re: The native plant thread

here’s the backyard water oak stump bed.

Before, March 2025



Now, Sep 2026



the stump is just starting to break down good, I helped it along by stuffing a bunch of leaves and topsoil down into the cavity. So while I had to water quite a bit during the drought, that should be less and less over the years as it starts to act as a water sump.

Everything is self seeding now (Indian blanket, coreopsis, zinnias, black eyed susan, and basket flower mostly.

This is a cool plant, cowpen daisy. It’s pretty stout so I’m hoping it will come back from the roots next year



It has grown and bloomed constantly all summer

couple of ditch finds this morning

common blue lettuce (Lactuca pulchella). Member of the sunflower/aster family. It was all chewed down by deer and rabbits but should recover. It spreads so I’ll pick a naturalized spot to plant it



Willow primrose (Ludwigia octovalvis). Myrtle relative, it’s blooming everywhere right now.



both of these bloom late, very helpful to the bumblebees

if it’s the native Ludwigia octovalvis it’s supposed to be there. If it’s the non native Ludwigia peploides it’s an invasive. The latter is a floating aquatic, the former is a shrub like plant

seed haul from today’s visit to Cajun prairie remnants with friend-of-the-thread AyyyBaw, who is a gentleman and a scholar of all things native plant.



rosinweed, false indigo, liatris, hibiscus and a few others. Right now most summer flowering plants are in seed so now’s the time to go collect. I thought I was the only one who drove around with a bucket and a pair of clippers at all times, it’s good that there are others out there

Pleasure to have you out here. What we walked through today was once one of the largest ecosystems in our country. It’s now less than 1% of its previous acreage. Tallgrass prairie is disappearing and also beautiful in all seasons.

rescued rose mallow (H. moscheutos) first bloom hell yes



native hibiscus is maybe the best bang for buck you can use. Massive blooms, copious seeds for propagation and comes back from the roots every year. Full sun, wet soil

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Took three years but the butterflies found the Dutchman’s pipe. These are caterpillars of the pipevine swallowtail

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I just saw my first Black Swallowtail today. I have pipevine growing as well.

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 I can almost guarantee is blooming somewhere around you right now

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Because of the extreme heat and 2 months of no rain this summer, my reliable native bloomers are not blooming. Even my zexmenia which always have a nice summer bloom have said nope.

native of the day, Common boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum). Flowering now in a field or roadside near you.



The ones that came up in my beds are covered in pollinators right now.

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buttonbush

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Most underrated of the natives in my opinion...

You have a local nursery you use? Have you visited Allen Acres BNB?

I don't currently have Texas Sage, but I am going to add that to my garden next year. I think I am actually going to convert a 3 x 12 raised bed to a native plant/butterfly garden next year (mostly natives at least). It's along a fence and gets a little more shade than I like and has never been highly productive for peppers.