A Seasonal Look

Often in gardening literature, photographs and accompanying text illustrate a plant at its best–its appearance in full bloom or berry or whatever qualities the profiled plant exhibits at its peak during the growing season. New gardeners and specifically new gardeners to Austin and Central Texas often have no clue what the plant they just purchased will be doing during the course of the year, other than what the gardener wanted it for. Only with experience does a gardener learn what a plant exhibits when not blooming, berrying and anything in between. One of the common search terms that appear in my blog statistics is asking just this sort of question: What will the So-And-So plant look like when it’s not blooming? What does Blippity-Blop plant look like during the winter? When do I prune Hoody-Doo plant? Is This Thing dormant or dead?

I’ve gardened in Austin long enough to observe how common landscape perennials and grasses perform throughout the year. From time-to-time, I’ll be selecting plants and inviting the reader to observe seasonal changes these plants undergo. Please note that these posts reflect my experiences only, here in sunny Austin, Texas.

Posts in this series are accessed through the drop down menu or by clicking on the links below or hovering over the A Seasonal Look tabs and following the drop down menu:

American Beautyberry, French Mulberry (Callicarpa americana)

Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra)

Big Muhly, Lindheimer’s Muhly (Muhlenbergia lindheimeri)

Blue Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)

Columbine (Aquilegia)

Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

Frostweed (Verbesina virginica)

Goldeneye, Plateau Goldeneye (Viguiera dentata)

Gregg’s Mistflower (Conoclinium greggii)

Heartleaf Skullcap (Scutellaria ovata ssp. bracteata)

Inland Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)

Possumhaw Holly (Ilex decidua)