Rewilding My Lot

When we bought this new development house, the front bed had a number of rather standard landscaping plants. Most of these have already been replaced, or will be.

I want to choose plants here that have low water needs, and that offer something useful for wildlife, e.g., food or shelter.

Here’s an example of the contrast between helpful and unhelpful plants.

To the left is Gregg’s Mistflower (Conoclinium greggii) that I planted. This plant does well in dry soil and is beloved by bees and butterflies.

To the right is a Boxwood that the builder planted. It probably would have done better if I had nurtured it, but I did not, and it will be removed soon to make way for other things that serve my purposes better. I’m not saying that it’s an offensive plant; it just doesn’t do much to support native and beneficial wildlife. And Boxwoods that do grow large (I had one in Houston) are difficult to remove, so I figured I’d remove mine while they’re still tiny. I dug up two in the spring this year, and the other two have conveniently died in the summer’s drought.