Flowers of the Lower Rio Grande Valley
A large land mass that encompasses multiple geographical and climatic regions makes Texas a natural flower capital of the United States.
The Lower Rio Grande Valley (LGRV) of Texas is an exceptionally good place for flower watching. It's home to semi-tropical species such as the Crag Lily, Heartleaf Hibiscus and Texas Olive, whose ranges do not extend far beyond the area. The LGRV mild climate also means that many Southwestern, Midwestern and Southeastern flowering plants thrive in the area year round.
Many LGRV communities promote native plant gardens for ornamental and functional reasons. The high diversity of plant life translates into a high diversity of butterfly species that use the plants for nectaring and larval food.
Not all of the state's five thousand native plants grow in the LGRV, however, enough grow so that on any given day, it is easy to discover twenty different flowering plant species, or more, growing in a small area.
The links in the box point to profiles of twenty different species covering popular flowering shrubs and flowering plants.
© 2009 Patricia A. Michaels