National Wildflower Week 2013

This week is National Wildflower Week and I would have missed it if it were not for Shirley's recent post at Rock-Oak-Deer. In celebration of National Wildflower Week, here is a look at some of the wildflowers and other native plants blooming in my garden this week. 

Bluebonnets continue to bloom in my decomposed granite pathways. Behind the Bluebonnets are the yellow flowers of Four Nerve Daisies. On the opposite side of the pathway are the purple flowers of Gulf Coast Penstemon and the red flowers of Autumn Sage.


Purple flowers of Mealycup Sage surround the pink flowers of Husker Red Penstemon. Husker Red is a red leafed cultivar of a native penstemon.


More Gulf Coast Penstemon form a backdrop for Four Nerve Daisy. In the right background is an American Basket Flower that is getting ready to bloom.


In the parkway area between the street and sidewalk, the Snake Herb has greened up. This is a fast growing groundcover for hot, dry areas.


If you look close, there are purple flowers on the stems. I found out last year that this plant has seed pods that are much like the dreaded Mexican Petunia. When the dry seedpods get wet, they explode and seeds fly everywhere. I am thinking about the future of this plant in my garden.


A little farther down the parkway are more Bluebonnets. The plants grow very well in the decomposed granite here. The flowers are few now and the seed pods are maturing.


Winecup, Prairie Verbena, and more Four Nerve Daisies grow near Yucca glauca.


The bright yellow flowers of Missouri Primrose open in late afternoon and close the following morning.


Chocolate Daisy fills the air with a chocolaty perfume scent in the mornings.


Lanceleaf Coreopsis blooms after surviving a bout with a beetle that I think is the same one Sheryl described at Window on a Texas Wildscape.


More Husker Red and Mealycup. Black Sampson Coneflower will begin blooming soon. The tufts of green are Gayfeather which will not bloom until the fall.


Shrubby Purple Skullcap is quickly becoming a favorite.


Eastern Red Columbine is a welcome spring blooming wildflower. 


Blackfoot Daisy blooms from spring through fall. 


The unique flowers of Green Milkweed. Plants in the milkweed family are the sole host plants for monarch caterpillars. I saw just one monarch butterfly laying eggs on the milkweed plants this spring and it does not appear that any survived.

This is one of the descendants of an annual Gaura that I collected from a nearby field a few years ago.

Texas Betony grows at the base of False Indigo. Near the Texas Betony are Gregg's Mistflower and Heartleaf Skullcap, neither of which are blooming yet.

Looking up, here are the flowers that cover the False Indigo.


These are the flowers of Pale-Leaf Yucca.

So there you have it, a look at some of the wildflowers blooming in my garden during this National Wildflower Week. Some of these flowers will wrap up their blooming in the next few weeks and others will continue blooming through the end of the growing season. Still, others will not even begin blooming until later in the season. With a little planning or a lot of luck, as is the case with my garden, you can have an ever changing palette of wildflower color all year long.