Rewilding My Lot

When I was new to Seguin, whenever I met a native plant gardener or naturalist, I would ask what was their favorite plant or tree and several of those suggestions are now in my garden here.

One of those early recommendations was Standing Cypress (Ipomopsis rubra). Not only is this a beautiful drought-tolerant plant that attracts hummingbirds and butterflies, but it also has an interesting two-year life cycle.

I planted Standing Cypress seeds in the fall and many of them are growing well. In the first year they form a ferny rosette that stays close to the ground.

After a second winter, each rosette will produce a tall flower spike and seeds from that will keep the cycle going. Once the original plant has flowered and seeded, it then dies.

Because these are biennials, if I want eventually to have these flowers every year, I’ll need to sow another batch in the fall of this year as well. Thereafter, the two alternating populations should reseed and provide flowers every year, assuming this plant is happy here.

Fortunately, I hope that there will be a number of interesting things growing here this spring, because I am going to have to be patient before I see Standing Cypress flowers, which will be over a year from now.