A closer view of the lovely flowers.
Gardening with Texas Native Plants and Wildflowers - Part 2
And closer still. The colors are amazing!
Nice pictures, Frostweed! I have a couple nice packets of bluebonnet seeds for trade or postage (49-cent postage) if anyone wants them :-) I got them while visiting my folks in Texas. Email me if interested.
This message was edited Mar 22, 2005 7:01 PM
I love those bluebonnets, Josephine. Sandland bluebonnets, Lupinus subcarnosus, grow naturally in some of our pastures, but I haven't been able to grow the prettier Texas Bluebonnet. I want to try again the fall. I shutter to think of all the bluebonnet seed I've killed over the years.
Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja indivisa, contrasts well with bluebonnets. Colors seem to vary from pale orange to scarlet orange. They're beautiful, but so expensive.
Here's a close-up of a scarlet orange Indian Paintbrush.
Beautiful!! There was a patch of hillside grass along a street in my town that was covered in Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes. Last year I waited impatiently for them to bloom again, only to see them MOWING IT just a few days before they should bloom!!! I wanted to get out and beat that guy up! GGGRRRR!!! I am sure he was just doing his job, but I was so sad to see them go.
Same thing happened year before last when I was raising Monarch caterpillars and before they went to Mexico the Hwy Dept. mowed the hwy and all the wild milkweed, along with the Monarch cats. :(((( I had to search and search for food to continue to feed mine.
Knuckleheads!!!
Dadburnit, contact Ladybirds wildfloower folks. She has a real desire to see all wildflowers bloom and seed. Wouldn't let Lyndon in the BR if the hands mowed before the plants went to seed.
A complaint does seem in order!
And those Indian Paintbrushes last for a long time in water. I know we all want them to go to seed, but daughter went to visit her grandfather in Corsicana over the weekend and he has a field of bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes. DD brought me back a cup full and they are still as gorgeous as the day picked, sitting on my kitchen table. I never had a chance to pick any so I had no idea. Looking at them in the last few days has really made me appreciate their beauty, especially of the Indian paintbrush, with none blooming anywhere around here.
We suddenly have Indian Paintbrush, bluebonnets, Indian blanket, and others blooming on the roadside. Lots of road construction between me and work, the only good thing today was being able to really look at the wildflowers.
I've always liked yellow flowers. They are so bright and cheerful. This is one of the most beautiful. A member of the Ranunculus family, the Large Buttercup, Ranunculus macranthus, The book, Wildflowers of Texas, says the stems are 3 feet long, but around here they are about 1/2 as long. They are only about 10" tall.
Last year, I saw one Lemon paintbrush down by our front gate. I should have taken a photo of it. I was looking forward to seeing more this year. I guess paintbrush is not self pollenating because this year I don't have any. We don't Indidan blanket till later, but we do have fields of Drummond Phlox, Phlox drummondii subsp. wilcoxiana. Has anyone attempted to harvest seed from phlox? I have no idea how small the seed pod are or what they look like.
Every once in a while we get a small colony of white phlox although I haven't seen any yet. Given a good year phlox bloom all year long. Not profusely, but here and there.
koncreteblond,
I have a feeling some of problem could be with the mowing crew. Around here, the mowers mow around patches of wildflowers. Now I know this is not something one would deliberately plant in their garden, but it has a beauty of its own and it definitely gets your attention. It's like an artichoke on steroids. The Yellow Thistle, Cirsium horridulum, can also be pink or dark purple. These things are growing in one of our pastures and they have to go, but first I had to take a picture. I have photos of the yellow flower (first to open) and buds of the pink. This a bud from the pink flowered thistle.
This is the flower of the Yellow Thistle.
Bettydee, those ar some gorgeous pictures you have posted for us. It is so nice to have everybody sharing and having a good time. Aren't flowers wonderful?
I adore Paintbrushes too, but they are really hard to grow. I had a patch once, but it has now disappeared. They say that they live off of the grass roots that grow around it, and I did remove the grass from the wildflower slope, so may be that is the cause. It is funny how flowers will grow by themselves when conditions are right, and sometimes no matter what you do, nothing.
Oh well, I guess you can't win every time.
bettydee you really have a great selection of beauties. "Have you ever been to Texas in the springtime?" keeps playing in my mind.
Betty Dee,
Phlox drummondi seeds are in a very small capsule that forms right in the center of the bloom. It is round and has 3 parts which split open to release the seeds. The capsule contains many very small seeds.
http://theseedsite.co.uk/db17a.html
Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata) forms a small round capsule that contains one seed (shown on same webpage, but difficult to see).
Both types of seed are difficult to capture and both types explode to release the seeds. When I was attempting to capture garden phlox seeds (which would be similar to collecting seed pods from the Phlox drummondi), I waited for them to ripen, but they would be dispersed before I could pick them. It almost drove my nuts trying to collect a few seeds. I tried cutting the the flower heads after the flowers dried, but there is a lot of debris and the capsules opened as I tried to sort out the seed pods. So I just kept all of the gook assuming there were seeds in it and the sowed all of it on top of the ground. New plants have emerged, but I don't know if they are from what I sowed or from self seeding.
One person states she captures the seeds using the foot of a pair of hose attached to the stalk with twist ties. Maybe baggies would work. Another person suggests collecting seed pods that the stem appears to be not feeding anymore, but the pods are not entirely dried out looking. In other words, where the stem is not green. She says that is an indication that the seeds are probably ripe enough to collect. Needless to say, seed collecting might be a tedious task. Maybe someone else has some suggestions.
Interesting Josehpine about the Texas paintbrush. I have been trying to grow some from seed. A few have sprouted but seem to barely be hanging on. Of course I put them in a sandy weed and grass free flowerbed.
I do have one in a pot from last year, that has some moss verbenia and ox-eye daisy in with it and it bloomed last year in the spring and again in the fall. It just started to bloom again now, though is not near as full and lush as it was.
I can't wait until for some of the Spring Flowers to bloom. It is a joke with my friends as we are driving somewhere that I am always saying " Oh look there, and there and slow down" cause I pay more attention to the wildflowers than I do them. There are a lot that I have no idea what they are and can't wait to get pictures of them and have you wonderful people help to identify them. I am not sure if these are native to Texas but they seem to grow wild here.
Here is one, only about 3 inches tall. Have no idea what it is
Is this one evening primrose?
This one seems like some sort of wild alyssum. It does not get very tall. I have some growing elsewhere that is only like 2 inches tall in full sun.
Hello Sunshine! well you gave us some tuffies,at least for me.
I have two gesses for the first one, from the book Wildflowers of Texas. I have never seen that plant around here, but one in the book looks a lot like it, although the foliage is not very developed in your picture, so it is hard to tell. One that I think it is, James Rush-pea, (caesalpinia jamesii ) The other is Golden Corydalis ( Corydalis aurea ) I have never seen those two plants, but may be someone that lives around your area will be familiar with it.
The second one is a type of yellow Primrose that is quite common, even around here, but I have never had anyone identify it for me. It is definately a primrose.
The bloom on the third one looks similar to Woods Corn-salad, but the leaf on your picture looks rough and the corn salad's leaves are smooth.
I will try and do some more research, in the meantime, may be the other garden sleuths will have all figured out.
Josephine.
This is a Fall blooming plant Heath Aster (Aster ericoides ) It is very common around the Metroplex area and I imagine many other places. The plant is not much to look at, but come October it bursts forth with tiny white flowers that cover it so completely that it seems to be covered with snow. It is beautiful next to the Purple asters and the Goldenrod.
This plant just appeared in my wildflower area for which I am most grateful.
Close up of the emerging plant, 2-15-05
Here is a picture of the plant in bloom. The picture was taken before we had a digital camera and it was scanned, so the quality is not as good, but I still love it, because it shows it at it's best. This is definately a Texas native.
Heath Aster in full bloom.
Wow, Josephine, how large is that?
Hi Maggiemoo, the plant is about three feet tall, but there is a group of plants growing together so the mass is about five feet wide. This plant when in the wild can look very puny, but when given good care it can be spectacular.
Thanks Josephine, I will try to do some research also now that I have something to go on. I will check out the white one again in the morning, but I think the leaves are even a bit fuzzy and they get smaller and and even different shape on the flower stem. I will see if I get a better picture of some of the other ones, in full sun.
That Heath Aster is really nice. What a mass of blooms.
Josephine, the description for Golden Corydalis say the flowering stem is shorter than the foliage. Sunshines365's photo shows the flowers well beyond the foliage. The foliage in Golden Corydalis is lush. The plant looks like Southern Corydalis, Corydalis micrantha, page 189 in Wildflowers of Texas. It is one of the first of the spring wildflowers to bloom here. The flower stems are well above the foliage which is rather sruffy looking.
The second photo looks like Cut-leaf Evening Primrose, Oenothera laciniata. I found the photo in this link:
http://www.texaswildflowerpictures.com/wf_index.htm
I have no idea what the third photo is. Can you take a close-up of the flower Sunshine365?
Veronica
htop, I think I'll try the stocking method and see how it works. I've got some old pantyhose I can spare.
Bettydee! good detective work!
I looked at the second flower on the site that you provided, and sure enough, that is exactly it. I knew it was a primrose but had never heard the complete name. By the way, that site you gave us is excellent, I bookmarked it, and will refer to it often.
You can never have too many sources of information, since no single source has everything.
The Corydalis, was the closest I could find, especially the flowers are very close, the leaves in Shunshine's picture looked underdeveloped, may be as the plant grows she will post another picture and we will be able to tell better.
Josephine
Here is one that is getting ready to bloom, Yarrow, Milfoil, ( Achillea millefolium )
This plant was introduced from Europe, and is now naturalized. It grows wild and it is also extensively cultivated in many colors, but the wild kind is usually white. Many medicinal uses are made of this plant. It also volunteered in my wildflower slope. Ah, the benefits of not mowing!
Emerging plants, 3-15-05
A picture of a lovely clump of Yarrow taken last year.
And a close up of the bloom cluster. I think it is beautiful.
Josephine,
What about herbs? Are you aware of any that are native to TX? I never see any listed in native lists, and don't recall ever reading a description of an herb that mentioned, "native to...". (I know that echinacea - coneflower - is considered medicinal, but is it native to TX? Now I'm second guessing myself.)
I used to see the colored forms (wild) in Alaska quite often. I've yet to see wild colored forms in Texas. Have any of you?
John
John, colored forms of Yarrow? The blooms a different color? I love the white! I've never seen it. I have a pink one and one that is Paprika, red and yellow. I was just looking at them yesterday and see that I really need to divide them. Will it be ok to do that now? I am removing Lariope and would like to move a clump of the Yarrow in it's spot. That or I'll just have to buy more! LOL
Konkreteblond, yes you can divide your yarrow now, and if you would like to have some of the white variety I will save some for you.
John, that must have been lovely, seeing colored yarrow in the wild. I haven't seen it around here either, although mine will sometimes have a pink tinge.
Maggiemoo, that is a good question. If you are referring to culinary herbs, may be Cilantro,
although I think that is native to Mexico. As far as medicinal herbs I am sure that many Texas
plants have medicinal properties. I am going to research that, I think we can learn a lot of interesting facts.
Let us put our reading glasses and our thinking caps on, and go on an expedition.
This message was edited Mar 24, 2005 2:43 PM
Hello Everyone, I found this interesting article about Texas Herbs. I hope it helps.
http://www.ann-mccormick.com/MagazineNativeHerbs.htm
bettydee, I hope you are successful capturing the phlox seeds.
John, I have a small growing yarrow that blooms yellow. It is a tough plant.When I was in the hospital and then not able to water my plants for about a month, my husband didin't see it growing in a hanging basket away from most of my plants and did not water it. I thought it was dead, but I watered it quite often when I was finally able to do so. It came back and is doing well now.
I found a piece of red yarrow, nearly dead laying on the ground at Home Depot a few years ago, laid it in the pot that I was buying, and stuck it in the ground when I got home... Now, remember, it was very brown, and wilted. That thing grew! I had a pot full of that yarrow later that summer. They are VERY tough plants.