National Wildflower Week: The Zexmenia Project and a few other wildflowers

It's National Wildflower Week sponsored by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and I'm celebrating with a post on the latest wildflower project in my garden.  I call it the "Zexmenia Project".

About two years ago I planted a native Zexmenia in the circle garden.  Zexmenia is quite literally native to my neighborhood and I find it growing in many untended spots within walking distance so it was a natural choice for a native flowering plant in my garden.

Blooming almost non-stop through our hot summers, it was a big success.  It's a drought tough, heat tolerant, flowering plant and the deer do not even nibble on it.  The only deer damage is if they happen to step on it.

This one plant did so well in the garden that it generated tons of seedlings which I dug and potted up this spring. After they had a chance to develop good roots for about six weeks I began planting Zexmenia ranging from 4" to one gallon size out along the trees and property line.  This morning we finished planting eight of them just in time for a nice downpour of rain.

Here's a before from a different angle.

After from a similar view, just a bit to the left.  We've also added flowering natives Bee Brush, Crucita, Scarlet Buckeye, and Ironweed along this line.

Zexmenia should do well there.  Here's a photo of Zexmenia growing in the wild taken just across the creek behind those trees you see in the above photo.  The goal is to have a row of native flowering plants to make the property line look intentionally natural instead of neglected.

Even with the lack of rain this spring a few of my favorite wildflowers taking hold in the garden.  Mexican Hat (Ratibidia columnifera) flowers are a favorite in the garden this time of year.  The colors range from a mix of yellow to burgundy with a lot of variation in pattern.

The one color that had eluded my attempts to establish it in the garden is solid yellow and this year the yellow variation has appeared in a low spot just below the circle garden.  I like it with the purple Prairie Verbena.

I'll be celebrating National Wildflower Week tomorrow with a trip to Austin for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center's Gardens on Tour event.   You can visit the National Wildflower Week site for ideas on promoting wildflowers and native plants in your community.