It won’t be long before my prairie is full of spring wildflowers. The four-nerve daisies bloomed most of the winter and have started blooming again since I cut them back a couple of weeks ago. There were a couple of winecup flowers blooming this week as well as a yellow evening primrose flower.
The Texas Bluebonnet is the most recognized wildflower in Texas and is the state flower. Unfortunately, I do not have very many plants on my prairie this year, probably because the fall was a little dry and fewer seeds sprouted. This one, however, sprouted in my decomposed granite pathway. I think this is the largest single bluebonnet plant that I have ever seen in my garden. It is over two feet across. The plant is very happy where it is and, fortunately, it is mostly out of the way. The other plants that sprouted in the soil where they were supposed to are much smaller and not as healthy. I assume the granite provides better drainage and stays warmer than the surrounding soil.
This one is just starting to bloom. Within a few days, this plant will be covered in flowers. Hopefully, this plant will produce a lot of seeds for next year.
If you want to see more wildflowers now and learn something in the process, there is a great video called Wildflowers – Seeds of History that you can watch online by clicking the link. The 55 minute program was produced by Austin PBS station KLRU and is full of interesting information about wildflowers. The program includes some beautiful video of wildflowers in the Austin area countryside.
While you are at the KLRU website, check out Central Texas Gardener. I watch CTG every week online. It is a 30 minute gardening program with tips, interviews, and information that can even be used here in north Texas. My favorite part of the program is the first ten minutes or so when they interview a local gardener and give a tour of their garden. I almost always get ideas for things I would like to try in my garden. You can watch current and past episodes at the CTG website or on You Tube.
I wish the Dallas PBS station, KERA, would air programs like these. I guess their programming depends on who the major donors are and what programs they want to sponsor.
I've requested that KERA air 'Central Texas Gardener' since we don't have a local show ourselves. I think it fell on empty ears. I wish Howard Garrett Would start a show!
ReplyDeleteHi Donald. I think I heard Howard Garrett talk about possibly doing a TV show before. It may not have panned out. He does have some old videos on You Tube.
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