SPRING | wildflowers-texas-landscape-garden

Spring 2024

The common and botanical names are listed for your research. Each plant is linked to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center website or the retailer where we made our purchases. Visit our Native Resources page for local nurseries that sell native seeds and plants.

Prickly Ash, Toothache Tree, Hercules Club Zanthoxylum americanum Perennial - Rue Family This small native tree is the main food source for the Common Swallowtail butterfly on our property. Commercially available.	Stiff Greenthread Thelesperma filifolium Annual or Short-lived Perennial - Aster Family Prolific reseeder and beautiful in the garden. Transplants easily and seems to last longer in the garden.	Horse Crippler, Devil's Head, Chisos Hedgehog Echinocactus texensis Perennial - Cactus Family Not the best common name but a beautiful cactus. This one is going in a new cactus garden.	Texas Nipple Cactus Mammillaria prolifera Perennial - Cactus Family This wonderful cactus came with the property. It blooms every spring and is finally spreading.
Prairie Penstemon Penstemon cobaea Perennial - Figwort Family A very showy native wildflower. Plants and seeds are commercially available. Larval host for Dotted Checkerspot butterfly.	False Garlic, Crow Poison Nothoscordum bivalve Perennial - Lily Family This is the first year we've had these little flowers. Some on the prairie and some have popped up in our decorative planters.	Texas Maroon Bluebonnet Texas A&M - Cultivar Maroon colored bluebonnets created in honor of the university's colors. Seeds are available. These are about 5 years old and each generation have faded to a lovely pink.	Blue Curls Phacelia congesta Annual - Waterleaf Family Beautiful annual, sometimes biennial that grows mostly in partial shade. Easy to grow from seed.
Cutleaf Evening Primrose Oenothera laciniata Annual - Evening Primrose Family Appears in early spring. The flower opens in the evening and close in the morning. Very tough wildflower.	Wild Hyacinth Camassia scilloides Perennial - Lily Family We only see these bloom when the rainfall is abundant. We're leaving them on the prairie. They are commercially available online.	Buffalo Grass Bouteloua dactyloides Perennial - Grass Family Sod forming native grass that is drought tolerant. Highly recommended for sunny areas where you do not want to use irrigation. Does not need to be mowed. Needs only an inch and a half of rain per month to stay green. It will go dormant during droughts and in winter.	Texas Bluebells Eustoma exaltatum Annual, Perennial or Biennial - Gentain Family A gorgeous plant with stunning flowers. It does great in the landscape and does not need much attention. Seeds and plants are commercially available.
White Prickly Poppy Argemone albiflora Annual - Poppy Family This was a volunteer and lived for 2 years. Great pollinator magnet. Seeds are commercially available.	Winecup, Purple Poppy Mallow Callirhoe involucrata Perennial - Mallow Family We purchased seeds for this area from Native American Seed. This is the second year for the plants. We just scratched the seeds in and waited for spring. The blooms should open in a few weeks.	436310965_3761206087481738_4603689038886450823_n_edited Marshallia caespitosa Perennial - Aster Family We purchased these plants last fall and they have done well in the pots with very little attention all winter. We had some growing in a shady area of limestone gravel and sand.	Clasping-leaf Coneflower Dracopis amplexicaulis Aster Family Grown easily from seed these are wonderful for the landscape. In the wild they appear in dappled shade of trees.
Indian Blanket, Firewheel Gaillardia pulchella Annual - Aster Family This appricot colored Firewheel appeared in the wild. We usually see yellow ones mixed with the reds. I'm keeping it deadheaded for now to extend the growing season. Seeds are available for this color.	Mealy Blue Sage 'Augusta Duelberg' Salvia farinacea Perennial - Mint Family Beautiful white variety of Mealycup sage. This plant is available commercially. It will spread by seed and maintains the white blooms. Very easy and reliable bloomer. If they get leggy, just trim them back for a new flush of blooms.	Agarita Mahonia trifoliolata Perennial - Barberry Family Great alternative to commercial holly plants. This volunteer came from our plants located far away. It started under an ashe juniper. We first noticed this plant growing along fence rows in Tolar. A statement plant for sure. Plants are commercially available.	Mealy Blue Sage, Mealycup Sage Salvia farinacea Perennial - Mint Family Reliable plant for the garden or wilder gardens. These are planted at our gate and have done well with no extra attention. New plants have popped up close by the original plant and bloomed the first year.
Tenpetal Anemone Anemone berlandieri Perennial - Buttercup Family One of the earliest blooming wildflowers. They start blooming in February and are gone by the end of April.	Lanceleaf Blanketflower, Prairie Gaillardia Gaillardia aestivalis Perennial - Aster Family A roadside rescue for us. Easily grown from seed. These act like annuals here and are planted in a more sandy garden soil with excellent drainage.	Chocolate Daisy, Lyreleaf Greeneyes Berlandiera lyrata Perennial - Aster Family A must have in your garden. Beautiful flowers and a long lived native perennial. Seeds and plants are commercially available. Berlandiera pumila 'Chocoholic' is a hybrid available online in 3.5" pots.	White Rosinweed Silphium albiflorum Perennial - Aster Family One of the most fabulous prairie plants. Every part of this plant is beautiful. The tap root can be very long making it nearly impossible to transplant. The seeds are commercially available.
New Jersey Tea, Redroot Ceanothus americanus Perennial - Buckthorn Family This plant is in full bloom on rocky slopes. A delightful find on our place in the same rocky soil. Turns out to be a very valuable plant for native birds, butterflies and bees.	Pincushion Daisy, Fragrant Gaillardia Gaillardia suavis Perennial - Aster Family Another roadside rescue from a vacant city lot. This plant is about 4 years old. Readily reseeds. Seeds and plants are commercially available.	White Heath Aster Symphyotrichum ericoides Perennial - Aster Family One of the prettiest fall bloomers we have. Easy to transplant. Seeds commercially available.	Stiff Goldenrod Oligoneuron rigidum Perennial - Aster Family This was a roadside rescue 4 years ago. I put them in a pot before planting them, the roots grew through the bottom of the planter and here we are. Beautiful fall bloomer and great for the pollinators. Easy to control.
Carolina Woollywhite Hymenopappus scabiosaeus Biennial - Aster Family The entire plant is beautiful. We see them every spring into summer.	Philadelphia Fleabane Erigeron philadelphicus Biennial - Aster Family We have one very low, wet area that holds rainwater and we have at least 2 of these in that spot.	Prairie Celestials Nemastylis geminiflora Perennial - Iris Family These appear on our back prairie when we have abundant rain. This area slopes into a seasonal pond. The soil is black gumbo typical of our lower land.	Roughleaf Dogwood Cornus drummondii Perennial - Dogwood Family This Roughleaf Dogwood plant is located in caliche gravel soil on a slight slope in full sun. It's had a rough life because of the location. We are protecting it now.
Roughleaf Dogwood Cornus drummondii Perennial - Dogwood Family We purchased this from Eco Blossom in Ft. Worth. Great understory tree.	Upright Prairie Coneflower Ratibida columnifera Perennial - Aster Family A wonderful wildflower for the garden. Keep it deadheaded for more compact plant. Commercially available in seed or plant form.	Prairie Sage Artemisia ludoviciana Perennial - Aster Family Beautiful aromatic, silvery-white prairie plant. We are leaving this to colonize and will add to the trial gardens.	Huisache Daisy Amblyolepis setigera Annual - Aster Family A wonderful yellow blooming annual. Very easy to grow from seed.
Texas Indian Painbrush Fragile Castilleja indivisa Annual - Figwort Family This fragile wildflower appears in small spots in our prairies. Last fall we purchased seed & concentrated sowing them in one spot. We're excited to have over 70 plants in that spot. Yes, I counted them.	Fringed Puccoon Lithospermum incisum Perennial - Borage Family We don't see these every year in our prairies. Years ago we successfully transplanted one in our landscape. It survived there for 2 years until we had abundant rain.	Creeping or Moss Phlox Phlox subulata Perennial - Phlox Family A great native perennial for the landscape. Very tough drought tolerant plant. Commercially available in blue & pink colors. I see them in early spring in the big box stores because they are in bloom. Native nurseries may sell this all year when available.	Texas Bluestar Amsonia ciliata Perennial - Dogbane Family One of the early spring blooming wildflowers. Cultivated varieties of Bluestar (Amsonia) are commercially available. We leave them in the prairie & have not tried them in the gardens.
Texas Sedge Carex texensis Perennial - Sedge Family This wonderful shade to part sun native grass has naturalized under our trees. Beautiful groundcover and the best part is no mowing. Several varieties of Carex are commercially available.	Purple Prairie Paintbrush Castilleja purpurea Perennial - Figwort Family We see these beautiful wildflowers every spring into summer. Paintbrush wildflowers are semi-parasitic on grass roots & will be almost impossible to transplant successfully.	Texas Yellow Star Lindheimera texana Annual - Aster Family We transplanted a few in our trial garden with great success. They bloomed all summer & provided us with a lot of seeds. Gorgeous native and easy to grow from seed.	Lace Hedgehog Cactus Echinocereus reichenbachii Perennial - Cactus Family A must have & easy to find from online sources. Gorgeous brilliant purple or rose-pink flowers. We purchased this sandstone boulder because of this cactus. Seeds and plants are commercially available online.
Blue-eyed Grass Sisyrinchium angustifolium Perennial - Iris Family Beautiful jadeite green leaves form clumps before blooming. The flowers are blue with yellow centers. Very easy to spot in the early spring. Commercially available.	Engelmann's Daisy, Cutleaf Daisy Engelmannia peristenia Perennial - Aster Family One of the early blooming wildflowers with pretty rosettes forming in late winter. It has a tap root, so transplanting might be hard. Very easy to grow from seed.	Purple Prairie Verbena Glandularia bipinnatifida Perennial - Verbena Family One of the best prairie flowers with a long blooming season. Works well in the landscape.	Tall Poppymallow, Annual Winecup Callirhoe leiocarpa Annual - Mallow Family Fascinating wildflower with beautiful leaves & blooms. Seeds & plants are commercially available. We seeded a shady slope and the plants will bloom later this spring.
Baldwin's Ironweed Vernonia baldwinii Perennial - Aster Family This is a beautiful, tall plant producing wide clusters of red-violet flowers at the top of the plant. This wildflower works well in the landscape. Grown easily from seeds. Some varieties are commercially available.	Wild Blue Flax Linum lewisii Perennial - Flax Family Gorgeous prairie wildflower with delicate pale blue flowers. We purchased some for our trial garden. Commercially available. Updates will be posted on our Gardens page.

Spring 2024

Prickly Ash, Toothache Tree, Hercules Club

Zanthoxylum americanum Perennial - Rue Family This small native tree is the main food source for the Common Swallowtail butterfly on our property. Commercially available.

Stiff Greenthread

Thelesperma filifolium Annual or Short-lived Perennial - Aster Family Prolific reseeder and beautiful in the garden. Transplants easily and seems to last longer in the garden.

Horse Crippler, Devil's Head, Chisos Hedgehog

Echinocactus texensis Perennial - Cactus Family Not the best common name but a beautiful cactus. This one is going in a new cactus garden.

Texas Nipple Cactus

Mammillaria prolifera Perennial - Cactus Family This wonderful cactus came with the property. It blooms every spring and is finally spreading.

Prairie Penstemon

Penstemon cobaea Perennial - Figwort Family A very showy native wildflower. Plants and seeds are commercially available. Larval host for Dotted Checkerspot butterfly.

False Garlic, Crow Poison

Nothoscordum bivalve Perennial - Lily Family This is the first year we've had these little flowers. Some on the prairie and some have popped up in our decorative planters.

Texas Maroon Bluebonnet

Texas A&M - Cultivar Maroon colored bluebonnets created in honor of the university's colors. Seeds are available. These are about 5 years old and each generation have faded to a lovely pink.

Blue Curls

Phacelia congesta Annual - Waterleaf Family Beautiful annual, sometimes biennial that grows mostly in partial shade. Easy to grow from seed.

Cutleaf Evening Primrose

Oenothera laciniata Annual - Evening Primrose Family Appears in early spring. The flower opens in the evening and close in the morning. Very tough wildflower.

Wild Hyacinth

Camassia scilloides Perennial - Lily Family We only see these bloom when the rainfall is abundant. We're leaving them on the prairie. They are commercially available online.

Buffalo Grass

Texas Bluebells

Eustoma exaltatum Annual, Perennial or Biennial - Gentain Family A gorgeous plant with stunning flowers. It does great in the landscape and does not need much attention. Seeds and plants are commercially available.

White Prickly Poppy

Argemone albiflora Annual - Poppy Family This was a volunteer and lived for 2 years. Great pollinator magnet. Seeds are commercially available.

Winecup, Purple Poppy Mallow

Callirhoe involucrata Perennial - Mallow Family We purchased seeds for this area from Native American Seed. This is the second year for the plants. We just scratched the seeds in and waited for spring. The blooms should open in a few weeks.

436310965_3761206087481738_4603689038886450823_n_edited

Marshallia caespitosa Perennial - Aster Family We purchased these plants last fall and they have done well in the pots with very little attention all winter. We had some growing in a shady area of limestone gravel and sand.

Clasping-leaf Coneflower

Dracopis amplexicaulis Aster Family Grown easily from seed these are wonderful for the landscape. In the wild they appear in dappled shade of trees.

Indian Blanket, Firewheel

Gaillardia pulchella Annual - Aster Family This appricot colored Firewheel appeared in the wild. We usually see yellow ones mixed with the reds. I'm keeping it deadheaded for now to extend the growing season. Seeds are available for this color.

Mealy Blue Sage 'Augusta Duelberg'

Salvia farinacea Perennial - Mint Family Beautiful white variety of Mealycup sage. This plant is available commercially. It will spread by seed and maintains the white blooms. Very easy and reliable bloomer. If they get leggy, just trim them back for a new flush of blooms.

Agarita

Mealy Blue Sage, Mealycup Sage

Salvia farinacea Perennial - Mint Family Reliable plant for the garden or wilder gardens. These are planted at our gate and have done well with no extra attention. New plants have popped up close by the original plant and bloomed the first year.

Tenpetal Anemone

Anemone berlandieri Perennial - Buttercup Family One of the earliest blooming wildflowers. They start blooming in February and are gone by the end of April.

Lanceleaf Blanketflower, Prairie Gaillardia

Gaillardia aestivalis Perennial - Aster Family A roadside rescue for us. Easily grown from seed. These act like annuals here and are planted in a more sandy garden soil with excellent drainage.

Chocolate Daisy, Lyreleaf Greeneyes

Berlandiera lyrata Perennial - Aster Family A must have in your garden. Beautiful flowers and a long lived native perennial. Seeds and plants are commercially available. Berlandiera pumila 'Chocoholic' is a hybrid available online in 3.5" pots.

White Rosinweed

Silphium albiflorum Perennial - Aster Family One of the most fabulous prairie plants. Every part of this plant is beautiful. The tap root can be very long making it nearly impossible to transplant. The seeds are commercially available.

New Jersey Tea, Redroot

Ceanothus americanus Perennial - Buckthorn Family This plant is in full bloom on rocky slopes. A delightful find on our place in the same rocky soil. Turns out to be a very valuable plant for native birds, butterflies and bees.

Pincushion Daisy, Fragrant Gaillardia

Gaillardia suavis Perennial - Aster Family Another roadside rescue from a vacant city lot. This plant is about 4 years old. Readily reseeds. Seeds and plants are commercially available.

White Heath Aster

Symphyotrichum ericoides Perennial - Aster Family One of the prettiest fall bloomers we have. Easy to transplant. Seeds commercially available.

Stiff Goldenrod

Oligoneuron rigidum Perennial - Aster Family This was a roadside rescue 4 years ago. I put them in a pot before planting them, the roots grew through the bottom of the planter and here we are. Beautiful fall bloomer and great for the pollinators. Easy to control.

Carolina Woollywhite

Hymenopappus scabiosaeus Biennial - Aster Family The entire plant is beautiful. We see them every spring into summer.

Philadelphia Fleabane

Erigeron philadelphicus Biennial - Aster Family We have one very low, wet area that holds rainwater and we have at least 2 of these in that spot.

Prairie Celestials

Nemastylis geminiflora Perennial - Iris Family These appear on our back prairie when we have abundant rain. This area slopes into a seasonal pond. The soil is black gumbo typical of our lower land.

Roughleaf Dogwood

Cornus drummondii Perennial - Dogwood Family This Roughleaf Dogwood plant is located in caliche gravel soil on a slight slope in full sun. It's had a rough life because of the location. We are protecting it now.

Roughleaf Dogwood

Cornus drummondii Perennial - Dogwood Family We purchased this from Eco Blossom in Ft. Worth. Great understory tree.

Upright Prairie Coneflower

Ratibida columnifera Perennial - Aster Family A wonderful wildflower for the garden. Keep it deadheaded for more compact plant. Commercially available in seed or plant form.

Prairie Sage

Artemisia ludoviciana Perennial - Aster Family Beautiful aromatic, silvery-white prairie plant. We are leaving this to colonize and will add to the trial gardens.

Huisache Daisy

Amblyolepis setigera Annual - Aster Family A wonderful yellow blooming annual. Very easy to grow from seed.

Texas Indian Painbrush *Fragile*

Castilleja indivisa Annual - Figwort Family This fragile wildflower appears in small spots in our prairies. Last fall we purchased seed & concentrated sowing them in one spot. We're excited to have over 70 plants in that spot. Yes, I counted them.

Fringed Puccoon

Lithospermum incisum Perennial - Borage Family We don't see these every year in our prairies. Years ago we successfully transplanted one in our landscape. It survived there for 2 years until we had abundant rain.

Creeping or Moss Phlox

Phlox subulata Perennial - Phlox Family A great native perennial for the landscape. Very tough drought tolerant plant. Commercially available in blue & pink colors. I see them in early spring in the big box stores because they are in bloom. Native nurseries may sell this all year when available.

Texas Bluestar

Amsonia ciliata Perennial - Dogbane Family One of the early spring blooming wildflowers. Cultivated varieties of Bluestar (Amsonia) are commercially available. We leave them in the prairie & have not tried them in the gardens.

Texas Sedge

Texas Indian Painbrush Fragile