This LIST is a work in process…
but I’ve been mulling over this idea for a while:

What if landscapers had a list of native plants that they could easily substitute for the boring old exotics that they normally used?

There is no reason that natives can’t be used in traditional landscape settings: the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has a series of display beds showing native plants in different ’styles’ of landscaping.

Most landscaping books suggest that you decide the form of the plants first in your plan, and then plant ones that fit the description. For instance, you might need a fine-foliage, vase-shaped, yellow-green shrub that got about 5 feet tall–draw it in on the plan, then go looking for a plant to fit the bill.

This is a list of plants that “fit the bill.” They aren’t always exact substitutions –some are for form, others, color, others blooms.
They are listed after the common exotic they could replace.

(Also–keep in mind that these are zone 8 and 9 plants–I woulds love suggestions from other areas!)

TREES
Calleryanna pear = Mexican plum (or P. angustifolia Chickasaw plum or P. umbellata hog or flatwoods plum)
Loquat = Pawpaw Asimina triloba
Slash pine = short needle pine
Japanese maple = Parsley hawthorn Crataegus marshallii, Prairie Flameleaf Sumac Anacardiaceae Rhus lanceolata
Chinaberry = Catalpa bignonioides southern catalpa
White mulberry = red mulberry Morus rubra
Chinese tallow = Viburnum lentago nannyberry (red), Escarpment Cherry Rosaceae Prunus serotina (yellow)
Crape myrtle = Retama Leguminosae Parkinsonia aculeata

SHRUBS
Spirea = American beautyberry
Tall forsythia = Retama Leguminosae Parkinsonia aculeata
Exotic Angel’s trumpet = Datura inoxia Jimson-Weed
Pyracantha (trained s a shrub) = yaupon holly
Bottlebrush = turk’s cap
eucalyptus = Texas Silverado sage Leucophyllum frutensens
Boxwood = Texas Silverado sage Leucophyllum frutensens (green cultivar)
Ligustrum, privet = cherry laurel, wax myrtle, Amelanchier utahensis Utah serviceberry
Sage = Jerusalem sage Phlomis fruticosa (6’ greyleaf)
bush jasmine = Ribes aureum golden currant, or White Bush Honeysuckle Lonicera albiflora var. albiflora
Butterfly bush Buddleja davidii = Buddleja racemosa wand butterflybush, Buddleja scordioides escobilla butterflybush, Buddleja sessiliflora Rio Grande butterflybush, Buddleja utahensis Utah butterflybush, Buddleja marrubiifolia woolly butterfly bush,
Exotic hybrid Azalea = Rhododendron carolinianum Carolina azalea (white yellow small), Rhododendron cumberlandense Cumberland rhododendron (red orange size?), Rhododendron occidentale western azalea (pale pink white yellow tall), Rhododendron calendulaceum flame azalea (bright dark orange pink yellow size?), Rhododendron vaseyi pinkshell azalea (light pink large), Rhododendron chapmanii Chapman’s rhododendron (light pink size?),
Fatasia (sp?) = oakleaf hydrangea Hydrangea quercifolia
other shrubs that should be used more often: = Viburnum dentatum southern arrowwood, Viburnum lentago nannyberry, or Elaeagnus commutata silverberry

PERENNIALS / BULBS
Crocus, Rain lily Zephyranthes candida = native rain lily Cooperia pedunculata or Zephyranthes drummondii–San Carlos Form
Siberian squill = blue eyed grass? (more sunny locale)
Dutch hyacinth = wild hyacinth
Gladiolus = Epipactis gigantea Stream Orchid, Camassia scilloides Atlantic camas
Foxglove = Penstemon cobaea wild Foxglove, Physostegia obedient plant
Firebrush, Firecracker Plant Hamelia patens = Flame Acanthus (Anisacanthus
quadrifidus var. wrightii)
Daylily, Siberian iris = lousiana iris, flag
Crinum = spider lily, Crinum americanum American crinum,
Dwarf bottlebrush= Heartleaf Hibiscus Malvaceae Hibiscus cardiophyllus (1’)
Perennial cornflower = Ironweed Compositae Vernonia lindheimeri
Exotic non-cold hardy hibiscus = La Trinidad Sage Labiatae Salvia microphylla
Casmere(sp?) Plant = Tall Ironweed Vernonia altissima
Agapanthus = Nodding pink onion Allium cernuum
Oriental lily = L. pardalinum, LEOPARD LILY
four O’ clocks = Mirabilis multiflora (purple)Colorado four o’clock, Sweet Four-o’clock (pink) Mirabilis longiflora, Mirabilis oxybaphoides smooth spreading four o’clock (pinkish purple)
?torchlily (spiky orange-yllwred) = Platanthera ciliaris yellow fringed orchid

ANNUALS
Pinks = Centaurium beyrichii Mountain Pinks
Periwinkle = Drummond phlox
Mums = Aphanostephus sp. Lazy Daisy or Gaillardia Indian blanket
Bread poppy or Oriental Poppy Papaver orientale = Argemone albiflora White Prickly Poppy, or California golden poppy or Mexican Gold Poppy Eschscholtzia mexicana
Scarlet flax Linum grandiflorum rubrum = Blue flax Linum perenne lewisii

GRASSES / GROUNDCOVERS / VINES
Dwarf mondo grass = Ruellia brittoniana ‘Katie’ (dwarf Mexican petunia)
Turfgrasses = buffalo grass, blue grama, St. Augustine (native on SE US coast)
Periwinkle Vinca minor, Asiatic jasmine groundcover Trachelospermum
asiaticum = Mountain Pea Leguminosae
Running bamboo = Ruellia nudiflora, Violet Ruellia
Clump bamboo = Ephedra antisyphylitica Mormon Tea
Thunbergia Blue sky vine = Maurandya antirrhiniflora Snapdragon Vine
Pyracantha (trained s a vine) = Cocculus carolinus Snailseed
Jasmine (Confederate or Madagascar or Maid of Orleans)= Carolina Jessamine
Hybrid yellow crookneck squash = Missouri gourd Cucurbita foetidissima (Pepo
foetidissima) perennial
grapevine = Vitis rotundifolia muscadine
clematis jackmanii =Clematis ligusticifolia western white clematis
sweet autumn clematis = Clematis drummondii Drummond’s clematis,
red, yellow exotic passionflower = Passiflora incarnata purple passionflower (maypop)
blue fescue = Seep Muhly Muhlenbergia reverchonii
cape honeysuckle Tecomaria capensis = Trumpet vine Campsis radicans, cross vine Bignonia capreolata
gourds: = buffalo gourd
others: Southern dewberry Rubus ?flagellaris?