11 Plants Native to Mexico to Grow for Cinco de Mayo

May is a perfect time for planting, and it also kicks off with a festive holiday. Cinco de Mayo is a grand celebration in Puebla, Mexico, commemorating a pivotal moment in Mexico’s struggle for independence from French occupation. 

While the holiday is not exceptionally popular outside that part of the country, Cinco de Mayo is an important holiday for many Mexican Americans. Today, it is a celebration of culture and civil rights. It’s also a great day for others to support and patronize Mexican or Latinx-owned businesses in support of their culture. 

Mexico is our closest neighbor to the South, and home to an incredible amount of beautiful and exotic plant life. If you’re looking for a respectful and culturally-appropriate way to observe this fun day, patronizing Mexican-American businesses is a wonderful place to start. Celebrate by adding some of these wonderful native plants from Mexico to your garden!

Diablo Cosmos

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Cloudy Sky Dahlia

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Crackerjack African Marigold

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Dahlia

	botanical name Dahlia spp.
	sun requirements Full sun
	height Up to 6’
	hardiness zones 7-10

The dahlia is the national flower of Mexico and holds significant cultural relevance. It officially gained this recognition in 1963, declared by President Adolfo López Mateos. They grow wild in the mountains of Central America, including Southern Mexico. 

Dahlias represent creativity, beauty, pride, inner strength, and elegance. It dates back to the Aztec civilization and holds significant spiritual symbolism. Warm days and cool night characterize their native range, and they grow well in many parts of North America. 

If you live in zones 7-10, you can leave dahlia tubers in the garden to overwinter. In cooler climates, they will grow beautifully through spring and summer, and into the fall months. In these places, you can dig them up and store them for the winter, keeping the same tubers for many years. 

Cosmos

	botanical name Cosmos spp.
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1’-6’
	hardiness zones 2-11

Cosmos is one of my favorite annual flowers for the cutting garden. Their tall, willowy stems and lacy foliage make them wonderful for arrangements, and they add beautiful texture to your beds. They are primarily native to, and commonly go by the common name, Mexican aster. 

There are several species of cosmos that work well throughout summer in your garden. They come in a variety of bright and cheerful colors and are exceptionally popular with pollinators. Native bees adore the small, perfectly shaped blooms for their exceptional pollen production. 

Marigold

	botanical name Tagetes erecta
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 1′-4’
	hardiness zones 2-11

While Cinco de Mayo is not the holiday that gives marigolds their significance, they are noteworthy in Mexican culture. These flowers have a history of use in the Aztec civilization, with links to their deity of death. 

It’s Día de los Muertos, which sees the most significance and use of these lovely blooms. You’ll find marigolds on many a traditional ofrenda, an altar for the remembrance of loved ones who have passed away. Their strong fragrance is said to guide the spirits of the deceased to the living world, where they can celebrate with their living loved ones. It’s a beautiful tradition. 

Marigolds are annuals. There are more than 50 species, but three tend to be the easiest to find and most popular among them. French marigolds are small, shrubby, and delicate-looking. Mexican marigolds (also called African marigolds) are large, tall, and substantial, with much larger blooms. Signet marigolds are similar to French marigolds but have finer, feathery foliage. 

Blue Agave

	botanical name Agave tequilana
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 5’-8’
	hardiness zones 9-10

Blue agave is a remarkable plant with a prehistoric vibe and numerous practical uses. It’s most famous for being the base ingredient of tequila. You’ll also find a sweet syrup made from the plant in most grocery stores these days. It is native to Jalisco, where it thrives in sandy soil at high altitudes. 

This large succulent makes a striking landscape element in warm climates. You can also grow it in a container and bring it indoors for winter. Give your blue agave a sizable container, as it grows quite large. 

In the ground, blue agave can reach heights of five to eight feet. They take a long time to mature, and once mature, they produce a single, large flower stalk. It takes approximately 10-15 years for this to occur, and the stalk can reach heights of up to 20 feet. After it flowers, the plant dies, but it creates offsets readily, so it’s easy to propagate. 

Thompson’s Yucca

	botanical name Yucca thompsoniana
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 6’-12’
	hardiness zones 5-10

If you live in Texas or New Mexico, Thompson’s yucca is also a native plant for you! This tall, treelike yucca is surprisingly cold-hardy and tolerant of poor soil conditions. The spiky evergreen resembles an agave when young, but grows a distinctive trunk over time. 

Thompson’s yucca blooms annually, producing a large spike topped with a mass of white flowers. It’s pollinated exclusively by a specific species of moth. The two rely on each other, the plant for pollination, and the moth uses the foliage as larval food, laying its eggs on the plant. 

Mexican Hat Plant

	botanical name Ratibida columnifera
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 1’-3’
	hardiness zones 4-9

Mexican hat flower plants are native to a large swath of Central and North America, including Mexico. If you live in the central area of the United States, you have the added benefit of a native pollinator favorite with this one. It is a type of coneflower that reseeds bountifully. Although not listed as invasive, it can be aggressive in certain areas. It is perennial in zones 4-9, but you can grow it as an annual elsewhere. 

This fast-growing wildflower looks great in prairie gardens and pollinator patches. It’s easy-going about soil and water, and easy to grow from seeds. The flowers are of a traditional coneflower form, with a tall central cone and shorter petals that point backward from the cone.

Papaya

	botanical name Carica papaya
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 6’-20’
	hardiness zones 10-12

If you’ve ever tasted a papaya, you know how sweet and delicious this next plant can be. Papaya is an herbaceous plant native to parts of Mexico and many tropical areas around the world. It grows tall and forms a woody stem, so it’s commonly thought of as a tree. You can grow this in the ground in warm climates and in a container in cooler climates. 

Unlike many fruit trees, papayas can produce in their first year. In tropical climates, they can produce fruit year-round. They’re drought-tolerant, but an extended period of dry weather may halt blooming and fruiting. A ripe papaya fruit has yellow to orange skin and a sweet, delicious aroma. 

Tomatillo

	botanical name Physalis philadelphica
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 3’-4’
	hardiness zones 2-11

Tomatillos are a tasty little fruit that find their way into many Mexican recipes. If you’ve never tasted one, you’re in for a treat! The small, round fruits grow in a papery husk and have a sweet, tart, citrus flavor. 

In warm climates, tomatillo plants are perennial, and you can grow them outdoors in the ground. In zones five and south, these make a great annual treat to add to the veggie garden. While a tomatillo may sound like and resemble a green tomato, they aren’t related and have a different flavor. 

Echeveria

	botanical name Echeveria spp.
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 4”-8”
	hardiness zones 9-11

If you love succulents or prefer low-maintenance plants, echeveria is an ideal choice for you. Native to Mexico as well as parts of North and South America, these fleshy rosettes are popular and easy to find at most nurseries. 

You may know Echeveria elegans by the name Mexican Rose. The leaf rosettes resemble flowers, and many blush with a pink or purple tone when exposed to bright light or cold temperatures. They are stunning bloomers and work great in rock gardens and other waterwise landscapes. 

Allspice

	botanical name Pimenta dioica
	sun requirements Full sun
	height 20’-40’
	hardiness zones 10-12

If you’re a culinary aficionado, allspice is likely something you have in your spice cabinet. This spice comes from the unripe fruit of a myrtle family plant. They resemble peppercorns, but the two plants belong to different families. 

This evergreen shrub is native to Mexico, Central America, and parts of the Caribbean. It grows quite large in its native environment. In warm climates, you can plant this outdoors. In cooler climates, you can grow this one in a container and bring it in for the winter. 

Pineapple Sage

	botanical name Salvia elegans
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3’-5’
	hardiness zones 8-10

Pineapple sage is an excellent choice for the pollinator garden and any other location where you want to enjoy beautiful flowers and aromatic foliage. This native plant has a long history of ceremonial, medicinal, and culinary uses in Mexico. The small, red, tubular flowers are attractive to hummingbirds and butterflies.