Plants are an essential part of our ecosystem.  It is now widely accepted that plants also have the ability to improve outdoor air quality, by removing airborne toxins and releasing oxygen for us to breathe.

Common Benefits

• Air Quality: The oxygen that we breathe is produced through the photosynthesis of plants.  Plants also help eliminate harmful pollutants from our air. (i.e. carbon dioxide)
  
  
• Erosion: Ground plants help prevent soil erosion or water loss, by slowing down the flow of water near river banks and their roots help to bind soil.
       
• Water Quality: Plants help filter sediments from our waterways and protect soil erosion into our streams due to rain.
  
  
• Wildlife: Plants provide food and shelter for wildlife.

Listed below is an assortment of plants displayed at the Green Building Resource Center that are well adaptable to the Texas environment.

Outdoor Plants:

• Cardinal Flower
• Cigar Plant
• Coreopsis
• Creeping Jenny
• Gulf Coast Muhly
• Hummingbird Bush
• Lantana “Gold”
• Louisana Iris
• Maiden Grass
• Mexican Feather Grass
• Miscanthus Grass
• Pentas
• Pickrel Rush
• Purple Coneflower
• Red Lantana
• Salvia Greggi
• Scarlet Stage
• Turks Cap
• Varigated Water Celery
• Yellow Water Iris

Sustainable Sites Tools and Information

• Site Planning
  
  
-Permeable Pavement
- Stormwater Management


• Native Plants to Houston Environment
  
  
- Importance of Native Plants
- Indoor Plants
- Outdoor Plants


• Green Roofs
  
- Fundamentals of Green Roofs


• Low Impact Development
  
  
- Benefits and Elements to Low Impact Development


• Helpful Sustainable Sites Resources
  
  
• Helpful Sustainable Sites Links
  
  
• Back to Sustainable Sites Homepage