This shot just shows Guajillo and Mesquite foliage against the sky. I thought it looked so nice!
Gardening with Texas Native Plants & Wildflowers, part 16.
And the bloom on Guajillo, Acacia berlandieri. I kind of have a thing about that kind of ferny foliage plants.
Very nice Linda, I better get busy taking some pictures around here.
monarch larvae are certainly enjoying the butterfly weeds--I'm always saying I'm going to get rid of these plants (they take up prim real estate) but how can I now?
That is really neat Debbie, our milkweed dies to the ground around here, so we still don't have any for them.
I did keep some in pots and brought them in over the winter. The other day, a Monarch was desperately trying to find milkweed, going from plant to plant in a mad dash, so i got one of my little pots and was going after her, saying here baby here is your plant, but she wouldn't let me get close, I left the little pot out and am hoping that she laid her eggs on it.
The things we do for our babies!!!
mine freeze to ground level every year too--but its been 80F here for a week now. Mighty early--hope this is not a trend that continues.
Feeding Monarch caterpillars (or Queens for that matter) is like feeding a stray cat or dog. The longer it goes on, the harder it gets to stop doing it. Pretty soon they're yours and you care about them....even though you have to let the butterflies go, there's always more coming eventually! I couldn't give up on growing milkweed...I'd feel like I was dooming those species!
That is right, they are really precious, and you do get hooked.
LOL!! Good comparison Linda. You do get to feel responsible for them. At the end of the season I tried to "let nature take it's course". I left one or two cats on the plants and freaked out when I went to check on them and they were gone! Not anymore I am saving all I find. If I can't do it in the future for some reason, I will have to quit checking my plants or pull'em up!! It is so rewarding to release them. This year I am going to keep count.
What other plant can be a good source of feed for these guys? They've about decimated four large plants and they will soon run out of food source.
All kinds of milkweed, as far as i know that is all they eat, you might purchase another plant, I keep some potted and out of the way as a reserve.
Also if there are some wild milkweeds close to you you could gather that for them.
Might not be as bad as it seems. Some look pretty big and may pupate pretty soon. But one thing I like about Queens is they don't eat quite as much as Monarch before pupating.
It's Anacacho Orchid Tree blooming time....always brightens things up in my yard!
Wow!!! That is gorgeous Linda. I don't have one of those.
Josephine, Lee, Linda, Sheila - enjoyed seeing you again or meeting you for the first time last weekend in CS! Thanks for all the information I've gathered from you - and the plants you all have given me. Josephine, you gave me my first rough leafed dogwood in fall '06, and it's growing happily! Lee and Linda gave me some great new ones last weekend.
I bought some "new" (to me!) natives at the Mercer Arboretum sale last month, and had been shopping for them before that, so I hope my native plants do as well as yours. I LOVE all your photos!
Thank you very much, it is good to see people have an interest in native plants, it is hard to get people involved with them, but I am not giving up.
I hope the little Parsley Hawthorn you gave me will one day be a beautiful tree. It is so neat to have plants that your friends have given you, every time I see the plants I think of them, and that is very special.
Josephine.
That is true. Because many of my plants come from people that care about native plants, they're so special when I see them in my yard! And others I got from collecting seeds somewhere or even rescued. Even with the plants from native nurseries I can usually remember how much I liked being there looking at those special plants and talking to the special people who work there. My yard is full of memories. I enjoyed meeting with you all at CS. Just wish I'd gotten there earlier so I could have been there longer. The storm last night is over (thankful for every precious bit of rain in an extremely dry year) and the sun is shining again! With the work that's been going on (we've been having new siding put on the house) I haven't gotten much done with the plants, but I hope to get something done now that we've halted that work for the time being.
Here is a close up of our "Unknown Plant", Linda.....does anyone recognize this one? I collected seed from some wild ones growing along FM249 about a year ago....alas,...I've been barely keepin' up and have failed to ID yet....not in my Tex Native Books
Closer still
Lee, i think what you have is Self Heal, Prunella vulgaris, of the mint family, check this out;
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/83474/
http://www.wildflower.org/gallery/result.php?id_image=19100
Josephine.
Thanks again, Josephine! I do appreciate your assistance!
I had a couple of pots of small plants started and brought some to Linda for the fun of discovery! In all the hustle & bustle of the RU,...I didn't get around to having a pow-wow to ID then.
Self-Heal....a pretty little thing! Thanks again, Jo!
I just got lucky that i found it, I didn't know what it was either, but it sure is nice.
Oh, that's great! It's an herb, also. It's nice to have something that looks pretty and is useful also!
What a beautiful flower! I've never seen anything like it.
Tomorrow's MN class is on botany, and we meet at Mercer Arboretum. The class is led by their botanist. I can't wait! She also has a passion for native plants, so I'm going to take careful notes if she spends time with natives to add to what I know from here.
Also - my Audubon birding instructor is a member of NPSOT, and has given me lots of great info over the past two years on plants as well as birds. He points out native plants on every birding trip we've gone on.
Linda, I love what you said about your yard being full of memories. I had seen bluebirds covering a rough leaf dogwood in the fall a few years ago. I then discovered DG and Josephine - and she brought one to me in the fall of '06 at the RU. It was tiny - now it's about 4 feet tall! You and Lee also gave me some great plants at this year's RU. Thank you for the future great memories!
Bookworm, that is wonderful that you are doing all these neat things, I am so happy for you.
I guess we are a bunch of sentimental people who love nature, and I think it is a wonderful thing.
Let me know if there is something you are looking for, I am doing a lot of propagation now and i might have it.
Thank you all for sharing.
Josephine.
Thank you, Josephine! I'm still trying to find spots for all the plants I brought home from the RU - and I had been to Mercer Arboretum's March Mart... so many plants, so little room!
Here's a photo I took of the native columbine at Mercer on Saturday during my TMN class. They have an endangered plant species garden, a native garden, etc. Their botanist taught the class, and it was really informative.
I also learned about the new invasive threat of the Deep Rooted Sedge (came from Argentina). It is choking out native plants and farmland at an alarming rate. "If this weed spreads as it has been we could eventually see a loss in wildlife due to loss of native plants that feed our birds and animals." It looks like a giant nut sedge and has huge, tall seed pods. I found it in my yard last week and now know what it was. Each plant can produce up to 1 million seeds, so the spring before its pods pop is the easiest time to get rid of it. Scarry, isn't it? Makes Chinese tallow seem tame...
That is a very pretty and unusual Columbine, it appears to be very wide open, which one is it, do you know?
I had never heard of the deep rooted sedge, just the nut sedge, but if I see it I will be sure to get rid of it.
I checked my Mercer plant sale guide - I'm pretty sure it's called golden columbine. The brochure says there are only two native columbines that will do well in our heat and humidity. I bought one plant in March and it is not looking too good right now. I'm hoping it will adjust to its new home and thrive next year.
Bookworm--if its Hinckley's yellow it often will go completely dormant for me from June to Feb. I mean nothing above ground--esp if it is in full sun.
=)
Thanks, dmj! I won't worry too much. I'll ask the Mercer botanist next time I see her. Thanks for the name.
put a lot of mulch on top of it to keep it as cool as possible (which isn't all that cool in our summers) and try not to worry. Its supposed to be a short-lived perennial down here but I have one in full sun and very wet (edge of LA Iris bed) that's come back for 6 years. Also easy from seed--will bloom 2nd year. They also do well in deciduous oak shade down here, I just have no room in the shade.
My Hinckley's usually keep some foliage if they are established plants...but none of mine are in full sun all day, either. I looked up the sedge...40 inches high...I'd surely notice it, since we have no sedges around here that are tall.
Here's a pic of Chocolate Daisy, Berlandiera lyrata...looking pretty right now.
I have some growing in a semishaded bed that are doing great about four feet tall.
That's it, Frostweed! Is yours an annual up your way? Thanks dmj - I'll mulch it for sure. There were so many in beautiful bloom at Mercer.
Beautiful chocolate daisy, LInda! Are your columbine annual in 8a?
The Columbines are perennial here and stay almost evergreen all year.
Great to hear! Thanks.
Lace Cactus or Echinocereus Reichenbachii. My favorite cactus...doesn't take much room, easy to grow and every year rewards me with these sweet little blossoms:
OH YES, I have two of those and they are making buds now, they are adorable.
This was blooming and looking so lovely...considering the heat and wind, I appreciate it so much! John Fanick Phlox!
I would love to have a John Fanick Phlox, but right now I don't have anywhere to put it. I remember well going to Fanick's Nursery on the east side of SA when I was a girl and walking up and down all the rows of roses and trees. Mr. Fanick knew the answer to any question my mom had and was so friendly! What a beautiful tribute to him.