Starting Native Plant Garden (part-2): Where do you find plants for different garden spaces and wildlife.

How to select native plants for different garden designs and wildlife. Where to find native plants?

Starting Native Plant Garden (part-2): Where do you find plants for different garden spaces and wildlife.
Swallowtail butterfly on Penstemon flowers, Spring 2026

Episode # 20

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Where do you buy native plants in southwest USA. How do you select plants for your space, for different garden sizes and designs. Ideas for native plants in containers if you just have patio/balcony or or a rental home.  I go through some examples of plants for different garden spaces and different wildlife benefits. 

Relevant prior episodes 

Ep # 4 _ Where to fin native plants. How to avoid confusion and invasive species 

Ep # 7 : Sun Exposure an direction; Microclimate of Garden

2026 Spring Native plant sales mentioned in this episode

  • UTEP, Flora Fest, El Paso, TX - April 11, 2026
  • Alamogordo, NM ( Otero native plant society ) - April 11, 2026
  • Borderland nursery and seeds - Patagonia AZ spring plant sale - April 25th Albuquerque and Santa Fe have plant sales in various locations in April and May
  • Denver botanical garden annual spring sale - May
  • Utah - May 
  • Southern California, Arizona an Nevada - Many sales were in February an March. A few may be in April. Please check your local area. 

Some nurseries mentioned in this episode

Spadefoot Nursery, Tucson, AZ

https://www.spadefootnursery.com/

El Paso, TX

https://www.highdesertnativeplants.com/ 

Las Cruces, NM

http://www.robledovista.com/

La Union, NM (Near Las Cruces, NM & El Paso, TX) 

https://www.sierravistagrowers.net/

Boulder  Colorado

https://harlequinsgardens.com/

Plants mentioned  in this episode :

Ground cover plants  

Wine cups - Callirhe involucrata

Frog fruit - Phyla nodiflora

Silver pony foot - Dichondra argentea

Gray 5 eyes - Chamaesarcha chonioes

Windmill trailing vine -- Allionia incarnata

Flowering plants -

Salvias - multiple native species 

Penstemons - multiple native species

Cherry Skullcap - Scutellaria sufretescens

Desert marigold -   Baileya multiradiata

Blanket flower - Gaillardia (different native species)

Blackfoot daisy - Melampodium leucanthum 

Chocolate daisy - Berandiera lyrata

damianita daisy - Chrysactinia mexicana 

Shrubs and tress

Algeria - Mahonia trifoliata - (Berberis trifoliata)

Algeria - Mahonia hematocarpa -  (red barberry -)

Wolfberry - Lycium Anderson (some other species of Lycium also native )

Little leaf Sumac - Rhus microphylla

Three leaf Sumac - Rhus trilobata

Manzanita - pointleaf Manzanita  - Arctostaphylos pungent (and other native species )

Sage - Leucophyllum - 

Desert Willow - Chilopsis liners

Mexican elder - Sambucus nigra ssp caerulea

Netleaf Hackberry - Celtis reticulata

Goldenball Lead tree - Leucaena retusa 

Mexican red bird of paradise - Caesalpinia mexicana

Anisacanthus Quadrifidus  var. wrightii

Grassess

Mexican feather grass - Nassella tennuissima

Grama grasses native to southwest

Buffalo grass - Bouteloua dactyloides

Muhly grasses - Muhlenbergia  (several native southwest species)

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