Obedient Plant

Physostegia virginiana

Also called Fall Obedient Plant

Hills guide picknative · Central Texassold locally

Obedient Plant is a perennial native to Central Texas that grows 2–4 ft tall and 4 ft wide. It wants full sun or part shade and medium water, and handles clay soil. Blooms white, pink and purple in Aug–Nov. Good for butterflies and hummingbirds.

Wet ground only. Usually found in wetlands and creek bottoms. It wants reliably moist ground and struggles in a dry upland bed.

Will it grow in your yard?

Enter your ZIP. The finder checks Obedient Plant against your microclimate, then ranks it against your sun, your watering and deer pressure.

From our guide

Village of the Hills

Upright perennial with spikes of pink tubular flowers that stay put when pushed sideways.

Why it works here

Good pink in part shade and moist ground where the palette gets thin.

Watch out

Spreads aggressively by rhizome in soil it likes. Wants more water than most plants on this list.

The facts

8 sources

Type: Perennial
Sun: Full sun to part shade (3+ hrs)
Water: Medium
Height: 2–4 ft
Spread: 4 ft
Bloom: Aug–Nov · white, pink, purple
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes clay · recorded on clay, limestone, moist, poor drainage, sand
Deer: Moderate — deer may browse it, especially new growth. Some browsing on flower spikes.
Wildlife: Supports butterflies and hummingbirds

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Northern Blackland PrairieFloodplains and Low Terraces

126 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

Sold at local nurseries. Confirmed in stock at a Central Texas grower in these sizes:

2.5 and 4 inch pots

From the growers we read so far — a short list, not the whole trade. Call ahead.