Basket Grass
Nolina texanaBasket Grass is a succulent native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 2 ft tall and 3 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and very low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms white and green in Mar–Jul. Evergreen — it holds its leaves through winter. Deer rarely browse it. Good for butterflies.
Caution — livestock. Sacahuista blooms are toxic to sheep and goats.
Will it grow in your yard?
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From our guide
Village of the HillsGrass-like evergreen mound of narrow leathery leaves with cream flower plumes low in the clump.
Why it works here
Reads as an ornamental grass but stays green all winter and needs no cutting back. Thrives in dry shade.
Watch out
Leaf edges are sharp — keep it away from walkways.
The facts
6 sources- Type
- Succulent
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
- Water
- Very low
- Height
- 2 ft
- Spread
- 3 ft
- Bloom
- Mar–Jul · white, green
- Foliage
- Evergreen
- Soil
- Takes caliche and clay · recorded on clay, limestone, loam, rocky
- Deer
- High — deer rarely browse it. Tough fibrous leaves
- Wildlife
- Supports butterflies
Where it grows
Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:
1,549 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).
Can you buy it?
In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.
also grows from seed It starts readily from seed, so a packet from a native-seed supplier, or seed collected with permission, is often the easiest way to get a plant no nursery pots.