Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

First, read our How-To Articles Meadow Gardening and Gardening Timeline, to give you an idea of when to start. We know you're probably not planning anything so large-scale as a meadow garden, but this article makes suggestions about what percentage of flowers and grasses to plant, how to prepare the soil, and how to sow the seed. We are assuming you were referring to seed, as opposed to purchasing bedding plants, which are difficult to find in native grasses and wildflowers as well as expensive.

Generally, in Central Texas, late fall is the best planting time for wildflowers, especially. However, if you get them in quickly, before any more very cold weather, there still might be time this year. When you look at our webpage for each native plant, most of them will have propagation instructions, and best planting time. For instance, Lupinus texensis (Texas bluebonnet) names fall as the time to plant, but also says cold will help the seed to germinate, and gives instructions for scarifying the seed to promote germination. You could try planting some seeds now, and if a few come up, be patient, because other seeds in your first planting will come up next year, and the year after that, plus the ones that do come up can reseed themselves.  We'll list a few Central Texas wildflowers that you can try planting now, and that have propagation instructions. You can also go down on the webpage for each plant and use the link to Google on that plant for more information. Another thing you can do is go to Native American Seed Online Catalog, where you will find seeds for wildflowers, special mixes, native grasses and grass mixes. They will give you planting and blooming times and prices for packets of seeds. 

WILDFLOWERS

Castilleja indivisa (entireleaf Indian paintbrush)

Callirhoe involucrata (purple poppymallow)

Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf tickseed)

Dracopis amplexicaulis (clasping coneflower)

Engelmannia peristenia (Engelmann's daisy)

Gaillardia pulchella (firewheel)

Helianthus maximiliani (Maximilian sunflower)

Ipomopsis rubra (standing-cypress)

Lupinus texensis (Texas bluebonnet)

Oenothera speciosa (pinkladies)

Phlox drummondii (annual phlox)

Ratibida columnifera (upright prairie coneflower)

GRASSES

Andropogon glomeratus (bushy bluestem)

Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama)

Bouteloua hirsuta (hairy grama)

Muhlenbergia lindheimeri (Lindheimer's muhly)

Castilleja indivisa

Callirhoe involucrata

Coreopsis lanceolata

Dracopis amplexicaulis

Engelmannia peristenia

Gaillardia pulchella

Helianthus maximiliani

Ipomopsis rubra

Lupinus texensis

Oenothera speciosa

Phlox drummondii

Ratibida columnifera

Andropogon glomeratus

Bouteloua curtipendula

Bouteloua hirsuta

Muhlenbergia lindheimeri