Wildflower Wednesday March 2018: Damianita

Damianita (Chrysactinia mexicana) has been blooming in the front garden this week and I've been going out there almost every day just to enjoy their golden beauty.  I'm joining Gail at Clay and Limestone for Wildflower Wednesday to take a closer look at a great native landscape plant for Central Texas.

Soft, daisy-like flowers on bright green foliage make it so attractive in the landscape.  Highly aromatic woody stems with the scent of camphor makes it icky to deer.  Not so much as a tiny nibble.

Great view from the street side.



A nice walk especially on a cloudy day.



This October 2017 photo shows Damianita remains evergreen when not in bloom which is why I chose it to replace the under-performing Lantana originally planted here.

Still back in October showing off a good landscape plant year round.  The green mound in the island bed is also Damianita.



Green even in the snow!

Damianita is a local native which survives on rocky outcroppings in the Texas Hill Country with no supplemental water so it stays happy with just an occasional deep drink during hot summer months.  The Lantana it replaced required a lot more water to look good in this hot spot.  Damianita thrives in the reflected heat from gravel mulch, the driveway and a full southern exposure with 10+ hours of direct sun in the summer.

They are picky about pruning.  When the blooms are done I will lightly shear the tops to encourage another round of blooms which will continue until fall.  Shearing keeps them from getting leggy and topping out around 12" high though I have seen them get closer to 3' in the wild.  Sometimes a few brown stems will show and I just use clippers to cut the stems back about halfway to green them up again.  Making sure not to cut the woody stems too far back is about the only concern with Damianita.

Damianita is polite enough to set out a seedling (left) exactly where I would have added one anyway.  I'd like more seedlings because I have a lot more places to add these little wonders.

Damianita is a great choice for the streetside bed too so I added another one recently.

No wonder I'm adding Damianita wherever I can find a sunny spot in need of year-round green and bright yellow flowers!

Join Gail at Clay and Limestone on the fourth Wednesday of each month for more ideas on native wildflowers for your landscape.