Arkansas Landscape Plants for Full Sun

American Smoketree

• Minute hairs associated with the clusters of small flowers give the American smoketree (Cotinus obovatus) its name: from a distance the tree looks hazy due to their presence. Smoketree is an Arkansas native requiring a full sun habitat in which to thrive. Growing to 30 feet, American smoketree has bark that resembles shingles, notes the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. The flowers persist well into the summer, with the tiny billowy hairs turning from pinkish to purple along the way. The foliage is blue-green. This plant will grow in many kinds of soil, including rocky areas, as long they drain sufficiently.

Loblolly Pine

• Be careful when handling the cones of the loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), making sure to avoid their sharp spines. Loblolly pine is native in 15 states in the South, including southern Arkansas, according to the "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region." Useful as a screen tree when immature, loblolly pine can grow to 80 feet. Loblolly pine, like many pine species, wants to be in full sun. This pine will do well despite drought conditions and prefers acidic soil. Loblolly pine works well in group plantings and despite its size, it creates just a light shade that lets you grow other plants beneath it.

Tickseed

• Tickseed (Coreopsis grandiflora) goes by the name of large-flowered coreopsis, a reference to the brilliant yellow flower that reaches a diameter of 2.5 inches. Tickseed, a perennial, not only does best when you find a full sun habitat for it, it requires dry soil. Ground containing clay or gravel is suitable if it drains well. Tickseed grows in the wild in prairie and upland forest settings. Bees and butterflies are no stranger to tickseed, which is native to Arkansas and other southern locales.

Swamp Rose Mallow

• It makes sense that swamp rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) would require a wet area to grow in, but the perennial also require full sun to thrive. Swamp rose mallow is a shrub featuring many stems that you can plant in a container as long as you keep it watered. Use this Arkansas native in damp spots of your landscape, such as sun-drenched, low-lying areas and near ponds and streams. Swamp rose mallow grows to 7 feet before dying back during winter to its roots; it springs back to life in the spring. Swamp rose mallow produces flowers as wide as 6 inches, notes Floridata.