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Native Plant Society of Texas

Clear Lake Chapter

Plant of the Month: Fall-blooming Species for the Monarch Fall Migration

Presented by Rowena McDermid
November 8, 2021

Various fall-blooming species

[MUSIC—EASY AND FUN]

[Rowena] In the fall, monarch butterflies are not needing milkweeds to feed their caterpillars. They require nectar-rich fall-blooming plants to feed and build up their lipid stores. Monarchs that migrate through Texas overwinter in the Oyamel Fir forests of central Mexico, although some may remain here in Texas. Although the north-bound migration is a multi-generational effort, the hazardous return journey south is the work of a single generation. There have been well-publicized climbs in overwintering colonies of both the eastern and western North American populations.

Mexican overwintering numbers are counted by the number of hectares of fir trees covered with Monarchs. Last winter, it was just 2.1 hectares. The estimated minimum population level to be out of danger of extinction is six hectares.

The California population is in even more trouble. Last winter, volunteers counted only 1914 Monarch butterflies across 261 overwintering sites.

A growing body of evidence points to the importance of migration mortality as a leading cause of these declines. It is now apparent that resources for the journey to reach the overwintering grounds is just as important as the resources available during the breeding season. Research shows that the Monarchs need to have close to a fifty percent fat load to be able to survive the return migration to Mexico and sustain them through the winter months.

So, what can we do? Planting milkweeds and spring-blooming plants will buffer the monarch population but does not address the migratory mortality. We need to not just plant for the different stages of the monarch life cycle, but for the subsequent generations, too.

A challenge for the home gardener is that native fall bloomers tend to grow tall and look messier than spring plants. Embrace that wild aesthetic. Set aside a place in your berry patch for fall-bloomers. Plant several of a single species together to enjoy a swathe of color and buy and plant them in the spring so that you don’t forget. Easy to grow and Monarch-approved favorites include goldenrod, Frostweed, sunflowers, and Blue Mistflower.

[MUSIC—AND THAT’S IT]

Related Posts

Plant of the month for August is Splitbeard Bluestem, Andropogon ternarius, and also called Feather Bluestem or Paintbrush Bluestem. It is a native. It's a warm season grass. It's a perennial. It's a bunchgrass. By warm season, it means that it's dormant in the winter and starts growing in the spring as the weather warms up. A bunchgrass tends to stay in a small circle or a bunch. The grass has numerous thin basal leaves, which usually stay about 12 or 15 inches tall, which makes it ideal in our home landscapes. It grows best in part shade to full sun. And this grass will be available at our plant sale on October 20 and 21. It prefers to grow in sand or well-drained soil, which we kind of struggle with here, but it does do well. It's shade tolerant and drought tolerant. I know the camera has a hard time focusing on those light hairy little seeds. The bloom time is from August to November. In late summer, it will send up its bloom stalk, which may be up to three feet tall. And, as the seeds on the long slender stalk mature, they'll split into two tiny stems about two inches long, each with seeds of fluffy white tufts. The seeds are wind distributed. The plants may be started from seed or another way is to dig your mature plant and with your shovels, cut it into maybe four sections, which then can be replanted in other places in your yard or shared with some of your neighbors. It's an easy plant to grow. Splitbeard can be found on the prairie with Little Bluestem and it's great when it's seen in the afternoon sun en masse; reminds me of snowflakes on the branches. And it can be used in a winter dried arrangement in the house. Native bees can use Splitbeard Bluestem for nesting materials. And until their bloom stalk is sent up, the narrow basal leaves are hard to distinguish from other bunchgrasses such as Sideoats Grama. And there it is. And you note how the seeds are all on one side, thus its name. We don't have any of this one for sale at our fall sale. Maybe we will in the spring, in April. But it was interesting, I thought, when I looked for Splitbeard Bluestem in the Wasowski book of Native Texas Plants these two bunchgrasses were on the same page. So, that is the story of the Sideoats Grama and the Splitbeard Bluestem.

Plant of the Month: Woolly Bluestar

February 15, 2023

Our Plant of the Month for February 2023 is Amsonia tomentosa, commonly known as Woolly Bluestar, Woolly Amsonia, Small Leaved Amsonia, or Gray Amsonia.

Oyster Mushroom

Plant of the Month: Oyster Mushroom

January 9, 2023

Our plant of the month for January isn’t a plant at all, it’s a fungus!
Botanical name: Pleurotus ostreatus
Common name(s): Oyster Mushroom, Pearl Oyster Mushroom

About the Region

Fall Symposium 2025 Logo - Teach for the Future

Salado, the location of our Fall 2025 Symposium, lies at the intersection of two ecoregions: the Edwards Plateau (Limestone Cut Plain) and Blackland Prairie (Northern Blackland Prairie).

The Edwards Plateau area is also called the Hill Country; however, this general term covers a much larger area extending farther north. Spring-fed creeks are found throughout the region; deep limestone canyons, rivers, and lakes (reservoirs) are common. Ashe juniper is perhaps the most common woody species found throughout the region. Additional woody species include various species of oak, with live oak (Quercus fusiformis) being the most common. Sycamores (Platanus occidentalis) and bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) border waterways. This area is well known for its spring wildflower displays, though they may be viewed in spring, late summer, and fall, as well. According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, average annual rainfall in the Edwards Plateau ranges from 15 to 34 inches.

The Blackland Prairie extends from the Red River south to San Antonio, bordered on the west by the Edwards Plateau and the Cross Timbers, and on the east by the Post Oak Savannah. Annual rainfall averages 30 to 40 inches, with higher averages to the east. This region is dominated by prairie species. The most common grass species include little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) in the uplands and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) in the riparian areas and drainages. Common herbaceous flowering plants include salvias, penstemons, and silphiums. This area has suffered greatly from overgrazing and agricultural use. Few intact areas remain, though many of the plants can be found along county roadsides throughout the region.

Our fall Symposium host chapter, the Tonkawa Chapter, includes both of these ecoregions.

Source: Wildflowers of Texas by Michael Eason