Oklahoma native plants are ones that vary from lush grasses and wildflowers to trees and shrubs. Oklahoma’s landscape is populated with a broad range of species that can thrive in your backyard.
In this post, we will explore some of the native Oklahoma plants that you can grow in your backyard and discuss their highlighted characteristics below.
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List of Oklahoma Native Plants
1. Purple Coneflower
| Growing Season | Summer |
| Leaf Shape | Oval |
| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests |
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The purple coneflower of the Asteraceae family is an Oklahoma native that is well-suited to regular garden use. Growing one to three feet high and wide, it’s an easy-care, long-blooming perennial with showy lavender-pink daisy-like flowers. They would add such a nice aesthetic when they are growing so well and would last all summer long.
The prominent orange central cone attracts bees, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators. In summer, plants can be cut back after flowering to reduce the height or to encourage them to bloom again. But you must be sure that it would be well protected from different pests such as aphids and beetles, and even mites.
2. Sugar Maple
| Growing Season | Fall |
| Leaf Shape | Palmate lobed |
| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests |
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The sugar maple is an Oklahoma native plant that can be found across the state’s woodlands and bottomland forests, as well as backyards. They are beautiful plants that would grow well when the light is unfiltered and direct upon the plant. These trees are known to be changing colors in fall, and this is the season when the tree would be at its utmost potential of thriving.
Originating from eastern North America, sugar maples are renowned for their bright and colorful fall foliage, as well as their immense durability making them ideal choices for larger residential landscaping projects. They boast a long life span, but make sure that it wouldn’t be attracted to caterpillars and worms, so you should be mindful about this aspect.
3. Box Elder
| Growing Season | Fall |
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| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests | Boxelder twig borer |
Box elder, a tenacious Oklahoma native plant, is ideal for backyard gardens. Its small size allows it to be planted near homes and other structures, making it an excellent choice for urban yards.
These are the types of plants that would provide fall color with bright yellow-to-orange leaves before the foliage sheds for winter. Not only does this species provide aesthetics; its robust roots can improve soil quality, and when you plant it make sure that you would give it the right care.
4. Fragrant Sand Verbena
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| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests | Aphids |
Fragrant sand verbena is a stunning Oklahoma native plant for a backyard, providing showy clusters of fragrant and colorful flowers in the summertime. This short-lived perennial grows up to two feet in height, this is these are the types of flowers that have a rich nectar and a fragrance that would spread them in the garden and show their beautiful colors too.
It produces delicate pink or lavender-pink funnel-shaped blooms held above leaves with its inviting aroma drawing pollinators such as bees and butterflies. The blooms are followed by small capsules that contain up to 300 seeds each.
5. White Yarrow
| Growing Season |
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| Leaf Shape | Alternate |
| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests |
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White yarrow is a native wildflower from Oklahoma that is recommended as an excellent addition to any backyard, as you would see them blooming in spring and in summer seasons. It typically blooms with large clusters of tiny white flowers that attract pollinators like butterflies and bees.
Not only is this plant highly ornamental, but it is also very easy to care for and requires minimal maintenance. However, you should still provide it with the right care, which is placing it in a location with direct sunlight and a well draining soil.
6. American Smoke Tree
| Growing Season |
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| Leaf Shape | Round |
| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests | Aphids |
The American smoke tree is an iconic Oklahoma state, native plant that is a great choice for a backyard space. This deciduous shrub produces clusters of tiny, bright-colored flowers before maturing into fluff-like seedpods.
Due to its seasonal beauty, reasonable growth rate, and drought tolerance, the smoke tree is suitable for almost any landscape or garden plan. Make sure that you would give it the right requirements, such as a wet soil, and a partial to full sunlight, and make sure that the soil’s pH is high and alkaline.
7. Red Oak
| Growing Season |
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| Leaf Shape | U-shaped |
| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests | Gypsy moths |
Red oak is an ideal native plant for any backyard in the state of Oklahoma. It is a hardwood tree that can reach a height of 60 to 70 feet and offers dark green foliage before changing to its signature brilliant red leaves, as long as you would fertilize the soil properly and place it in a partly sunny location.
As a native species, it is specially adapted to Oklahoma’s variable climate and soils, making it easier to maintain and more resistant to pests or diseases than non-native plants, the only pests that it would attract are the gypsy moths, but if you start to spot them, with some chemical repellents you can surely get rid of them.
8. Southern Catalpa
| Growing Season | Summer |
| Leaf Shape | Heart-shaped |
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| Common Pests |
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Southern catalpa, an Oklahoma native plant is a deciduous flowering tree. It is an adaptable tree, and it’s highly tolerant of drought, heat, and wind so can be used as a buffer planting or screen, providing thick foliage along the boundaries of your landscape.
This hardy, fast-growing tree offers flowers for over six weeks and produces long, thin seed pods which attract birds. One must be careful only for the reason that it would attract caterpillars that would start laying their eggs and growing in their number.
9. Water Lily
| Growing Season |
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| Leaf Shape | Nearly circular |
| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests |
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Water lily, a beautiful Oklahoma native aquatic perennial, is an ideal addition to any backyard pond. These plants are one of the most loved ones, because of how beautiful they look, and the graceful aesthetic that they are prone to add around any water basin that they are growing in.
Perfect for humid climates, this plant is well known for its small broad flat leaves with circular decorations floating on the surface of the water, and delicate rose-like flowers that will add vibrant color to your garden.
10. Flowering Dogwood
| Growing Season | Spring |
| Leaf Shape | Ovate |
| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests |
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Flowering dogwood is a native Oklahoma plant and makes an excellent addition to any backyard landscaping. This flowering shrub reaches heights of 20 to 30 feet, producing blooms with creamy white bracts.
However, the flowers are small and yellow-green, and they would also add some colors of red, scarlet, specks, and blotches that can be found. Make sure that you would water it properly and make sure that the soil is dry after the next watering session, because the tree would be prone to fungal infestations if you overwater it.
11. Blackhaw
| Growing Season | Spring |
| Leaf Shape | Elliptical |
| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests | Caterpillars |
Blackhaw is a native Oklahoma plant with multiple uses for the backyard. It grows well along trails or on slopes and can act as foundation shrubs. Blackhaw is noted for its disease resistance, suggesting that it has adapted to the region’s climate and soil conditions over hundreds of years. Although the latter is true, but the only pests that would crawl over it and have a shelter provided are the caterpillars.
In addition to providing beauty, the dark blue-black drupes provide birds and other wildlife with a reliable food source throughout the year. They are known to be adding such a vibrant and a beautiful touch to wherever they may be planted, this is because they have the ability to change their colors, and turn more reddish when fall season comes by.
12. Common Milkweed
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Common milkweed is a native plant from the state of Oklahoma that can add beauty, fragrance, and color to any backyard garden. It is a hardy and drought-tolerant perennial with fragrant pink clusters of flowers. These flowers would thrive when pollinators would help in the process of growing and developing, hence they would be in this mode from spring to fall with their beautiful blooms.
With its long tap root, it also provides deep nutrition and water supply for surrounding plants, making it ideal for xeriscaping or naturalizing any outdoor area. Remember to locate it in a place where it will receive proper amount of sunlight and the soil is a well draining one, where not water content is going to be staying still in the bottom of the soil, where the roots would be damaged.
13. Narrowleaf Bluestar
| Growing Season | Spring |
| Leaf Shape | Star-shaped |
| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests | Aphids |
Narrowleaf Bluestar is an Oklahoma native wildflower that has many strong points in its favor as far as backyard gardening goes. It’s relatively low maintenance and grows from one to three feet tall, with soft blue-green leaves and clusters of small, star-shaped flowers.
Its foliage turns a beautiful yellow-orange color, and this is why most people like to plant is, as the colors add such a beautiful shade. On another note, it’s extremely drought-resistant, but the only thing you should be mindful of is the aphid development, because it may place the plant in a stressful situation.
14. Oklahoma Wild Petunia
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| Leaf Shape | Ovate |
| Specific Needs |
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| Common Pests |
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The Oklahoma wild petunia, an Oklahoma native plant, is perfect for adding a burst of purple to the home garden. This drought-tolerant, low-maintenance flower grows well in average soil and full sun, although it can also tolerate partial shade, and as a result you will see how great the aesthetics of your garden or where you have located these flowers, will become.
The bright and colorful blooms appear singly or in clusters atop branches that reach anywhere from one to three feet tall with a two-foot spread. These wild petunias are known for their ability to attract pollinators from the nectar that they have, and when the process is successful, the flowers will thrive starting from spring all the way through fall season.
15. Oklahoma Rose
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Oklahoma rose, native to the state of Oklahoma, is an ideal choice for gardeners looking for a hardy and long-lasting plant. This deciduous shrub can reach heights of up to six feet and has glossy dark green leaves that contrast beautifully against its clusters of fragrant pale pink flowers and prolific yellow fruit.
When you are growing them, you should place them in direct sunlight for eight hours, and ensure that the soil is a well draining one, that is also adding some fertilizer that is rich in nitrogen and the roses will look more beautiful when they develop a proper growth.
Conclusion
To summarize some highlighted characteristics of the Oklahoma native plants in this list:
- Purple coneflower, water lily, common milkweed, etc. plants require full sunlight and do not thrive well in part shade.
- Box elder, American smoke tree, or the narrow leaf blue star, can thrive in both full sun and partial shade.
- Most of the plants in this list, with a few exceptions such as box elder or water lily, require well-drained soil to thrive properly.
Whichever one you choose from this list will surely enhance your landscape’s beauty. You can go with the roses, if you want some edgy style, or the petunia if you are aiming to give your place a graceful touch.
