wildflowers
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Confused Wildflowers
When annual plants have finished here, I shred them and lay the resulting material down as mulch. Often there are seeds in what gets put down, and sometimes those seeds grow. One of those places is the strip next to the house on the north side. Here, the Bermudagrass doesn’t grow well in the shade Continue reading
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Wildflower Meadow Nearing The End Of Its Season
The current status of the wildflower meadow in front of the house is that much of the area is empty and the flowers that remain are mostly yellow and white. Primarily what is growing at the beginning of October are Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis), Yellow Sneezeweed (Helenium amarum), Lindheimer’s Doveweed aka Woolly Croton (Croton lindheimeri), Continue reading
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Bonus Wildflowers Beside The House
One of the areas in the garden that I am newly developing this year is the narrow strip of land that is on the north side of the house. Because of shade, the builder-installed Bermudagrass is not doing well. However, Bermudagrass is not helpful for the environment and I have no intention of encouraging it Continue reading
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The Next Chapter In The Wildflower Meadow
In March and April there was a surprisingly impressive display of Texas Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) in the wildflower meadow in front of the house (see first photo in this post). It was surprising because elsewhere in Central Texas where we would normally see bluebonnets in fields and beside roadsides, the displays have been poor this Continue reading
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A Few More Seeds In The Meadow
I was very pleased with the wildflower meadow’s first year. Any appearance of the plants I seeded would have been satisfactory, but the quantity that grew exceeded my expectations. The three plants that were seeded in quantity — Texas Bluebonnet, Firewheel aka Indian Blanket, Spotted Beebalm aka Spotted Horsemint — are likely to come back Continue reading
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Rain After A Drought Triggered Seed Germination
For two months in September and October we had no rain, and then two inches fell at the beginning of November. That one rainfall triggered a mass germination of seeds that were in the soil here. Some of those seeds may be weedy things that were already in the ground before I got here, but Continue reading
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Adding More Wildflowers To The Back Yard
In spring and summer of 2024, there was a significant display of native wildflower plants here that had volunteered or been introduced by seed that I sowed in the previous fall. For now, I will keep at least half of that area for the same purpose. I presume that by now there is a considerable 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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A Wildflower Meadow In An Urban Environment
I have only a small piece of land. I am trying to “wildscape” that as much as possible, but I also need to bear in mind that I am in the middle of a housing development where many of my neighbors (and the HOA!) have expectations as to what an urban lot should look like. Continue reading
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Adding Extra Beebalm To The Front Meadow
My front yard “wildflower meadow” was seeded last fall with Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis), Indian Blanket aka Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella), and Spotted Beebalm (Monarda punctata). The Bluebonnets and Indian Blankets have already grown and are blooming very nicely. I haven’t noticed any Spotted Beebalm yet, but it’s still a few weeks before the expected bloom time. I recently visited 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 