Rewilding My Lot

I planted a small Lindheimer’s Senna (Senna lindheimeriana) in October 2024, so it’s been here less than a year. In that short time it has already grown a couple of feet taller and a few weeks ago I saw flower buds.

I walk past this plant most days and until this week I’ve only seen buds. Then suddenly one morning there were many flowers!

This is a useful plant for several reasons. Birds like to eat its seeds, and it’s a host plant for Sleepy Orange and Sulphur butterflies. It doesn’t like wet feet, so my dry well-draining soil suits it well. And as a legume, it captures atmospheric nitrogen to feed the soil. It can grow up to six feet tall, so I have it at the back of the garden near the wood pile where it has some space to shine.