I just found an interesting (and affordable) source for native seeds and thought I would share.
http://www.nativeventures.net/seeds.html
I ordered some Pinewoods Lily (Alophia drummondii) and Barbara's Buttons (Marshallia caespitosa). They also had a whole bunch of plants that I found listed as Texas natives, but which have very little information on Dave's Garden other than "native to Texas".
Has anyone else ordered from here? Does anyone have any recommendations for any of the more obscure natives?
Dennis
Interesting source of native seeds
Thank you for the link Dennis, it looks like a great place.
Josephine.
Cool! I see it's based in Louisiana. I'll look at that later when I have time....some I know about.
It is harder when the site just goes by a list of common names and botanical names. Those two you picked are good choices. I haven't grown the Pinewoods Lily, but I've heard it called Herbertia and I've seen those plants more to the eastern half of Texas, pretty blue or bluish purple blooms. I've grown the other one, which I call Barbara's Button. It grows wild in my area, blooms in spring, with those rounded white clusters, drought-tolerant, nice! Both Texas natives also. The winecup they have is a different species than mine, but very pretty also. Should bloom in spring, needs fairly good drainage. I have the same larkspur, I call it Prairie Larkspur, easy to grow, blooms in spring, but I don't know if theirs is the white or bluish one. I haven't grown the Texas Star (Hibiscus) yet, but I've heard it's great, lots of people have those. I've got a Mountain Mint, but I don't know which species. It's easy to grow and spreads out, but not too bad here, from time to time I remove clumps of it and give it away or trade it. I like it because it's minty, can tolerate heat and cold well, doesn't need the best soil and doesn't look bad if it isn't watered real often. Lyre-leaf Sage is a pretty Texas native I grow, easy to grow and sometimes sold in nurseries. I have Inland Sea Oats, nice grassy plant which I appreciate for it's lovely seed heads, which some people use dried in decorative arrangements for their house. Does spread by seed. I also have Hop Trees, bushes to small trees, trifoliate leaves and little greenish flowers in the spring. I really love it because it's a host plant for several beautiful swallowtail butterflies. Slow by seed, but worth it to me! Carolina Buckthorn is a small understory tree I have on my property. Fairly large attractive green leaves, inconspicuous flowers, fairly fast growing for a native. The little berries that follow the flowers are often red, although some in the wild aren't. I have Epazote, easy to grow, an herb used in food, used a lot in Mexico. The Lion's Ear is very tall, doesn't seem to branch much, cluster's of orange flowers up and down the stems, blooms from summer into winter, butterflies and bees love its nectar, reseeds a lot. I don't yet have Manroot growing, also called Wild Potato. I looked for seeds or plants for years, finally got a few seeds this year, so will try to grow it. Beautiful morning glory flowers on vines, white with purple-red throats. Nice to know there are seeds available there. I bookmarked that site and may try some kinds of seeds from there next year.
This message was edited Feb 12, 2009 2:04 AM
Last year, early summer I think, I heard Dr. Allen speak at a Gardening Friends of Lufkin lecture (our local gardening club) on gulf coast edibles. It was great, he and his wife brought all kinds of examples for everyone to eat, plus all kinds of tea made from local plants. They had seeds for sale and a nifty book full of photos to see examples of the plants. I bought quite a few seed packs but have not yet planted any -- getting ready to plant some of the yellow jasmine seeds though.
Herbertia lahue is a different species than Pinewood lily (Alophia drummondii) if they are over in LA, he's probably got seeds of A drummondii
Alophia drummondii:
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=ALDR2
Herbertia lahue
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=HELA6
Debbie
edited to add Alophia drummondii is really closer to a S American Tigridia in its growing habits--blooms a lot later in the summer and the foliage is a lot more persistant. It's a nice bulb to grow--just a little hard for me to get good seed off of. But that's probably just me!
He must be farther north than me too--Joe Pye Weed is another one that I have struggled with for years. I can get it to do decently in the shade--but not bloom worth a hoot or a holler.
This message was edited Feb 16, 2009 8:40 PM
I just received my Marshallia Caespitosa seeds but I'm not sure what do do with them. Other seeds I have received were just seeds, but these seem to be mixed in with sawdust or something like that. Has anyone ever received seeds like that? Do I spread it over the surface, or cover it?
Dennis
I have for various bulb species--yes, you just spread it over the top of your starting mix. Its usually a peat type mix--for very tiny seeds. It should be fine if the seed is viable--just try to spread evenly over the surface.
Debbie
dmj1218, I have had S American Tigridia for years and they never have bloomed. They are in containers and the plants look great. Are yours in full sun? Do you fertilize them?
Yes--they like full sun and probably more moisture than you think when in active growth. If they are the hybrids you get in a bag, good luck because the quality of them usually leaves a lot to be desired. But species such as T chiapensis, T pavonia and these others all do well for me--but from seeds, not from bulbs (but they bloom second year or sometimes frist year from seeds). They like it a bit drier in winter but not bone dry--similar to conditions daff's do well in.
http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/Tigridia
I foliar feed everything with an organic 10-2-8 and never use anything stronger than 10-10-10 on anything. Common misconception is that bulbs don't need nitrogen. Bulbs may make flowers, but leaves make bulbs is the old saying (and its a true old saying).
Debbie
That's what I heard also...fertilize the bulb plants. That reminds me to do that today...I'm looking forward to my Death Camas having its second bloom this year! I noticed this week it's putting up leaves. And with the drought, the tap water we give plants is about all they get around here....all you can do is try to water them and hope it doesn't get so bad they tell us we can only water once a week. That would be a death sentence for some plants.