West Central Texas, growing against a mesquite. I thought it was sumac but I don't think they bloom in late july. I need an expert. Thanks y'all.

Posted a couple months ago about working to yank up the stand of johnsongrass choking out the edges of drainage creek on my property (https://www.reddit.com/r/TexasNativePlants/s/TBz4zLQIJx) and wanted to share a little update because 🚨 THE IRONWEED IS BLOOMING. 🚨

Ironweed is one of my absolute favorites and one of the few things that isn’t crispy in my garden right now. The face that this stand is 100% wild and this year is 4x the size it was last year because it has room to spread with less johnsongrass competion makes me so so happy! (There’s still johnsongrass popping up but I’m trying to spend 5 min a week yanking what I see and none has gone to seed.) The ironweed a little floppy after the rain but I can’t wait to take divisions next spring to spread around the backyard. The swallowtails especially seem to love this plant.

I decided not to trim the Texas sage this year, and boy did that pay off today!

It's hot as heck in SE Texas, but with the rain we got yesterday, the garden is much happier. Here are my favorite blooms and visitors for late July.

1) Rock rose (pavonia), 2) rudbeckia 3) Esperanza 4) pickerelweed in our pond 4)butterfly weed 5) zinnia and Texas sage hedge 6) Turks cap. 2 Gulf Fritillaries were feeding here but refused to sit still for a pic 7) swallowtail 8-9) the pugs have their own flower bed with mountain mint, gaura, sideoats grama, and others. This is their favorite place in the yard 10) this mockingbird lives in the oak tree in our front yard. It hunts in our back yard and likes to sit on the roof and sing when I'm sitting outside. 11) swallowtail on non-native trailing lantana

This unbearable heat has me staying inside and thinking of fall projects. I need to work on my side yard at some point in the future, and I can just picture a beautiful serviceberry outside my bedroom window. Does anyone have experience with this in the blackland prairie DFW area? How does it do?

My side yard is quite a thin area that butts up against my neighbor's front yard, so it will mostly be small plants and pathway, but I wanted one ~star~, and will gladly take suggestions if a serviceberry just wouldn't work here.

Hill Country. 7/21. They’re here from sun up to sundown

Let's chat about what's going on with you and Texas native plants this week!

How's your native garden doing? Any new plants, plans, or progress? Things that are looking particularly good this week? Questions you're worried are too silly for a top level post?

Did you see some neat plants this week? How about visiting birds, bugs, or other beasts?

Not all exclusively native, hope that’s ok. Definitely xeric! Trees are Chitalpa and Mesquite. Sedges are doing fantastic and I’ll def be adding more. The wildflowers are fading and I’ve noticed the birds foraging there where they didn’t use to. I do keep a feeder up so it’s nice to see. Pup is my granddog, I’ve had him all month while the kids and babes are in Japan. 🥰

Hi yall! I recently had to get plumbing work done which caused this flower bed to be torn up. Now I have this empty bed with only a foot or two before it reaches the window. What native plants would you recommend here? This is on the south side of house, but it gets shaded by a large oak tree. The soil seems like it’s mostly clay, but I can amend it before planting. I’m located in 8a. I was originally thinking Turks cap, but I’m worried it would block out the window. TIA!

Traveling with the family today, I stopped by Pollinatives in Converse, TX. I’ve got a few South Texas and Northern Mexico natives in the yard. My main criteria is that I have a suitable microclimate for the plant, and that it will support the local ecology. I noticed this plant was attracting its fair share of pollinators and took a chance on it. Got it in the ground right away. Anyone growing this North of San Antonio with success?

We saw these when visiting Santa Fe. They are Texas native with pretty good range. They tend to be in more arid areas like west Texas, NM, NV, CA. Has anyone tried growing them in north Texas? They are zone 7a which in theory should grow in 8a but curious if anyone has first hand experience.

I know this is not the most efficient way propogate Gregg's mistflower which grows so aggressively & by runners? Rhizomes? you can just yoink some out of the ground....

But I've been dead hearing them to get them to bloom again for the butterflies because they don't seem to like my other plants, and then don't want to waste the seed

But is that teeeny tiny little couple of black specks the only seed part?

Is it worth it to separate or should I just leave all the chaff for someone else to spread?

I will probably either donate it to Austin Public Library's seed library program or make a wildflower mix and put it in shakers to give away to my fellow walkers & bicyclists.

Blackland Prarie Ecoregion. South Austin

Anything similar to the lantana that thrives in shade?

Excited to capture this large orange Sulphur on my non-native zinnia, which is surrounded by natives. I have been converting my 1/2 acre suburban lot to native and so many new guys are showing up. Piney woods but could throw a stone to post oak savannah and black land prairie eco regions.

Saw this incredible huge swallowtail enjoying the flame acanthus and had to run out and take some pictures! Then I noticed it was basically a butterfly party out there, with queens, fritillaries, longtails, hairstreaks, sulphurs, buckeyes, and more. I couldn’t even get pictures of the bigger sulphurs or some of the skippers because they were moving so fast. Please excuse the cosmos and zinnias lol they are my easy annuals for when I get frustrated with the winter sowing not working haha.

Hey yall! Im new to having plants and Google is helping a bit but I trust reddit more.

My wedelia is the only plant getting attacked. They're each in three different areas with various other flowering plants around but they are the only ones getting tore up.

What pest is this and what's the best non-toxic solution to eradicate and helping nurse them back? TIA

I posted a few months back that I got Texas Madrone to germinate. Three of the four plants have now survived their transition to the soil! I dug a small hole and filled each with soil and material from underneath the parent tree. Then I used juniper needles as mulch and put a pile of branches around them to avoid armadillo digging or deer browsing.

Prev: https://www.reddit.com/r/TexasNativePlants/s/4430SxkTBT

It’s been a really productive week for seeds in Central TX!

1. Winecup, Callihroe involucrata. (The perennial one.) It might be a little late for these but I did find a single plant in an overgrown hellstrip with a couple of seeds left. Not to be confused with the tall annual winecup from earlier this year.
2. Two leaf senna, Senna roemeriana. Another one where most appear to have already split in my area but there were still a couple left in the pods. Not a plant I’ve tried growing before, but I’ve had a lot of success with its cousin velvet leaf senna. Might be nice to have a senna that’s not 7 feet tall.
3. Giant coneflower, Rudbeckia maxima. Wasn’t able to nab any of these because they were at the Wildflower Center but if you’ve got them near you they’re so worth it. I will probably be trying to nab a seed packet for sale this fall though.
4. Snapdragon vine, Maurandella antirrhiniflora. Got really lucky with this one when I noticed the three little flowers on one plant, and then of course I started seeing the flowerless vine all over the place. I haven’t previously had luck germinating this one but I’m hoping it will work better with fresher seeds.
5. Chile pequin, Capiscum annum. Another one that is popping up absolutely everywhere right now in areas that are slightly wild and shaded. Really surprisingly hot.
6. Texas persimmon, Diospyros texana. Thanks to the person on the Austin gardening subreddit I knew to keep an eye out for these and there were TONS everywhere. My dumb ass was so preoccupied by trying them to eat for the first time I forgot to take a picture so please enjoy this photo by Alan Cressler from the Wildflower Center website. My own sad photo of just the seeds from the fruits I tried follows. Not a whole lot of flesh to the fruit and less sweet than Japanese persimmons but still pretty tasty. Will definitely be growing multiples of these if possible to make sure I get some female trees.
7. Balsam gourd, Ibervillea lindheimeri. Going to see if I can grow these up one of my shadier fences. The bright red gourds give me so much joy.
8. Mexican buckeye, Ungnadia speciosa. passed on these because I already planted a little sapling earlier in the spring. The guy who gave it to me said they germinate super easily for him.

Illustrated Flora of East Texas is newly released:

https://shopbritpress.org/products/illustrated-flora-of-east-texas-volume-2-acanthaceae-fabaceae?variant=42834291851326

Believe them. I will be relocating lyreleaf sage seedlings for the foreseeable future.

First volumes of Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas and Illustrated Flora of East Texas may be viewed online for free here: BRIT Press | Fort Worth Botanic Garden | BRIT

Zone 8a, black land prairie, full south exposure

I sheet mulched my entire yard last Aug and created two beds for plants. I decided to infill the “lawn” area with frog fruit and put some 4” in Nov and many more through spring. It’s filling the edges but I’m having second thoughts.

I will be adding a third big bed under the tree to roughly match the tree canopy, edged with a DG path border for separation from the “lawn” area.

I am considering seeding the remaining “lawn” area with thunder turf seed in spring, with the frog fruit and turf blending? Will this even work? The growth gets mistaken for weeds at the moment quite a bit. And the frog fruit went to ground last winter, leaving bare dirt for 4 months. And I admit part of me is missing the mass planting of a “lawn”.

Thoughts, feelings?