October 9 , 2014
What’s the BUZZ About Native Plants?
Adaptable , rambunctious nativeConoclinium coelestinum — one of a few shout out gentle ageratum — is on target for the common flock of butterfly ( allow ’s hope ) .
Boy , it ’s been a rough class . Since winter ’s 12 ° and drouth , it ’s the first time that my Salvia greggiis have wimped around . After recent rains , they rallied to get back on the problem .
My fresh aboriginal grey halcyon - aster ( genus Heterotheca canescens ) pumped out its first tentative flowers . I ’m not sure I have the right fleck for it , but I had to render after encounter it on our visit to theCommons Ford Prairie Restoration .
WithTexas Native Plant Weekaround the recess — October 19- 26 — now ’s the proficient clip to plant our native perennials , like pitcher salvia ( Salvia azurea ) . Bumblebees are going nuts on this one a few block from me .
Why is it so important to include native works in our gardens ? Cathy Downs from theNative Plant Society of TexasjoinsTom to recount us whywith some starter option .
You do n’t need mountain of room . My neighbour solarized their lawn all winter a few age ago to kill it without chemical .
After sum up compost , now they ’ve got a perennially pretty spot for everybody , even in this small-scale spot . Here ’s a view of desert willow , Hamelia patens , Salvia greggii , Salvia leucantha , blackfoot daisy and Mexican feather grass .
cervid - resistant evergreen plant crimson yucca ( Hesperaloe parviflora ) bloom from give to come down , speeding those hummingbird back to our zip computer code .
Need an evergreen vine ? Check out coral Banksia integrifolia that entices butterflies and smoke in other fountain to summer .
Got shade ? allow ’s add some repeated frostweed ( Verbesina virginica ) . It ’s a great woodland plant for us . Mine is just starting to bloom . I go for to appeal butterflies like in Cathy ’s mental picture .
Cathy encourage us to becomeMonarch Waystations . It ’s soft to make it official but all you need are nectar plants , milkweeds to dwell their egg , water , and shelter .
Birds value those seeds you ’re not flying to clean up , like from coneflower .
When possumhaw holly ( Ilex decidua ) loses its leaves in wintertime , it stage a show for birds that claim its berry howling alimentation .
Now , is n’t this lawn just lovely ? The house has been up for sale for weeks , sans irrigation . Native horseherb , also called straggler daisy , fluffed out with the first rain . This no - mow lawn , that attract little pollinators to its tiny peak , is so thick that it ’s smothering unquiet weed seeds underneath . BUT : have ’s not mulch around trees like this ! More on upcoming CTG .
Mexican - native pink calvaria is easy to regain . You have to look around a moment to get native skullcaps , like regal skullcap ( Scutellaria wrightii),Daphne ’s Plant of the Week .
Jenny Stocker’splants instance that it want sun to some nuance , along with dear drainage .
So , you ’ve got all these great flowers and you ’d like to entrap them or turn into gifting bookmarks . Viewer Kim Bruchdetails howshe laminated hers to share with her elementary schooling students .
Viewer scene of the weekgoes to Robin Mayfield for herSenna corymbosa . Although aboriginal to South America , this drought defiant minor bush / Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree attracts stacks of pollinators .
On tour , chat Jenny and David Stocker ’s garden where aboriginal and adapted industrial plant unify for wildlife and delightful out-of-door living !
Salvia farinaceajoyfully re - seed all over Jenny ’s garden to keep up with its wildlife customers .
They build this comfy incubator for pollinator - powerful Mason or lone bee .
ascertain now !
A few event on the horizon :
Oct. 11 - 13 : The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Centernative plant sale
Oct. 15 – 18 : The Texas School for the unsighted and Visually Impairedfall veggie sale ( great Leontyne Price to support their endeavors!)Oct . 18- 19 : AtZilker Botanical Garden , fete The Austin Area Garden Center ’s 50th day of remembrance jubilation with plant sale & more . TheFirst Austin African Violet Societywill be there , too , selling endearing African violets to revel indoors .
Thanks for stopping by ! See you next week , Linda
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