Deciphering a Plant Profile
Understanding a plant’s profile is crucial to putting the right plant in the right spot, which will help your plants look their best, and (potentially) require less supplemental irrigation.
This guide is designed to help you learn the vocabulary, and also to help you figure out what each field means for you as a gardener.
The content below is what you see on a plant’s profile page. Click on any field’s label to jump to the guide for that field.
When a list of plants is shown in a grid, like the search page, the labels and some of the fields are omitted for space.
Checklist
Add this plant to your checklist.
Plant Type
Simplified combination of the Duration and Growth Habit fields from the USDA Plant Database, in my opinion more concise and helpful for ordinary gardeners.
| Plant Type | Details |
|---|---|
| Annual | Plants that die every year. If you want them back the next year, wait until they have produced seeds before you pull them out. |
| Biennial | Plants that grow one year, and produce flowers and die the next year. As with annuals, allowing them to seed out will ensure that they come back the next year. When starting a patch, seed for two years in a row to produce blooms every year. |
| Perennial | Plants that have soft branches with no wood tissue. They generally die to the ground every winter and produce new growth in the spring. |
| Grass | Grasses and sedges. They either fill in an area, or grow in bunches. They may be mowed or cut back at some cadence. |
| Shrub | Woody plants. They may lose their leaves in the winter, or may be evergreen. They generally benefit from annual/biannual pruning. |
| Tree | Big and looks like a tree. |
| Vine | Vines may be herbaceous or woody. They may or may not need a support like a trellis to grow on. |
Size
T-shirt size by height at maturity. Numbers in the parentheses are (height x width) at maturity.
The size can help you decide which plants you want to put in the front of your bed vs the back. The width helps you figure out the space you need to give each plant.
These are approximate sizes, and actual size will depend on the light and water that the plant receives, the fertility of the soil, and other factors.
| Size | Details |
|---|---|
| XS | Plant that is less than 1 ft tall |
| S | Plant that is between 1 - 2 ft tall |
| M | Plant that is between 2 - 4 ft tall |
| L | Plant that is greater than 4 ft tall |
| S (Tree) | Tree that is less than 15 ft tall |
| M (Tree) | Tree that is between 15 - 25 ft tall |
| L (Tree) | Tree that is greater than 25 ft tall |
| S (Vine) | Vine that is less than 15 ft long |
| M (Vine) | Vine that is between 15 - 25 ft long |
| L (Vine) | Vine that is greater than 25 ft long |
Light
Amount of sunlight that the plant needs to thrive. Multiple values for this field means that the plant can handle any of those values.
| Icon | Meaning | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Full Sun | More than 6 hrs of sun | |
| Part Shade | Between 2 - 6 hrs of sun | |
| Shade | Less than 2 hrs of sun |
You will need to combine this field with context and experience to determine the ideal spot for a plant.
- Turk's Cap will flower well in Full Sun, Part Shade or Shade, but may need supplemental irrigation in full sun
- Flame Acanthus has Full Sun and Part Shade, but will flower better with more sun
- Rock Rose has Full Sun and Part Shade, but will hold its blooms longer if it gets afternoon shade
Another thing to consider is that the sun’s trajectory can change a lot between the seasons, and a spot that was shaded in the winter might become full sun in the summer, or vice versa.
It’s usually best to just take a guess and stick the plant in a spot that seems right. If the plant starts to look wilted, or isn’t flowering well, move it to a different spot and try again.
Water
Amount of water that the plant consumes.
| Icon | Water Consumption |
|---|---|
| Very Low | |
| Low | |
| Medium | |
| High |
I have yet to see a reference that states what this translates to concretely in a unit like gallons/month. It also doesn’t map directly into whether or not you need to water the plant. You have to combine this information with soil moisture, and other factors like sun and root depth, to determine an irrigation schedule (if any).
- If you have a pond, swale, or a rain garden, you should be able to use Medium and High water use plants with little to no supplemental irrigation
- Butterfly Gaura is listed as Medium use, but has such deep roots (once established) that it generally doesn’t need supplemental irrigation, and may be used in a xeric bed
- Annuals like Indian Paintbrush and Firewheel listed as Medium use rely entirely on winter and spring rainfall
Soil Moisture
Soil moisture level that the plant likes to sit in. Multiple values for this field means that the plant can handle any of those values.
| Soil Moisture | Details |
|---|---|
| Dry | The plant thrives when the soil is allowed to dry out between waterings |
| Moist (well drained) | The plant thrives when the soil drains well, but stays moist between waterings |
| Moist (poor drainage ok) | The plant thrives when the soil stays moist between waterings, and it can tolerate the occasional standing water |
| Wet | The plant thrives when the soil stays wet |
Moisture level does not always correlate with water use.
- Cherisse has Medium water use, but needs Dry soil
- Whitebrush has Low water use, but needs Moist soil
It’s the moisture level at the root depth that matters, so if a plant needs moist soil, but has deep roots, you can still let the top few inches of soil dry out between waterings.
If the water use indicates how much water a plant needs per unit of time, then soil moisture influences how frequently it needs water. Watering frequency will also depend heavily on the soil texture.
Soil Texture
Soil textures that the plant can thrive in.
| Soil Texture | Details |
|---|---|
| Sand | Sandy soil with large particles; poor in organic matter; water drains quickly |
| Loam | Richer soil with organic matter; mixture of sand, silt and clay |
| Clay | Soil with small particles; water runs off when dry, and drains very slowly when saturated |
| Caliche | Hard layer of calcium carbonate1 |
| Limestone | Calcium carbonate; remnant of prehistoric reefs1 |
Sandy soil may need more frequent irrigation. Plants that need dry soils or excellent drainage may do poorly in clay. The texture of clay soil can be improved slowly by
- allowing leaves and other plant matter to lie where they fall
- preventing compaction due to mowing or walking on
Show Times
Months during which the plant looks the most attractive. The attractive feature could be blooms, berries, fall colors etc.
This is represented by a strip with twelve boxes (Jan - Dec). Hovering over each box shows the name of the month that it represents. The color(s) of the box indicates the color(s) of the feature.
The show times are approximate, and can vary depending on the rainfall and other factors. Blooms may be continuous, or sporadic.
- Cenizo flowers sporadically throughout the year after each spell of rain
- Scorpion's Tail flowers continuously throughout the year
Growth Behavior
How the plant behaves in the garden. Primarily, does it spread or stay put?
| Growth Behavior | Details |
|---|---|
| Groundcover | Low growing plant that can spread via rhizomes, stolons etc to cover a large area |
| Fills-in | Taller plant that can spread via rhizomes, stolons etc to cover a large area |
| Self-sows | Plant that seeds out readily and produces volunteers |
Plants that spread easily can be great assets if you need to cover a large area. They frequently also look their best when massed. Give these plants plenty of elbow room.
Further Reading
Links to the plant’s page on the websites of the Wildflower Center and the Native Plant Society of Texas.