Rewilding My Lot

There is an area on the north side of the house where last year I planted a few shade plants (e.g., Frostweed, Chile Pequin, Pigeonberry, Inland Sea Oats aka Inland Wood Oats, Lyreleaf Sage), and they are doing well.

For a year now I have been putting mulch made from shredded plants from other areas of the garden on the ground on the north side, to counteract the soil erosion that was happening when heavy rains fell from the roof (there are no gutters here).

Apparently there were seeds in that shredded material, and now I have a cheerful array of wildflowers in an area where I wouldn’t have thought they’d get enough sun. You can see from the photos how much happier the wildflowers are than the struggling bermudagrass next to them.

So far I have seen at least Bluebonnet, Firewheel aka Indian Blanket, Winecup, Texas Ragwort, and Dill. Many more plants have yet to bloom, though, and there may be some additional surprises in there.