Tag: wildflowers

Mystery Flower Revealed

Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

By Carolyn Henderson

The mystery flower at the El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalist Wildscape that we shared a picture of a few days ago revealed itself one week later at the second weekend of club members working very hard to spread native Texas wildflowers. It is a Purple Coneflower. 

The flower in its mystery state

This particular Purple Coneflower is somewhat unique in that it is a very late bloomer, its bloom is unusually large, and no one knows how it got there. It has several other buds that I hope get to open up before a hard freeze. 

Now it looks familiar!

If you’d like to see the mystery (now revealed) flower, the ERCTMN members will be holding one more weekend of giving free native Texas Wildflowers to anyone who’d like some. Pots to put them in when they are dug up ran out last weekend, so bring something to put them in to take home. The Wildscape is on County Road 334 at the Bird and Bee Farm. 

Echinacea purpurea

The only plant that doesn’t have extras is the Purple Coneflower. Cultivator Catherine Johnson hopes to collect seeds from it to share next spring. 

Donna’s Garden in October

Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Donna Lewis

Can you believe it’s October!   A crazy year for sure.

I have not done very much to the garden the last few weeks. I like to let  her go to sleep slowly for the winter months.

My back also needs the rest. Any gardener will know what I mean.

Salvia

The fall loves salvia. It is everywhere in the garden. 

Salvia up close
Two colors of salvia

The last butterflies are fighting over the best nectar spots, and chasing the hummers out of the garden. It’s every man or woman for themselves.

Then the flame acanthus are on fire with blossoms .The orange Celeste tree is also blooming now.

Cowpen daisies are proliferating as usual, and autumn sage is putting out its last blast of flowers.

Then there is the lovely and dainty coral vine. Bees and butterflies alike love her sweet pink blooms.

I’d say pretty nice for a little stroll through the garden.

The secret garden…

Field Full of Flowers

Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Donna Lewis

The pastures at our place did not get mowed during the time we normally do that this spring. I really hate to mow at all.  Too many little things live there.

The rain and strange weather threw our normal twice a year mowing off. So, we have very high grass with dewberries and other various stuff everywhere.  You cannot even walk through it. 

The wildflowers have stopped blooming. So, while we thought we should mow it. But, I looked out and there were morning glories on top of all the grass with hundreds of butterflies everywhere. What a beautiful sight.

So it is always good to consider who is using your pastures.  You might need to wait until they are finished and then mow. Mother Nature never mowed her fields…I like to learn from her.

So just to make my other half happy, I said she could mow just around the edges. So now the butterflies were happy, but something else was not. The toads starting hopping for their lives.  Oh boy!  Most of them were Gulf Coast Toads.

So I walked ahead , caught all I could see and carried them to safety elsewhere. I just couldn’t let them get run over. I rescued about 20 or so.

Another day in the life of a Master Naturalist.

More Flowers from Donna

Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

by Donna Lewis

Here is the next set of wildflowers and other things I saw on July 28, 2021. I will break the blog posts up to include a few each time. Look for more tomorrow!

There are so many amazing plants outside right now.

1. Cowpen Daisy.  This bad boy gets going and likes to spread everywhere. It does not need rain nor help in any way.
2. Coral Honeysuckle. This is the hummers’ favorite plant at our place. So easy to grow, and I have lots of babies to share.
 3. Zinnia. An old-time favorite that every species of butterfly likes, really worth having in your garden.
4. Fire Wheel, native plant that grows in the pastures.
5. Xemia. Sweet little yellow flower, looks great in the garden.
6. Sedum. The flowers attract lots of butterflies.

I bet all of you have these flowers either in the pasture or in your garden. If not, then plant some for the pollinators, and you will enjoy the beauty of butterflies, hummers, and many more beautiful little creatures. 

Things at Donna’s House

Sue Ann (Suna) KendallLeave a comment

To follow up on the post about things Suna has been finding on her property recently, here are a few things Donna Lewis has been seeing!

by Donna Lewis

Just look around there are amazing things outside.

The first photo is a Cypress Vine. It only blooms when it is really hot!  Perfect for us. The hummers love it.  It looks great mixed with other vines.


#2 Photo is a Garden Phlox, an old species that is hard to find now.  A Tiger Swallowtail is getting some nectar from it.


#3 is our Passion Vine that we all love. It’s soo easy to grow and is the host plant for the Gulf Coast Fritillary butterfly.


#4 Turk’s Cap:  The hummers love this plant also. It likes a little shade and appears late in summer.  Very easy to grow. 


#5 Fennel Herb:  The host plant for the Black Swallowtail butterfly. Its roots are edible for humans.  The extreme freeze didn’t phase this guy.


#6 Creeping Cucumber Vine:  This is the first time I have seen this plant on our property. The freeze and early rains have brought in some interesting plants to our pastures.


I’ll send a few more blogs showing things I’ve found here.