The Texas Native Plant Primer

I just joined the local chapter of the Native Plant society and I am trying to landscape the yard at my new house so this book will come in handy:

This is a great guide for Texas gardeners. The author goes into a lot of reasons to plant native plants and then features detailed information with photos for over 200 plants.

I do wish the author was a little more wildlife friendly. One of the main reasons to plant native plants is to support wildlife — including insects and animals, obviously. Caterpillars not only turn into moths and butterflies (which are both beautiful and necessary pollinators) but they are crucial food sources for birds and have a right to be here on their own past all the ways they contribute. Despite all this, the author gives advice like hand picking caterpillars off plants and even using Bt which also kills other insects and butterflies. There’s also lots of talk about how to deter deer and so on. Native gardens are beautiful and beneficial for us humans, but it’s time for us to also recognize that other creatures should be able to share the benefits. I have no deterrents in my gardens and take no steps against anything from rabbits to cabbage moths to aphids to squirrels, and I have found that they are completely a non-issue. Nature keeps it all in balance and the result is a yard full of birds, butterflies and blossoms, with more than enough for everyone.

I also was surprised the author praises cultivars so much in plant profiles, after she points out the serious problems with them earlier in the book. By frequently recommending cultivars instead of the true natives, she is undermining the whole point of planting native plants. I wonder if others wrote some of these descriptions or if the essay about the harms of cultivars was just lip service.

That said, it’s a fantastic primer on native plants in the region.

I read a temporary digital loan of this book for review.