Supercharge your Garden with Texas Superstar Plants

The new Texas Superstar Guide to strong and stunning plants for Texans, created by Texas A&M AgriLife Research, the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service and the Texas Department of Agriculture, is available online.

To be designated a Texas Superstar, a plant must be beautiful and perform well for consumers and growers throughout the state. Superstars must be easy to propagate, which should ensure the plants are not only widely available throughout Texas but also reasonably priced.

The Texas Superstar program began as a regional program in the early 1980s and became a statewide effort in 1989. The name Texas Superstar was coined in 1997. The designation was applied to all the statewide promotions and has been used ever since.

Brochure is go-to source

The Texas Superstar program continues to be an incredibly successful way to promote ornamental varieties that perform best in the Lone Star State. The Texas Superstar brochure itself has become the go-to source for growers, amateur gardeners, nurseries and retailers and is an incredibly valuable reference for landscape industry professionals.

Landscape companies use the brochure to help homeowners, especially those who have moved to Texas from other regions of the U.S., identify plant varieties that perform best here.

“Landscape companies have customers who want to plant varieties they planted in California and Florida or Wisconsin and were not having success. They hand them the brochure, and that gives the homeowners a wide range of ornamental plants to pick from that they can rely on and enjoy.”

Texas Superstars set the standard

Industry growers, landscapers and ultimately the public rely on the efforts of AgriLife Research and AgriLife Extension to determine how plants will perform around the state and in what conditions they perform best.

“We know these plants are Texas tough as a result of what AgriLife Research and AgriLife Extension provide the industry. Industry professionals know they can rely on a plant when they see the Texas Superstar label.”

Years of rigorous plant trials that certify plants as a Texas Superstar helps set a standard and differentiate new plants and reintroduce previously overlooked selections. The program gives direction for growers and a marketing tool for growers with highlighted plants.

Texas Superstar is a registered trademark owned by AgriLife Research, a state agency that is part of the Texas A&M University System. A list of wholesalers and retailers who stock Texas Superstar plants and labels is also available online.