Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

rate this answer

Monday - August 31, 2015
From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Meadow Gardens, Seeds and Seeding, Wildflowers
Title: Wildflowers for April wedding near Austin TX
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
Home wedding April 2016. Live North of Austin.on 200 acres ranch and would like to plant wildflowers. What to plant? When to plant? Flowers that will sustain in vase or bouquet?ANSWER:
Normally, the first weekend in April is when we expect of the peak of the Lupinus texensis (Texas bluebonnet) bloom—so, this is is a definite flower species to plan on. Another plant you generally see blooming with the bluebonnets is Castilleja indivisa (Entireleaf indian paintbrush). Both of these species are listed in our Cut-flower Suitable Species, a list of native Central Texas plants suitable for cut-flower arrangements. The list contains 200 species, but you can narrow the list to those plants that bloom in March and April by selecting those two months from the option, BLOOM TIME, in the NARROW YOUR SEARCH sidebar. Native American Seed in Junction TX is one of the Associates in our National Suppliers Directory. They have a great inventory of native seeds and I think their mix, Lady Bird's Legacy Wildflower Mix, would be perfect for you. All of the species on that list also occur on the Cut-flower Suitable Species list and more than one half of them bloom in April.
Here are the species that occur on both lists that bloom in March and/or April:
Callirhoe involucrata (Winecup)
Castilleja indivisa (Entireleaf indian paintbrush)
Coreopsis tinctoria (Plains coreopsis)
Echinacea purpurea (Eastern purple coneflower)
Glandularia bipinnatifida var. bipinnatifida (Prairie verbena)
Lupinus texensis (Texas bluebonnet)
Oenothera speciosa (Pink evening primrose)
They do also have seeds of individual species of many of the other wildflowers on the Cut-flower Suitable Species list.
We have special "How to Articles" telling you How to Grow Bluebonnets and Scarification FAQs under ALL ABOUT BLUEBONNETS. Since you have 200 acres, you would probably be interested in the articles under LARGE SCALE WILDFLOWER PLANTINGS also on our "How to Articles" page—Getting Started and Meadow Gardening.
You will see in the "How to Grow Bluebonnets" article that it is recommended to sow the seeds by early October since they will germinate then and grow throughout the winter season. The "Meadow Gardening" article also recommends sowing other wild flower seeds in the fall since many of the seeds require exposure to cold temperatures in order to germinate in the spring.
You need to keep in mind that the abundance of the wildflowers that will bloom depends on several factors—the main one being the weather and, in particular, the rainfall. In spring 2015 we had a spectacular show of bluebonnets and other March and April bloomers because we had more than adequate rainfall during the winter and spring. As you no doubt know, we are not so lucky with our rainfall every year so you should have some plans to supplement the use of wildflowers for your wedding.
If you follow the guidelines for maintaining your meadow garden, you should have beautiful flowers there for many years to come.
From the Image Gallery
More Meadow Gardens Questions
Developing fields with native plants from New Egypt NJ
July 24, 2013 - I have several acres of fields that I want to develop with native grasses and flowers. I would like to know the best time to mow the fields so that bushes and volunteer trees don't take over and that...
view the full question and answer
Meadow garden for Colorado Springs CO
June 03, 2012 - We recently purchased a restored home on a mesa just above the downtown area of Colorado Springs on the front range. The previous owners seeded the front lawn with blue gramma and told me that all I ...
view the full question and answer
Removing St. Augustine, replacing with native plants
October 06, 2007 - Hello Mr. Smarty Plants, always excited to talk to the Green Guru himself. I've recently purchased a house in South Austin and am interested in establishing a small, 500+ sq ft, prairie grass and wi...
view the full question and answer
When to reseed wildflowers in a drought year?
October 18, 2011 - My acreage with extensive wildflowers was mowed in 2010 before annuals had seeded. Only a few returned this year. Considering the predicted lonterm drought should I postpone reseeding this fall?
view the full question and answer
Revegetation of school site with meadow plants from Austin
December 23, 2013 - We are revegetating a hill country school site (typical calciferous soil stripped of vegetation & minimal topsoil) with a native seed mix equal to Native American Seed "Meadow Mix". We have an abund...
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |