volunteer plant
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Pussyfoot Has Appeared Again
Last year I had a volunteer Pussyfoot (Dalea obovata) plant. I have just found another one hidden among a mass of wildflowers. This is a useful plant because it is a legume, and thus able to fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil via a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia bacteria. For that nitrogen to be available for Continue reading
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Aquatic Plants
I’ve never had a pond before, so learning how to manage that environment will be a whole new thing for me. My goal is to build an ecosystem that relies as much as possible on biology and the interaction of different organisms to maintain a healthy equilibrium. One part of that ecosystem will be plants, Continue reading
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Woolly Croton, And Some Local History
Woolly Croton (Croton capitatus var. lindheimeri) is a common volunteer here, and if it’s not in the way I have allowed it to stay. Doves will eat its seeds. Another name for this plant is Lindheimer’s Doveweed, in honor of Ferdinand Jacob Lindheimer (1801-1879) who is often called the Father of Texas Botany because of Continue reading
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Tall Grass Is Not What I Thought It Was
I have a small area of the back garden that I designated for mid-height prairie grasses. Some of the intended plants were transplanted in and some were seeded. One of the grass clumps that grew was clearly going to be tall, but I couldn’t identify it until it flowered. By the time that happened, the Continue reading
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Redwhisker Clammyweed
I first encountered Redwhisker Clammyweed (Polanisia dodecandra) while volunteering in Seguin’s Park West pollinator garden. It was a volunteer in that garden itself, but has been allowed to remain for now because it attracts the very tiniest of bees. I believe I have at least two of these volunteers here. One has handily placed itself Continue reading
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Tidying Up The Pollinator Garden
The front pollinator garden doesn’t need a lot of maintenance, but after a couple of weeks of my being away it was time for a little tidy-up. Specifically, the volunteer Spotted Beebalm aka Spotted Horsemint (Monarda punctata) had finished flowering and was lying on top of other plants that were actively growing. This is a Continue reading
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Texas Star, And A Petal Mystery
When I recently tidied up my native wildflower meadow, I found this tiny volunteer Texas Star aka Meadow Pink (Sabatia campestris). It’s an annual that readily self-seeds so hopefully I’ll see more next year. Initially I struggled with the ID because although this plant when I first saw it (photo below) looked in almost every Continue reading
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Tidying Up The Native Flower Meadow
The native plant meadow is my most visible project, right in the middle of the front lawn. Therefore, I want to keep it relatively tidy (inasmuch as a wild nature project can be), and one recent morning’s gardening session was devoted to cleanup in the meadow. By now, I am confident that a lot of Continue reading
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Pussyfoot
Pussyfoot (Dalea obovata) is a useful volunteer plant because it is a legume, and thus able to fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil via a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia bacteria. For that nitrogen to be available for the future benefit of other plants here, I will need to leave roots in the ground to decay Continue reading
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Sometimes I Just Work Around A Plant
I like Lemon Beebalm aka Purple Horsemint (Monarda citriodora) and there is one pretty volunteer that kept falling over in the garden. Before I could get around to staking it, it had become quite comfortable just laying across a path and the flowers had adjusted to growing upwards, even though that was technically sideways. So Continue reading
About Me
Nature Lover.
Inquisitive Observer.
Student Gardener.
I invite you to join me on my journey to convert my sterile (from a nature point of view) new house lot to a healthy and diverse ecosystem, as I make discoveries, mistakes, and hopefully progress. I am not an expert or professional. The project started in February 2023 and the location is Seguin, Texas, USA.
Rewilding My Lot 