And a last shot of the berries. They always ripen here in August for me; and this year they are right on schedule.
Gardening with Texas Native Plants & Wildflowers, part 12.
Beatiful Shrub Debbie!!!!
I bought seeds that were supposed to be American Beautyberry, but weren't. I had a scrappy looking plant with 1 or 2 berries at each leaf axil with each berry on a seperate stem. No clumps of berries anywhere on the plant. Is your plant the native one? Everybody else's pictures look like yours, so I think I got the seed for something else. Just my luck! I'm trying to plant more native species to avoid so much extra chemicals, pest control and watering and am going to try this one again.
ooo...I saw a beautyberry a few days ago at my fav nursery....beautiful color...!
Melanie
Crow--I can root you some when it cools off a bit--your on the west side of Houston; you can come pick them up when they are ready or get them at the college station Nov RU. I'm near North hwy 6 close to the farm and ranch club.
Thank you Josephine, it is doing well this year. For some reason the mockingbirds have nearly stripped the one in the front yard under the oaks clean. Guess they prefer to be in the shade while dining? Funny kinda bird, the mockingbird. I hope they leave my yaupon out back alone for a while...it's loaded with berries (not turning yet) and I'd like to get a few good pictures before it gets pecked to death. The one in the front (beuatyberry) I prune hard in the winter so it doesn't grow up into the red oak. I wonder if that has anything to do with their prefrence for that shrub over the huge one on the side.
I'm currently "bargaining" with a guy to get a good number of native seeds. I hope this deal comes through so I can get rid of some of these exotics I've got.
This message was edited Aug 20, 2006 7:24 PM
Mine is only about 4 foot tall yet, but I love it. It gets prettier each year. I am with your bird Debbie, why endure the heat when you can be in the shade!
My beautyberry is not at its best in this heat. And of course it doesn't get watered as much as it wants...but it's a survivor! So it will still be there when cooler weather and (hopefully) some rain returns.
DMJ, thanks very much for your offer of the beautyberry. Sorry, I didn't get back to you sooner, but thank you and I'd love one. If it's easier for you, you don't need to go to the trouble to root one, I'll just take a few seeds. Of course, if when it cools off f you have bundles rooted, that's great too. I'm not getting out of the house much at all right now since my Lupus gets much more severe in the heat, so when it cools down a little, everything works better for me. Thanks again.
Crow
I'll root you some as it cools.
I'm so excited...I got one of the 2 big native seed orders today and "sweet talked" another guy into the seeds I want from him too. Wintersowing, I love it!
DMJ, what seeds are you putting out?
Gosh the list is endless this year but I will try to summerize the highpoints--these are just the natives:
1. cenentrosema virginianum--spurred butterfly pea
2. There are 7 kinds of perennial native winecups--I have managed to scarf up 3 of them:
callirhoe involucrata, callirhoe involucrata var. lineariloba, and callirhoe digitata
3. An aquisition I'm particularly happy to have obtained is hibiscus dasycalyx the Neches River Hibiscus which is rare and endangered in the wild due to the gene pool being polluted by other hibiscus'. I promised him I would grow it the correct distances to pay him back with seed.
4. Hibiscus cardiophyllus or heart-leaf hibiscus
5. Lindheimera texana -texas star, an annual (not the hibiscus)
6. manfreda maculosa--texas tuberose
7. Barbara's buttons
8. Blackfoot Daisy
9. Big red sage
10. blue flax--linum lewsii--the annual
11. texas bluebells--the annual
12. cardinal flower
13. standing cypress-biennial
14. pitcher sage--salvia azurea
15. gayfeather--Liatris muronata
17. penstamon havardii
18. hill country penstamon
19. mexican hat--also have the other ratibida (the yellow one) coming from Wisconsin
20. the 2 native rain lillies--I have bulbs but wanted seed for LOTS more bulbs Cooperia drummondi and Cooperia pendunculata
21. annual basketflower--Centaurea americana
22. cutleaf daisy--Engelmannia pinnatifida
23. Snow on the Mountain--annual
24. cedar sage
25. 4 nerve daisy--Tetraneuris scaposa
26.Zexmenia hispida
27. red yucca
28 Arkansas yucca--yucca arkansana
29. gulf coast muhly
30. mexican feathergrass
31. Inland sea oats
32. clematis pitcheri and clematis texensis (and better yet--the secret to germinating them)
33. Alamo vine
34. snapdragon vine--Maurandya antirrhiniflora--easy from seed
35 white texas star (of course)
36. have 2 native pipevines (including that small short one--name is not nearby)
I also do alot of gulf coast penstamon, red tx stars, and native hinckley's columbine every year and give them away. And I also do alot of non-natives but this year only for trade or barter. Also have a native variegated pipevine coming if the seeds aren't aborted prematurely.
Wow Debbie, that is quite a list!! I am amazed!.
I'm amazed as well! I would be most grateful to learn the secret to germinating the clematis pitcheri! Lee
Oh my....I'm green with envy myself...lol....did I hear "Texas Bluebells?" lol...
What a wonderful list! Your garden must be spectacular.
That's a LOT of good natives! Hope they all grow for you! I've heard that the Blackfoot Daisy is hard to grow from seed...haven't tried it myself. I do have something from a friend on germinating the bluebells, but haven't done this myself:
"Get two containers, one smaller than the other, the larger one water-proof. Punch holes in the small can, in the bottom and along athe lower third of side. Fill bottom with gravel, upper half with loamy soil. Pour boiling water over soil; let cool. Half fill outer can with water. Put pane of glass over seed-can or cover with plastic. Transplant gingerly when very small."
ok... I just will NOT have bluebells it seems *giggle
lol..wow...I don't think I will either..... but well worth the effort, I would imagine.. :)
plants that take too much care do not survive at my house. PERIOD. *giggle I forget, I overwater, I underwater, I dig too deep, I plant too high, I plant in the wrong sun/shade area.... weeds kill it!
Name it I have done it to a plant... it's a wonder that they don't pull up their roots and run after me with a axe!
Thanks Linda--also sounds a bit like they need sharp stratification too (the Blackfoots).
Some of the "prefer dry alkaline soil" plants I do in big clay pots--seems to work well for good drainage down here--that way they dry out the next day after our "deluges".
Debbie
Here's an interesting read on one of our endangered Texas natives--Hibiscus dasycalyx and a very interesting website in general:
http://www.centerforplantconservation.org/ASP/CPC_ViewProfile.asp?CPCNum=2258#References
scroll down this page--probably the best grouping of native Texas plant books I've ever seen in one location:
http://www.texasprairie.org/resources/Store.html
Debbie
This message was edited Aug 26, 2006 11:36 PM
Very nice Debbie, I sure would like to have the hibiscus some day, did you mention that someone gave you some seeds?
yes--dmail me.
Have a look at this thread Hazel was kind enough to solve for me:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/644055/
Very interesting as it just popped up in my yard.
This message was edited Aug 27, 2006 12:12 AM
Wow Debbie!! you are really hitting the jackpot girl, that tread was really interesting,
Hazel is so knowlegable kind and patient, she goes to great lengths to help.
She is quite a sweetheart.
I hope you will get seed from that Hairy cluster vine, but knowing you, i am sure you will.
Josephine.
Where would ya'll suggest I plant that plant...ground or pot? Here are the problems...
1. All of my quick draining, highly raised soil is currently occupied by more valuable "dry conditions--Texas natives". So no good place other than one that is wet a lot of the time. But these spots can have a support for it to twine around.
2. Or a pot, just bigger than the one its in where it can be kept dry but have no support for twining.
3. I know if I don't do something soon it will probably not survive or thrive in a gallon pot.
Debbie, I would put it in a larger pot, and put one of those shepherd hooks or some other support in the pot or next to it, and let it do its thing.
Since the plant is an annual http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=JATA
you could have it some place else next year, where it will be convinient.
Josephine.
I was leaning towards the pot--know I need to do something quickly to insure a few seeds. Thanks Josephine.
Hi y'all...I spotted a few of these beauties hangin' on our Bur Oak this evening...and grabbed my camera.
I think they're one of the most interesting of the Oaks
with that shaggy cup....some of them almost totally enclose around the acorn....and they're LARGE too!
The leaves are large as well.
We have two Bur Oaks (Quercus macrocarpa)....only one is producing acorns (it's only about 12 - 14 ft tall.....and started making seed 2 years ago....3 acorns the 1st year,.....4 last year...hoping I get at least that many this year)
The other tree is only about 8 ft tall....so it may be a while before it produces seed.
The 1st year's crop,...I lost all my seedlings (had 100%
germination) in one day to a greedy little tree rat (maybe it had help)....it dug up all of them to get the acorns out of their pots....even with the 3 - 4" sprouts still attached/protruding.
GRRRRR.....
I protected the next crop to keep that from happening again!
We have one of those at work. It puts out a super huge acorn for such a tiny tree!
Josephine, I seem to be having a heck of a time trying to get that woolly beebrush going with any cuttings. I've tried thicker cuttings as well as softer ones...and they don't seem to be taking, with rooting hormone. Any suggestions? Frustrating, because I really want to have one waiting for you at the SA RU!... :)
Melanie
Willistx that is a beautiful acorn, Congratulations, I hope your little trees make it this time.
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Melanie, Don't worry if the cuttings are not working out, it maybe that they are hard to root, but thank you very much but trying.
Josephine.
WillisTx, your Bur Oak looks just like mine. I had it planted in my little suburban backyard in '02 (it was ~10 feet tall then) and it immediately took off. I think the acorns are very interesting, too, and big so they're easy to find in the grass.
Carla
I have an oak tree that extends over my Koi pond and drops acorns in the water. SsOOOO glad it isn't one of those kind, it may kill my fish if it hit them! I know I have picked up some downtown that are two inches wide. They look like eskimo faces to me with the fur around their faces!
Alright I found a eves necklace tree (and yes Josephine I will have seeds for me and you and a few to share..) Just need to know what do I do next? cold treatment, sow outside, heated, under heat???
Well, beleive or not Mitch, I found some too, and was waiting to see how they worked out.
The first thing is you have to shell them, which is not easy, then I gave them the the boiling water treatment, whis is you pour boiling water on them in a small container, and let them soak for 48 hours or untill they plump up.
I planted them in small pots a month ago, and so far two of them have come up which is not bad, I guess, I am hoping to get more, we shall see.
Maybe someone else has done differently, and had good results, I would like to know.
I will be reporting on the progress of those seedlings.
Josephine.
Info from "How to Grow Native Plants of Texas and the Southwest", about germinating Sophora seeds (this also includes Texas Mountain Laurel): "seeds may be mechanically filed or scarified with a knife. Or soak them in concentrated sulfuric acid for 30-90 minutes (Important Note: unless you're very experienced in dealing with acids and know the precautions to take, go with the boiling water treatment Josephine recommended). Pretreated seeds will germinate within 2 weeks..." I've also heard of seeds being planted in pots in fall and allowed to overwinter, without the treatment. She also said to plant in deep pots, well-drained soil medium, to allow a relatively long initial root. One gallon, maybe? They grow very slowly, of course. Wonder why Eve's Necklace isn't being sold in nurseries.
Linda...I actually saw some Eve's Necklace for sale at Rainbow off of Bandera...in the Texas natives section.....I almost got one...but didn't at the time... :)
Melanie
Thank you Linda, I guess I followed the right path, you know, scarifying small seed is hard.
I have seen them in the nurseries, but they are expensive because the grow so slowly.
We shall see how these do.
Josephine.
Good deal - I nick so many seeds already these should not be that hard then... if you need more seeds to try then let me know I picked up 10 -15.. .. ..
Guess what I found today? New blooms on my Purple Leatherflower! I had thought it was slowly going dormant because some of the leaves died, but it's still going. The rain and cooler weather must have given it a reprieve. According to the book, the bloom period was over after July. You just never know. Some other things...like the Clammy Weed, are blooming again out of season also. The aphids on my milkweed are starting were getting out of control again, but I got rid of most of them today. Waiting for the Monarchs to show up now. Nice to hear that Eve's Necklace is at Rainbow. Did you notice their new butterfly garden? It's nice. Just needs more host plants. The only host plant I saw there was one milkweed in a pot.