces Society Guide	Eric Lee-Mäder
Bringing Nature Home	Douglas W. Tallamy
Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens	Douglas W. Tallamy	Everyone with access to a patch of earth can make a significant contribution toward sustaining biodiversity by simply choosing native plants.
Brush and Weeds of Texas Rangelands	Hart, Charles R., Barron S. Rector, et al
Building Inside Nature’s Envelope	Sally Wasowski and Andy Wasowski
Bumble Bees of North America: An Identification Guide	Paul Williams, Robbin Thorp, Leif Richardson and Sheila Colla
Butterfly Gardening for Texas	Geyata Ajilvsgi
Butterfly Gardening for the South	Geyata Ajilvsgi
Butterflies of Houston and Southeast Texas	John and Gloria Tveten
Cacti of Texas and Neighboring States	Del Weniger	Field Guide
Central Region Seedling ID Guide for Native Prairie Plants	NRCS, US Department of Agriculture	Small spiral bound laminated field guide for identifying Native Prairie Plants of the Central Region of the US.
Butterflies through Binoculars: The West	Jeffrey Glassberg
Common Texas Grasses: An Illustrated Guide (Volume 3)	Frank W. Gould and Stephan L. Hatch	Field Guide
Doug Welsh’s Texas Garden Almanac	Doug Welsh
Edwards Plateau Vegetation	Bonnie B. Amos and Frederick R. Gehlbach
Explorers’ Texas: The Lands and Waters	Del Weniger
A Field Guide for the Identification of Invasive Plants in Southern Forests	James H. Miller, Erwin B. Chambliss, and Nancy J. Loewenstein	This book provides information on accurate identification of the 56 nonnative plants and groups that are currently invading the forests of the 13 Southern States, including Texas. It lists other nonnative plants of growing concern, covering trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, ferns, and forbs.
Field Guide to Common Texas Grasses	Stephen L. Hatch, Kelly C. Umphres & A. Jenet Ardoin
Field Guide to Broad-leaved Herbaceous Plants of South Texas	Everitt, James H., D. Lynn Drawe, Robert I. Lonard
Field Guide to Common South Texas Shrubs	Taylor, Rutledge, Herrera
Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis	Rowan Jacobsen	Rowan Jacobsen uses the mystery of Colony Collapse Disorder to tell the bigger story of bees and their' essential connection to our daily lives.
Grasses of Southern Oklahoma and North Texas: a Pictorial Guide	Russell Stevens & Chuck Coffey with the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation
Fruitless Fall: the Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis	Rowan Jacobsen
Grasses of South Texas: A Guide to Identification and Value	Everitt, James H., D. Lynn Drawe, Christopher, R. Little, Robert I. Lonard
Grasses of the Texas Hill Country	Brian Loflin and Shirley Loflin	This photographic guide to grasses gives all who have been frustrated trying to identify these difficult plants an easy-to-use, visually precise, and information-packed field guide to seventy-seven native and introduced species that grow in the Texas Hill Country and beyond. With a blade of grass in hand, open this book and find: Handy thumb guides to seedhead type, the most visible distinguishing characteristic to begin identification. Color photographs of stands of grasses and detailed close-ups. Concise information about economic uses, habitat, range, and flowering season. Quick-reference icons.
Guide to Texas Grasses	Shaw, Robert B
Half Earth: Our Planets Fight for Life	E.O. Wilson, Liveright
Hill Country Ecology; Essays on Plants, Animals, Water, and Land Management	Jim Stanley	In this book, Dr. Stanley, a knowledgeable naturalist of Hill Country issues, addresses a wide range of topics of interest and concern to residents of the Texas Hill Country.
Hill Country Landowner’s Guide	Jim Stanley	In this invaluable book, Jim Stanley charts a practical course for understanding and handling a variety of problems that both new and established landowners in the Texas Hill Country will confront—from brush control, grazing, and overpopulation of deer to erosion, fire, and management of exotic animals and plants.
How to Grow Native Plants of Texas & the Southwest	Nokes, Jill, Kathryn Miller Brown
How to Grow Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest, Revised & Updated	Jill Nokes	How to Grow Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest has set the standard for both home and professional gardeners. In addition to the individual plant descriptions, Jill Nokes also devotes whole chapters to gathering and storing seeds, seed germination, planting, vegetative propagation, and transplanting.
Hummingbirds of Texas	Klym, Mark; Shackelford, Clifford E.; Lindsay, Madge M
Identification of Milkweeds in Texas	Singhurst, Jason, Ben Hutchins, and Walter C. Holmes
In a Desert Garden: Love and DFeath Among the Insects	John Alcock
Insects and Gardens: In Pursuit of a Garden Ecology	Eric Grissell	With a sound basis in science and a practical grounding in gardening experience, Grissell introduces the reader to the role of insects in garden ecology.
Invasive Plants: Guide to Identification and the Impacts and Control of Common North American Species	Kaufman and Kaufman
Landscape Plants for Dry Regions	Warren Jones and Charles Sacamano
Landscaping Revolution: Garden with Mother Nature, Not Against Her	Sally Wasowski and Andy Wasowski
Landscaping with Native Texas Plants	Sally Wasowski and Julie Ryan
Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas	George Oxford Miller	In this comprehensive, richly illustrated guide, author George Oxford Miller provides the "how-to," "when-to," and "what-to" for gardeners, landscapers, and homeowners throughout Texas.
Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas & the Southwest	Miller, George O
Last Child in the Woods:Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder	Ruchard Louv
Lawn Gone! Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for Your Yard	Penick, Pam
Life on a Little Known Plant: A Biologist’s View of Insects and Their World	Howard Ensign Evans
Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas	Correll and Johnston
Matagorda Island, A Naturalist’s Guide	McAlister & McAlister
Native and Adapted Landscape Plants: an Earthwise Guide for Central Texas	Texas AgriLife Extension, City of Austin
Native & Naturalized Woody Plants of Austin and the Hill Country	Brother Daniel Lynch	Field Guide
Native Host Plants for Texas Butterflies: A Field Guide	Jim Weber, Lynne M. Weber, Roland H. Wauer
Native Host Plants for Texas Moths: A Field Guide	Jim Weber, Lynne M. Weber, Roland H. Wauer
Native Perennials for the Southeast	H. Peter Loewer
Native Plant Gardening for Beginners	Haeley Giambalvo	It is easy to do with native plants! Native Plant Gardening for Beginners is your QUICK START GUIDE to making your native plant garden a REALITY!
Native Plants in Landscaping: Trees, Shrubs, Cacti and Grasses of the Texas Desert and Mountains	Michael and Shirley A. Powell	The only book on ornamental plants dedicated to the remarkably cold-hardy and arid-adapted native species of Trans-Pecos Texas. The potential of these trees, shrubs, succulents, cacti, and grasses for use in the landscape, both within and beyond the borders of their native habitats, has been only superficially tapped.
Native Texas Gardens: Maximum Beauty, Minimum Upkeep	Sally Wasowski and Andy Wasowski
Native Texas Plants: Landscaping Region by Region, 2nd Edition	Sally Wasowski and Andy Wasowski	This is one of the first gardening and landscaping guides to feature native plants. One of the first books to get after moving to Texas, for those of us who were part of the problem on arrival, and seek instead to be part of the solution.
Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard	Doug Tallamy
Nature’s Best Hope (Young Readers’ Edition): A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in Your Yard	Doug Tallamy
A Naturalist’s Guide to theTexas Hill Country	Mark Gustafson	an overview of the plants, animals, geography, geology and history of the Hill Country. Especially good for newcomers to the world of nature in the Hill Country.
Noah’s Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Back Yards	Sara Stein	When Stein realized what her intensive efforts at making a traditional garden had done, she set out to "ungarden." Her book interweaves an account of her efforts with an explanation of the ecology of gardens.
Nonnative Invasive Plants of Southern Forests: A Field Guide for Identification and Control	Miller, James H.
North Central Texas Wildflowers: Field Guide	Mary Curry
Our Native Bees: North America’s Endangered Pollinators and the Fight to Save Them	Paige Embry
Plants of the Rio Grande Delta	Richardson
Plants of the Texas Coastal Bend	Lehman, Roy L., Ruth O’Brien and Tammy White
Pollinators of Native Plants: Attract, Observe and Identify Pollinators and Beneficial Insects with Native Plants	Heather N Holm
Prairie Time, a Blackland Portrait	Matt White
Range Plants of North Central Texas: a Land User’s Guide to Their Identification, Value and Management	Linex, Ricky J.	The plants covered in this very useful new book overlap considerably with our part of the Hill Country, making this a great addition to everyone’s plant identification library. Forbs, woody plants and grasses are covered with excellent pictures of the plants and seeds. Content includes description of the plants as well as their use, value and management in the native habitat. This book is published by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Weatherford and may be purchased at many of their offices, including the one in Kerrville at 2104 Memorial Blvd. (830) 896-4911.
Rare Plants of Texas	Poole, Jackie; Carr, William; Price, Dana; Singhurst, Jason
Roadside Flowers of Texas	Howard S. Irwin (Author), Mary Motz Wills (Painter	295 pp., 64 pages of color illustrations. Paintings by Mary Motz Wills. Includes black and white illustrations of diagrams of the parts of a plant. Includes definition of botanical terms and index.
Native Plants for Southwestern Landscapes	Judy Mielke
Remarkable Plants of Texas: Uncommon Accounts of Our Common Natives	Matt Warnock Turner	Matt Warnock Turner explores the little-known facts—be they archaeological, historical, material, medicinal, culinary, or cultural—behind our familiar botanical landscape.
Requiem for a Lawnmower	Sally Wasowski and Andy Wasowski
Shinner's and Mahler’s Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas	Diggs, George M., Barney L. Lipscomb, and Robert J. O’Kennon
Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers	Niehaul, Ripper and Savage
Stokes Butterfly Book: The Complete Guide to Butterfly Gardening	Stokes, Donald & Lillian
Stokes Hummingbird Book: The Complete Guide to Hummingbird Gardening	Stokes, Donald & Lillian
The Weather-resilient Garden: A Defensive Approach to Planning and Landscaping	Charles W. G. Smith
Texas Bug Book: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly	Beck, Malcolm and Garrett, John Howard
Texas Cacti	Texas A&M University Press
Texas Gardening for the 21st Century: Planning, Constructing, Planting, Embellishing, and Maintaining Your Landscape	Simpson, Nan Booth, and Patricia Scott McHargue
Texas Mushrooms: A Field Guide	Susan Metzler and Van Metzler	Field Guide
Texas Trees: A Friendly Guide	Paul W. Cox and Patty Leslie	An authoritative guide that shows the trees' relation to human and animal life -- even in the charming illustrations. Includes leaf-shape guide, range maps, and an index of popular and scientific names for over 120 trees, both native and naturalized.
Texas Wildflowers: A Field Guide	Loughmiller, Campbell and Lynn	Field Guide; 2018 edition has been completely reorganized by flower colors (and within each color section, by flowering season) to make it even easier to identify the flowers you see as you travel through Texas. Every wildflower is illustrated with a beautiful full-color photograph—over 250 of which are new to this edition.
Texas Wildflowers	Loughmiller, Campbell and Lynn	1994 Clear and concise descriptions for more than 300 Texas Wildflowers.
Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife	Noreen Damude and Kelly Conrad Bender	This book tells you how and what to plant to provide food and shelter for native wildlife. Most important, it does so by furnishing lists of plants appropriate to the specific region of Texas you live in.
Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife	Bender, Kelly Conrad	Identifies the kinds of animals you can expect when you give them their three basic needs: food, water, and shelter. She then provides guidelines for designing and planting your yard or garden to best provide these requirements for the many birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates the environment will attract. This book is hard to find so keep your eyes open at garage sales and library book sales. Amazon does have an E-Textbook version available
Texas Wildscapes: Gardening for Wildlife	Noreen Damude & Kelly Conrad Bender
The Bees in Your Backyard: A Guide to North America's Bees	Joseph S. Wilson, Olivia Messinger Carril
The Drunken Botanist	Amy Stewart
The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook: For Prairies, Savannas, and Woodlands	Stephen Packard (Editor), Cornelia F. Mutel (Editor)
The Ferns and Lycophytes of Texas	George M. Ferns of TexasDiggs, Jr. and Barney L. Lipscomb	Texas has a surprising number of native ferns and lycophytes — 127 in all, the most of any state in the continental U.S.A. This is particularly unexpected given that most people associate ferns and related plants with humid, even tropical conditions, just the opposite of much of Texas. This book explains why and looks at the fascinating world of Texas ferns, ranging from the swamp forests of far East Texas, to the hidden canyons of the Edwards Plateau, and even to the high mountain “sky islands” of such places as Big Bend National Park. Each species has an illustration page with a color photo, a line drawing, and detailed maps. Be ready to be surprised by this special group of Texas plants!
The Garden Book Corpus Christi Area Garden Council, Inc.
The Living Landscape	Darke & Tallamy
The Low-Water Flower Gardener	Eric A. Johnson and Scott Millard
Trees of Central Texas	Vines, Robert A.
Trees, Shrubs & Cacti of South Texas	Everitt, James H., D. Lynn Drawe, Robert I. Lonard
Trees, Shrubs, and Vines of the Texas Hill Country	Jan Wrede	This is a field guide to more than 125 species of mostly native, mostly woody plants of the Texas Hill Country. A thoughtful introduction discusses deer, cedar, water, oak wilt, and invasive species. Plant descriptions contain information about the leaves, flowers, fruit, and bark of each plant and also give insights into the species’ range and habits. Especially useful is a comprehensive plant chart with tips about color, scent, flowering period, height, site preference, and wildlife and livestock utilization. A recommended reading list, a resource guide, and a glossary round out this information-packed book. With color photographs.
The Solitary Bees: Biology, Evolution, Conservation	Bryan Danforth, Robert Minckley and John Neff
Useful Wild Plants of Texas	Scooter Cheatham and Marshall Johnston, with Lynn Marshall
Vascular Plants of Texas	Correll & Johnston
Wanted! Mountain Cedars, Dead or Alive	Elizabeth McGreevy
Weeds in South Texas and Northern Mexico: A Guide to Identification	Everitt, James H., Robert I. Lonard, and Christopher R. Little
Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln’s Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities	Amy Stewart
Wild Edible Plants of Texas	Charles Kane
Wild Orchids of Texas	Joe Liggio and Ann Orto Liggio
Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country	Marshall Enquist
Wildflowers Across America	Lady Bird Johnson and Carlton B. Lees
Wildflowers and Other Plants of Texas Beaches and Islands	Richardson, Alfred
Wildflowers of Houston & Southeast Texas	Tveten, John & Gloria
Wildflowers of Texas	Ajilvsgi, Geyata	Overview of 482 species of Texas wildflowers, grouped by flower color for easy identification.
Wildflowers of Texas	Michael Eason	Includes more than 1,100 commonly encountered species, both native and introduced. Organized by flower color, with helpful color coding along the page edges making it easy to navigate.
Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country	Marshal Enquist	A comprehensive guide to the flora of the Hill Country, containing detailed descriptions and color illustrations of 427 species. Broad in scope, it covers everything from the smallest meadow flowers to the largest flowering trees and shrubs.
Your Remarkable Riparian	Steve Nelle & Nueces River Authority

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Benjamin Vogt

Ricky J. Linex

Jackie M. Poole, William R. Carr, Dana M. Price, Jason R. Singhurst

Matt Warnock Turner

Sally Wasowski, Andy Wasowski

Howard S. Irwin, Mary Motz Wills

George Diggs, Barney Lipscomb, Linny Heagy

Donald Stokes, Lillian Stokes, Ernest Williams

Donald Stokes, Lillian Stokes

Howard Garrett, C. Malcolm Beck

Brian Loflin, Shirley Loflin

Nan Booth Simpson, Patricia Scott McHargue

Susan Metzler, Van Metzler

Stephan L. Hatch, Jennifer Pluhar and Keith Westover

Patty Leslie, Paul W. Cox

Campbell Loughmiller, Lynn Loughmiller, Joe Marcus

Kelly Conrad Simon

Joseph S. Wilson, Olivia J. Messinger Carril

Amy Stewart

George M. Diggs

Andy Wasowski, Sally Wasowski

Rick Darke, Douglas W. Tallamy

Eric A. Johnson and Scott Millard

Monika Maeckle

Brian R. Chapman, Eric G. Bolen, and Andrew Sansom

Douglas W. Tallamy

Bryan N. Danforth, Robert L. Minckley, John L. Neff

Stephen Packard and Cornelia F. Mutel

Charles W. G. Smith

John E. Williams

Robert A. Vines

James H. Everitt, D. Lynn Drawe, Robert I. Lonard

Jan Wrede

Elizabeth McGreevy

James H. Everitt, D. Lynn Drawe, Robert I. Lonard

Amy Stewart

Charles W. Kane

Joe Liggio, Ann Orto Liggio

Lady Bird Johnson, Carlton B. Lees, Les Line

Alfred Richardson

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