It's Wildflower Wednesday and time to join Gail at Clay and Limestone for a look at flowering native plants in the garden. May's wildflower pick is Stachys coccinea or Texas Betony.
Looking for a deer-resistant native evergreen plant which covers a lot of ground quickly and flowers in the shade? Impossible? Not quite, that plant does exist and it's Texas Betony also known as Scarlet Betony and Scarlet Hedgenettle. It could easily rate the common name "Hummingbird Magnet" as many sites mention it attracts hummingbirds. Besides being evergreen it's almost ever blooming with just a short break in the coldest months and it's one of the earliest bloomers in my garden. There doesn't seem to be a mention of it attracting the Hummingbird Moth but the red flowers were a real standout in my early spring garden and the Hummingbird Moths made a beeline for those bright tubular flowers!
Looking for a deer-resistant native evergreen plant which covers a lot of ground quickly and flowers in the shade? Impossible? Not quite, that plant does exist and it's Texas Betony also known as Scarlet Betony and Scarlet Hedgenettle. It could easily rate the common name "Hummingbird Magnet" as many sites mention it attracts hummingbirds. Besides being evergreen it's almost ever blooming with just a short break in the coldest months and it's one of the earliest bloomers in my garden. There doesn't seem to be a mention of it attracting the Hummingbird Moth but the red flowers were a real standout in my early spring garden and the Hummingbird Moths made a beeline for those bright tubular flowers!
