Herself’s Houston Garden

This Texas wildflower blooms with the rest of them from early March to early April. It is native to the US east of the Rockies.

This will grow in part shade to full sun and takes a couple of years to really settle in rarely blooming the first year. If you keep dead heading the flowers blooming time can be greatly extended.

Since the flowers tend to flop they are often grown along barbed wire fences so the flowers can rest on the wire and remain upright.

Often used to bring some seasonal color to xeriscaped gardens.

This plant is a member of the pea family. Flowers have both male and female organs.

It prefers sandy soil that is well drained, moist and acidic. But clearly it is not too picky since it easily grows wild through most of the country.

It has a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria which form nodules on the roots of the sweetvetch and fix nitrogen.

Sow in fall, pre soak the seeds to help germination.

I meant to write about all the wild flowers back in April, but this week is the first chance I’ve had to sit down and match photos to names. Crimson clover blooms here from early April to early May.

Crimson Clover is native to Europe, but now is found through out the US. It loves full sun, but will tolerate part shade.

It can be invasive and crowd out your other wildflowers so give it some room of its own.

It is often grown as feed for cattle. Cattle ranchers also use it to prevent soil erosion and because of its ability to choke out weeds. It is also used as a winter cover crop to protect the soil.

Like most of the wildflowers that bloom here in the spring it is a reseeding annual. Plant your seeds in the fall.

Crimson Clover is also considered to be an herb.