Past the Peak

Two weeks ago, my last post was about the peak bloom of the Gayfeather and the peak migration of the monarch butterflies.

There is still a little color from the Gayfeather, but it is well past its peak now. It is kind of sad that this plant grows (and takes up garden space) for six months out of the year and only blooms for about three weeks. Even so, it is special when the plants are in bloom because the timing seems to be coordinated with the migration of the monarchs. 

There are still a number of monarchs hanging around the garden. Even though there are still a few Gayfeather blooms in the garden, the monarchs have turned their tastes to the Gregg's Mistflower. This monarch has some damage to its wings. It must make the trip to Mexico a little more difficult.

The monarchs are joined by as many queen butterflies this week. The Gregg's Mistflower really brings them into the garden.

Ever wonder how to tell the difference between a monarch and a queen? The photo above is a monarch. The thick black lines on the open wings give them a stained glass appearance.

This queen butterfly does not have the dark lines. This is the easiest way for me to identify the butterfly. This queen happens to be a male. You can tell by the dark spots on the wings near the tail. Male monarchs have similar spots.

It is a little harder to identify the butterflies when their wings are closed.This is a monarch with its wings closed. The wings are a little lighter on this side and the black stained glass lines are still present.

The queen, on the other hand, is dark orange on the outside. It has narrow black lines which are broken up by white dots.

Earlier this year, I bought a different type of mist flower. Blue Mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum, looks similar to Gregg's Mistflower, however the leaves are rougher and not as deeply cut as Gregg's Mistflower. Blue Mistflower only blooms in the fall and Gregg's usually begins blooming in early summer.

Blue Mistflower is supposed to be a more invasive than Gregg's. My Blue Mistflower is still in a pot because I am not sure how it will behave. I placed the pot next to the Gregg's to see how the flowers compared in attracting butterflies. Blue Mistflower did attract butterflies, but it seemed that Gregg's Mistflower was preferred. 

Here is a skipper on a Zexmenia flower. Aromatic Aster is in the background.

A gulf fritillary is feeding on the flowers of Obedient Plant, Physostegia virginiana. This is another aggressive spreader, although its spread may be limited by lack of moisture. It is growing in the rain garden where it can be contained to a degree. This may be a good location for the Blue Mistflower too.

There were a few other varieties of butterflies in the garden. The only other one that posed for photo was this gray hairstreak.

This grasshopper is one of many in the garden. They are everywhere, but don't seem to be doing any damage to the plants. 

This is probably my last photo of Gayfeather for 2014. There are still a few more flowering plants in the garden that are waiting for their time to shine. The next one on the schedule is Fragrant Mistflower.

Gayfeather and Monarchs

The fall blooming season has officially started in my garden.


As far as I am concerned, it is not fall until the Gayfeather (probably Liatris mucronata) start blooming.


It seems like it took a little longer for the flowers to kick into full bloom this year. That may be because September was exceptionally dry. At the official DFW rain gauge, only .06 inches of rain fell for the month. Through the end of September, rainfall was 10.69 inches below normal for the year. Last week, I even decided to run the sprinklers one more time. That makes two times for the year.


Even with limited water, the garden looks pretty good now that the temperatures are not as high. Having some plants in bloom helps the appearance too.


Here is a view of the garden through the Pine Muhly, Muhlenbergia dubia.


More Pine Muhly with Giant Hesperaloe in the foreground.

News Flash
We interrupt this blog post for a special report. Monarch butterflies have arrived in Plano. Repeating, monarch butterflies have arrived in Plano.


A cold front blew through Thursday evening bringing a little rain and damaging winds for some. The monarchs flew in right behind the cold front.


As they make their amazing migration to Mexico from as far away as Canada, quite a few monarchs stopped off here for food and lodging.


They were primarily interested in the Gayfeather flowers, but they were also feeding on the flowers of Gregg's Mistflower, Frostweed, and Mexican Milkweed.


This was the scene all across the front garden. There were more monarchs that I could count. It was quite a surprise since I only saw two monarchs this spring. Below is a short video of some of the visitors to put their numbers in perspective.

A Tisket, A Tasket

A pink and white basket, flower, that is. The American Basketflowers are coming into bloom. I might say this is my favorite annual wildflower, but that would mean the bluebonnet is not my favorite and that would be un-Texan. So, American Basketflower is my second favorite annual wildflower.


The name comes from the bracts that enclose the flowerbud and remain under the flower once it opens.

Although the flower looks like a thistle, there are no spines on the leaves.


Nearby, a Standing Cypress is blooming with bright red flowers.


Mexican Hat flowers vary in color from plant to plant. These flowers are mostly dark red with yellow edges.


The petals of this flower are almost equally divided with red and yellow. I will need to pay attention to this plant to see if the red expands the flower matures.


The flower petals  of this plant are pure yellow and remain that color.


Soon there will be a sea of purple flowers on the Heartleaf Skullcap that is expanding across the front rain garden.


St. Augustine grass still grows along the west side of my house and driveway. I removed some of the grass near the alley because I needed a place to dump excess soil while I was constructing pathways. It turns out I dumped a bunch of seeds along with the dirt. Gailardia, Horsemint, Prairie Verbena, Gaura, Clammyweed, Datura, Rock Rose, Mealycup Sage, Eryngo and several other plants all appeared voluntarily.


Here is a closer look at the Gailardia, Horsemint and Gaura. Not a bad display for an unplanned garden. I had other ideas for this space, but I may just observe and let nature do her thing.

The Week After National Wildflower Week

I usually post pictures of the wildflowers in my garden during National Wildflower Week, but I missed it. Last week was National Wildflower Week and I did not even know about it until I saw Shirley's post at Rock-Oak-Deer blog. 

I have been busy in the garden trying to get things done before the blazing heat returns. I have also been sprucing up just in case my garden was selected for Plano's first ever Water Wise Landscape Tour. Well, it looks like my garden will be on the tour. There are not many details at this time other than it is on June 7 from 9 AM to 3 PM and there will be six private landscapes on the tour. There will be several talks throughout the day at the Environmental Education Center and tours of the garden. The Plano tour also coincides with the Dallas Water Wise Landscape Tour which will feature ten private gardens and five demonstration gardens. Both tours are free. More details on the Plano tour to come.

So, since I missed National Wildflower Week, I declare this to be The Week After National Wildflower Week. I know it is not much of a declaration since it really is the week after National Wildflower Week, but it gives this post a title and gives me a reason to post pictures of the wildflowers blooming in my garden (not that I needed one). These pictures were taken on Saturday and Sunday which was during National Wildflower Week. On with the show...


The Black Sampson Coneflowers just started blooming. The flowers are held high above the foliage and the petals droop as they lengthen. They are not as colorful as the Purple Coneflower, but attractive nonetheless.


Looking in the opposite direction and back at the coneflowers, the bright yellow flowers of Four-Nerve Daisies fill in gaps throughout the garden. A single Prairie Verbena plant that sprouted next to the Agave is nearly smothering it. I am not trimming back the verbena because I did not have many seedlings come up in the garden this year and I want to produce as many seeds as possible for next year. I will pull the stems away from the Agave if it disappears any more.


Cutleaf Daisly, Winecup, and Penstemon 'Husker Red' bloom around a new start of my spineless prickly pear. Several prickly pear "branches" broke off due to the weight of the ice last winter so I started a new plant and gave away others.


The Bluebonnets are going to seed. A few seedpods are visible in front of the Soapweed Yucca. There are many, many more in the parkway by the street. More of the Husker Red Penstemon are visible in the background of this picture and the following picture.


One of the Pale-leaf Yuccas bloomed this year. The feathery leaves of Gayfeather are visible to the left of the yuccas. These will fill the front garden with purple spikes of flowers in the fall.


This cactus was transplanted from the backgarden last fall. It suffered a little from the transplanting and cold, but has clearly recovered.


This is another Husker Red Penstemon. The flowers on these plants are white, while the flowers on the plants in the pictures above are light pink/purple. The plants were purchased at different times and locations and obviously have different genetics. The leaves on the white flowered plants are not as dark either.


Chocolate Daisy has begun to perfume the air with its chocolate scent.


This is one of the first Zexmenia flowers to open this year. A very tough and long blooming wildflower.


Shrubby Purple Skullcap blooms next to the mailbox. I cut back this plant pretty hard this spring because there were several live oak leaves embedded in the stems. It grew back nicely.


This smaller plant has white stripes on the flowers. Does anyone know why? To the best of my knowledge, it is a seedling of the larger skullcap. Could another variety have found its way into my garden?


Gaillardia blooms among the Bluebonnets.


Green Milkweed has been blooming for about a month. No monarch caterpillars in sight. I saw one monarch in the garden about a month ago and none since.


Finding this milkweed in the garden was a welcome surprise. It was growing where I planted Green Milkweed seeds from Native American Seed. I knew it was different because the leaves were more narrow than the Green Milkweed leaves. I am pretty sure it is Antelope Horns Milkweed. Was an Antelope Horns seed included with the Green Milkweed seeds? Did it blow in on its own? I am not really sure. I transplanted it to its current location a couple of years ago and this was the first time it bloomed. 


Here is what the flowers look like before they open.


The flowers of Butterfly Milkweed are just about ready to open. Look! No aphids...yet.


I would like to have more Eastern Red Columbine in the garden.


Yellow Columbine is just about finished with its blooming. I would not mind having more of these either. The seedlings of both Columbines are slow to mature in my garden and usually get covered by more aggressive plants.

Cedar Sage blooms near the Yellow Columbine.
Texas Betony grows nearby as well. There is a Cedar Sage blooming behind the Texas Betony. The flowers look very similar, however, the Cedar Sage flowers are a darker red.


Gaura popped up everywhere this year. This is an annual variety that I rescued from a field a few years ago. The plants are growing and blooming much more since a grackle picked off all of the hummingbird moth caterpillars.


This Prairie Larkspur is another field rescue. I got to it hours before it was mowed last year. I hope to get many seeds and new plants. I tried before with no luck.


These are some Prickly Pear Cactus pads that I very carefully rescued from the parking lot at Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve. They were detached from the mother plant and very shriveled when I found them. Two pads had flower buds and I was really curious to see what color they were. The top ones opened yesterday and the bottom ones opened today. They are a nice shade of orange that I do not have elsewhere in the garden. They also have bright red fruit in the fall. I have to find a good place for them in the garden, but where? The thought of removing tree leaves and other trash from them gives me the willies. A stock tank is a possibility. 


This parting shot is a remnant of the lawn that once surrounded my house. You just scrolled through 23 photos of wildflowers. Would you have done the same for 23 photos of lawn?