Rewilding My Lot

We moved to Seguin, TX in February 2023, and that’s when I started the multi-year process of transforming our bare builder’s lot into a nature garden with priority given to native or adapted plants. We are in Plant Hardiness Zone 9a and our soil (below the builder rubble) is sandy, being part of the Post Oak Savannah ecosystem.

This “rewilding” project is now in its second year, and I am pleased with how things are taking shape. I am learning a lot as I go, and enjoying watching the growing plants and wildlife that visits them.

I keep a spreadsheet of everything I have planted and the beneficial volunteers that I recognize. I posted a plant list last year, and this seems like a useful exercise to repeat for my own benefit, if nothing else. I don’t list things that were introduced by seed but that I haven’t observed yet. I do list annuals that I have seen at some point this year.

Trees:

• Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis)
• Live Oak, unknown variety, planted by builder
• Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa)
• Mexican Olive (Cordia boissieri)
• Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana)
• Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia)
• Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora)

Shrubs:

• American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)
• Barbados Cherry, dwarf (Malpighia glabra)
• Cenizo aka Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens)
• Chile Pequin (Capsicum annuum)
• Flame Acanthus (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii), red and orange varieties
• Rock Rose (Pavonia lasiopetala)
• Skeleton-Leaf Goldeneye (Viguiera stenoloba)
• Texas Lantana (Lantana urticoides)
• Turks Cap (Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii)

Flowers, Herbs, & Succulents:

• American Century Plant, Variegated (Agave americana)
• Blackfoot Daisy (Melampodium leucanthum)
• Blue Curls (Phacelia congesta) – volunteer
• Bluebonnet, Texas (Lupinus texensis)
• Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
• Common Rue (Ruta graveolens) – not native, but host plant
• Cowpen Daisy (Verbesina encelioides)
• Dill (Anethum graveolens) – not native, but host plant
• Fall Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium)
• Firewheel aka Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella)
• Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora)
• Golden Tickseed (Coreopsis basalis) – volunteer
• Gregg Salvia (Salvia greggii)
• Gregg’s Mistflower (Conoclinium greggii)
• Horseherb aka Straggler Daisy (Calyptocarpus vialis)
• Lanceleaf Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata)
• Leavenworth’s Eryngo (Eryngium leavenworthii)
• Lemon Beebalm aka Purple Horsemint (Monarda citriodora)
• Lindheimer’s Senna (Senna lindheimeriana)
• Lyreleaf Sage (Salvia lyrata)
• Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea)
• Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida) – not native
• Milkweed, Antelope Horns (Asclepias asperula)
• Milkweed, Zizotes (Asclepias oenotheroides)
• Pigeonberry (Rivina humilis)
• Pink Evening Primrose (Oenothera speciosa)
• Prairie Verbena (Verbena bipinnatifida)
• Purple Prairie Clover (Dalea purpurea)
• Pussyfoot (Dalea obovata) – volunteer
• Red Pricklypoppy (Argemone sanguinea) – volunteer
• Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora), red and yellow varieties
• Redwhisker Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra) – volunteer
• Scarlet Sage (Salvia coccinea), red and pink varieties
• Silver Ponyfoot (Dichondra argentea)
• Silverleaf Nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium) – volunteer
• Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata)
• Standing Cypress (Ipomopsis rubra)
• Sunflower, Beach (Helianthus debilis) – volunteer
• Sunflower, Common (Helianthus annuus) – volunteer
• Sunflower, Maximilian (Helianthus maximiliani)
• Twistleaf Yucca, Blue (Yucca rupicola x pallida)
• Wooly Croton (Croton capitatus var. lindheimeri) – volunteer
• Yellow Sneezeweed (Helenium amarum) – volunteer
• Zexmenia (Wedelia acapulcensis var. hispida)

Grasses:

• Blue Grama (Bouteloua gracilis)
• Buffalograss (Bouteloua dactyloides)
• Curly Mesquite (Hilaria belangeri)
• Gulf Muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris)
• Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium)
• Sideoats Grama (Bouteloua curtipendula)
• Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans)

Aquatic Plants:

• American White Water-lily (Nymphaea odorata)
• Aquatic Milkweed (Asclepias perennis)
• Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)

Here are a few recent photographs of the front and back gardens.