By Bill Ward
Published in The Boerne Star on August 10, 2004
Operation NICE! (Natives Instead of the Common Exotics!) takes a break during August, because few people are interested in gardening in the late-summer heat. It just seems the wrong time of year to put in plants, native or not.
If we did suggest a plant of month for August, what are some of the choices? This cool, wet summer might make this an atypical time to judge, but our yard has several natives and near-natives that could be candidates. All these are blooming through the heat of early August.
Our old dependable summer-bloomer blackfoot daisy (Melampodium leucanthum) survived all the rain during the early summer and now seems to be reviving. This little plant blooms for more months of the year than any other in our yard, and it doesn’t need watering.
Flame acanthus (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii) is at its peak in the summer. The elongate bright-red-orange flowers not only give us some August color, they attract hummingbirds to our yard. This is a very drought-tolerant shrub. And it is not bashful about spreading, even in our poor soil. We never know where a new plant is going to pop up. Our garden is so informal, it usually doesn’t matter where a new flame acanthus sprouts, but more structured gardens would require keeping this plant in check.
The common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is one of showiest natives we have blooming at the moment. After I allowed a few clumps of sunflowers to grow in our backyard, lesser goldfinches began to visit. They love the tiny sunflower seeds. Once these little black and yellow birds began to come to our yard, we put up thistle feeders to attract them after the sunflowers died. Now we have the colorful finches all year, even during the winter when they must share the thistle with their larger cousins the American goldfinch and pine siskin.
Texas green-eyes (Berlanderia texana) is another yellow composite that is giving us color during the summer heat. The ones in our yard came from a friend’s garden in Columbus, and they seem to bloom longer and grow taller than the green-eyes in local fields nearby. Green-eyes is a tough plant. Even if it dies back during severe droughts and cold winters, green-eyes always reappears in the spring. It also tends to spread.
One of my favorite native composites is zexmenia daisy (Wedelia hispida). This low bush puts on yellow-orange flowers from spring to fall, and it doesn’t get hot enough nor dry enough in the Hill Country to discourage zexmenia. We have several that are native to our yard. One reason I am partial to this flowering plant is the generic name Zexmenia was the first I learned when I tried to memorize a few scientific names of native plants growing on our property. I could easily remember this name because it sounds something like sex maniac. Then I found out the generic name was changed to Wedelia, which I rarely can remember.
Esperanza or yellow-bells (Tecoma stans) is our showiest bloomer during August, and it continues to flower late into the fall. Esperanza grows into a tall shrub several feet high with bright-yellow flower clusters at the ends of branches. It is very drought-tolerant.
White, red, and pink cultivars of the Texas-native autumn sage (Salvia greggi) and the accidental hybrid Salvia ‘Indigo Spires’ are blooming in our yard this month, but the experts say that these should have been cut back during the hot summer so as to get good fall blooms.
The locally native big red sage (Salvia penstemonoides) is in full bloom now, both in a spot that gets full sun and in another place that is shady. A cousin from northeastern Mexico, Salvia darcyi also is in full bloom. This native of the Sierra Madre Oriental does well in Hill Country gardens. It puts on numerous bright-red flowers and can grow in full sun. Another drought-tolerant salvia that thrives in our yard is Salvia guaranitica, a South American plant. It grows tall, has large deep-blue flowers all summer, and likes the shade under live oaks.
Mexican oregano (Poliomintha longiflora) also is a reliable bloomer during the hot months. This evergreen shrub of northeastern Mexico displays dense sprays of small tubular lavender flowers, which hummingbirds like. The bush is highly drought-tolerant, and it is not browsed by deer. Mexican oregano is one of the favorite “Texas-native-compatible” exotic plants in our yard.
