Mellow Yellow–Not!

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In preparation for Texas Native Plant Week which happens this year from October 16-22, I’m going to profile some of my personal favorites.  Since I have MANY personal favorites, it will be difficult to narrow the list. But, I’ll do ‘m best!

Blooming beautifully during October (even this October) is Goldeneye, (Viguiera dentata).

Goldeneye is a native Texas plant that is common in open fields or wooded areas as an understory.  You’ve probably seen it blooming along the side of a highway–you can’t miss it.  It has brilliant yellow flowers and during its peak bloom time, remarkably showy.  Actually, it blooms sporadically,  beginning in July, but the small flowers aren’t particularly noticeable until its massive bloom in the fall.

If the flowers  look similar to native sunflowers, it’s because they are in the same family of plants, the Aster family.  The leaves are probably also familiar–rather rough and similarly shaped.  Most of the Goldeneye flowers are 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide.  But like many native plants that are pollinated and naturally hybridized, there is some variability.  One of my stands of Goldeneye has tiny (1/2 inch) blooms and blooms earlier than the others.  Another stand has leaves that are about 1/3 larger than the other plants.

Goldeneye is easily grown from seed–just scatter it about either from a commercial seed source, (The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center will host its Fall Plant Sale and Gardening Festival October 14-16 and is a good place to find this plant). Or maybe a nice friend will share seeds or seedlings.  Goldeneye germinates easily and will readily self-sow.  In full sun, it tends to stay a little on the short side (2-3 feet), while in part shade, it grows taller (3-5 feet).   It’s usually multi-branched and can flop onto other plants. Sometimes, a branch will be so heavy as to completely break at the ground.  It is a plant that might require staking.

Goldeneye can be placed in the midst of a group of trees to brighten an area.  These photos are from a group in Shay’s Green Garden at Zilker Botanical Gardens.

This trio of Goldeneye fronts a stand of Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus arboreus) in my front garden.  My plan was that the Goldeneye would be shorter than the Turk’s Cap.  But the drought has caused all of my Turk’s Cap to be about 1/3 shorter than usual.  I still like the combination though.

Goldeneye is a host larval plant for two butterflies, Cassius Blue (Leptotes cassius) and Bordered Patch (Closyne lacinia).  It’s also a great nectar plant for other pollinators like this Monarch ((Danaus plexippus),

or this little honeybee.

Finches (of all sorts), as well as other birds, also love the seeds and it’s recommended that gardeners let the spent flower stalks stand during the winter for the remaining seeds.  That Goldeneye has “spent” flower stalks means that it isn’t evergreen–it is a herbaceous perennial.  Goldeneye is drought tolerant and easily transplant-able, but according to the NPIN website, not terribly deer resistant.

Goldeneye brightens the fall blooming season with its brilliant yellow flowers, is a great wildlife food source and is an easy, tough plant that every Texas gardener should have!

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Yummy for Pigeons

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Well, doves actually.  At least in my gardens.  (I think pigeons and doves belong to the same family of birds, Columbidae.)  The doves love Pigeonberry (Rivina humilis).

This summer being an exception, for years, almost every time I walk into my front garden during the summer months, the doves take flight, en masse, from the two areas where I have Pigeonberry planted.

This sweet, small ground cover is native throughout Texas.  It only gets about a foot high and spreads about two feet.  Mine are planted in dappled shade–one group gets some direct morning sun, but only for an hour or so.  I have seen them planted in full sun.

Pigeonberry freeze back during winter and return, rather late, in the spring.  By mid to late summer, when all is hot, dry and depressing, they bloom tiny, dainty, light pink flowers on the top couple of inches of the stem.  Often, the vibrant, red berries are on the stem at the same time as the flowers. The plant is fetching because of this simultaneous bloom/pink-berry/red combination.

Birds of all sorts love the berries and I’ve noticed that the berries disappear very quickly.

The leaves are thin, bright green and have a little bit of a ruffle to them.

Once we begin to get cold (yeah, it does happen), the leaves will turn crimson, at least until the first very first hard freeze of the year.  Mine get a moderate amount of water (once every 10 days or so), so Pigeonberry is a good choice for low water usage landscape plant.

I like to plant it in front of a taller evergreen plant (take your pick) and mix it with spring bloomers like Columbine (any variety),  Gulf Coast penstemon  (Penstemon tenuis) or Lyre-leaf Sage (Salvia lyrata).  It’s  also nice with other shady summer bloomers like the Tropical sage (Salvia coccinia).

Pigeonberry will seed out and I’ve transplanted seedlings to other areas, but  haven’t had great success with transplants.  Maybe 30% of my transplanted seedlings will survive–I’m not entirely sure why I don’t have better yield.  They seem to be enjoyed by some critter(s) shortly after the transplant. Often, the day following a transplant, all that remains of the little seedling is a green stick protruding from the ground.  That’s usually a bad omen for the life of the plant. So, when I want more Pigeonberry, I visit my favorite nursery to buy them in four inch pots.  They are often available in gallon pots as well.

Also, Pigeonberry has fragile branches.  If you have dogs (or  a 16 year-old who regularly steps off the path…), they easily suffer broken stems.  It’s sad to see a large branch of would-be blooms and berries, lying broken and wilted, next to the otherwise healthy and beautiful plant.

Even so, I agree with the doves and pigeons–Pigeonberry is a great plant in a well-rounded garden.

Evergreen Beauty

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Another word (or two) about Cast Iron Plant (Aspidistra elatior).  I would encourage gardeners with shade to consider this striking plant.  It’s a great staple  for the shade garden because it adds graceful vertical structure for background and definition.

Aspidistra  is evergreen, deer resistant and heat, drought and cold hardy. I’ve never had any insect problems with this plant.  It’s pairs beautifully with Inland Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium),

Turk’s Cap (Malvaviscus arboreus),

and Giant Lirope (Liriope muscari).

During the winter months when the herbaceous perennials have frozen and are pruned to the ground, it’s nice to have the deep green, wide, strappy leaves to give a garden form and structure.  During the growing season, Aspidistra compliments flowering perennials with additional,  tropical-like lushness. According to literature about the plant, there is a bloom associated with it, but I’ve never seen one in any of my plants.