Smartscape (consisting of native or adapted plants)
2006 NICE plant of the year- Plumbago auriculata

Why have a Smartscape plant of the year?

• Texas homeowners apply about 4 million pounds of pesticides to their lawns and gardens each year.
• Pesticides kill more than pests. They also kill beneficial pollinators, insects and healthy soil microorganisms.
• Pesticides are dangerous to children and pets. Infants and children are significantly more affected by pesticide exposure. Exposure routes include ingestion, inhalation, and skin penetration.
• Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides contaminate neighborhood streams, ponds, and area lakes and create havoc for local water districts which are responsible for delivering high quality water to your door.

Native Texas Landscape Plants conserve our precious water resources. They don’t need pesticides, require minimal organic fertilizer and usually come back year after year. Native Texas plants supply acorns, nuts, berries, buds, fruit, nectar, and seed for our resident and migrating birds, hummingbirds, butterflies and other wildlife.

Keep Mesquite Beautiful recommends Plumbago auriculata as our Smartscape plant of the year. Plumbago is an evergreen shrub with sky blue flowers and a favorite of butterflies. The shrub has whip-like semiwoody stems that form a loose, rounded mound 3-10 ft high with a similar spread. Plumbago can be pruned to grow like a vine and scramble over supports, or pruned into a more compact mounded shrub. Plumbago blooms all year long except for the coldest winter months.