Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Wildflower Wednesday: Senna lindheimeriana

It's Wildflower Wednesday and I'm joining Gail and Clay and Limestone for a closer look at Senna lindheimeriana.

The bright yellow blooms of Lindheimer Senna appear just as summer turns to fall.

When we moved into our San Antonio home in the summer of 2008 I began to notice the velvet-leaved plants growing in the field just over the property line.  Although I was not as interested in Texas native plants then as I am now I knew they weren't weeds and should be left to bloom.  I was rewarded with bright yellow blooms later that same summer and I was intrigued enough to research its identity.  It was the beginning of my interest in bringing locally native plants into the garden.


This is the first year Lindheimer's Senna has appeared voluntarily in the circle garden and I couldn't be more pleased that this drought tolerant, deer resistant native plant has decided to grow in the garden.  It grows in full sun without supplemental water and I have read that it also does well in part shade.  Because it is a deciduous perennial I know it will continue to grow here and possibly seed out in other spots around the garden.  Tina at My Gardener Says..wrote a post recently about growing this plant in her garden.


Due to its slight odor and velvety leaves the deer seem to ignore Lindheimer's Senna which is a good thing since it is poisonous to cattle and might be a problem for deer as well.  The leaves can be brewed into a strong laxative tea.  The flowers are favored by bumble bees, the seeds are a food source for birds, and the plant is a larval host for the sulphur butterfly which I observe in abundance in my garden.


There were quite a few more plants in previous years and I think they were set back by lack of rains in the spring.  According to the NPIN, Lindheimer's Senna thrives in our dry limestone based soils and is predominately native to Central Texas though it grows in the wild all the way to southeastern Arizona.  These bright yellow flowers are a welcomed sight in the fall garden.  It will grow up to six feet tall though most of these are three feet.


Unlike many native flowering plants it can stand alone or in groups and the silvery soft leaves look great in the garden even without the flowers.

Visit the comments section of Clay and Limestone for more information on growing native plants in your garden.

19 comments:

  1. Wish we can grow more Sennas here. The closest one we can grow here is Cassia marilandica

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  2. You beat me to the punch, Shirley! Due to recent travels, I don't have anything for Wildflower Wednesday, but I was thinking about the senna for this month. It's such a great plant, I'm so glad you profiled it today. Pretty blooms and gorgeous foliage, easy to grow and great for wildlife--it doesn't get better than that!

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    1. It is a favorite for fall in Central Texas. I hope you saw I linked to your recent foliage day post with the senna in it. Go ahead and post I'd love to see yours in bloom now.

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  3. I love this plant, though I can't grow it on my clay soil. I really adore how this one beautiful plant prompted your interest in native plants.

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    1. At the time I was still attempting to grow fussy, needy non-native plants. I'm so glad I took time to look around and give natives a chance.

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  4. It's a beautiful plant, and it sounds like it's perfect for your garden, Shirley. How fun that it volunteered in your circle garden. Your photos really do it justice--love the first and last photos!

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    1. The close ups do show the plant at its best.

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  5. I love finding wild plants that just come up by themselves. The Senna is very attractive, not all legumes look that good. Most of the wild ones in my yard are pesky. That's cool that it started you on your pursuit of native plants.

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    1. We get more than a few pesky plants volunteering too and with more interesting natives showing up I find have to double check what I pull.

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  6. One of my favorite fall plants although I have to say that it does tend to reseed all over my gravel garden and I have to constantly swipe it aside. For all that I wouldn't be without it. It will soon be joined by all manner of blooming yellow blooms.

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    1. It's good to know they will reseed and I'll look forward to more next year.

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  7. A new plant to me and so beautiful with that silvery solf foliage that I seriously want to touch! The cheerful yellow blooms to herald autumn must be a welcome sight to gardeners who can't work outside during much of the summer season! Beautiful!

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    1. It is very touchable and it's nice to see signs of cooler weather.

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  8. The leaf form and texture are lovely, with the bonus of cheery flowers...I love it.

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    1. I'm often amazed by the array of native plants we have access to in my neighborhood.

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  9. Several years ago my husband and I spotted Senna blooming in January out by Lake Buchanan (it was a mild winter). I'd never noticed it before but decided then and there we had to have some. We got some started the next Spring and absolutely fell in love with it. Now we are propagating from seed and hoping to have several healthy stands of it all around. It is a wonderful plant indeed and one I suspect has converted many gardeners to considering using more native plants.

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    1. That is good info to know it will keep blooming as long as the weather is mild and Lake Buchanan is a good bit north of me. I love the idea of developing some stands of it in the more natural areas of the garden.

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  10. This is a good choice, but even better is this was your gateway native plant to so many others in the future. I wonder what the 1st native was that got me into SW natives? I'm also not sure how many other plants with velvety foliage have such golden flowers.

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  11. Shirley i still think you have the prettiest native plants and this is one I really like especially for the foliage.

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