Native Plants

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Wednesday - January 22, 2014

From: Poth, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Meadow Gardens, Planting, Herbs/Forbs
Title: Wildflower Meadow for Poth, TX
Answered by: Larry Larson

QUESTION:

I recently cleared some underbrush from a virgin pasture, with large oaks and mesquites scattered through it, and was wondering if it was too late to plant wildflowers? If not, what varieties of wildflowers could I plant to achieve a bloom this spring or summer? My ranch is located about 30 miles south of San Antonio. The soil is a red sandy loam. The area is about 3 acres and prepped for seeding.

ANSWER:

The short answer – Yes, it is too late to plant seeds and expect much of a bloom this spring or summer. Still, some may well bloom.
It’s also quite possible, if you have prepared the area for planting, that dormant seeds present in the exposed soil will germinate and give you a bit of a natural bloom right away.

You are talking about creating what we call a Wildflower Meadow. For some extra information for you - There are some good reads in the “How-to” articles and several other “Mr Smarty Plants” question/answer pairs. Several of these are linked below:
When to plant wildflowers in California [not in TX but still good information]
Wildflower Garden for Driftwood, TX
Preparing for planting wildflower meadow in Austin
Timing for planting wildflower seeds in the Pacific Northwest
Re-vegetation of school site with meadow plants from Austin

What varieties to plant? Check out our list of recommended species for The South Texas Plains. If you sort this list for “Appearance” of “Herb” you will have a have a large set of wildflowers native to your area. Since it’s a large area, you may want to consider some of the mixes supplied by our associated suppliers.

The pictures below are some of the Wildflowers, native to your region, that I found using the recommended species list I discussed above.