Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

Bluebonnets or Lupines

Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. The refuge’s roadsides and prairies each spring, attracting a myriad of butterflies. Photo by Melissa Cheatwood, USFWS courtesy of America’s Great Outdoors.

 

Bluebonnets

Bluebonnets are now blossoming in Texas so I thought it would be a good time to try to explain the difference between a bluebonnet and a Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis).

Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) Photo by Norman G Flaigg courtesy of Wildflower Center.

Texas bluebonnets are actually six different Lupinus species with only one having the official name of Texas Bluebonnet or Lupinus texensis. Bluebonnets grow in most southwestern states, while Wild Lupine grows in Wisconsin and most northeastern and southeastern states.

Although they are both in the Lupinus genus, they blossom at different times and, of course, in different climates. The shape of the petals of the Bluebonnet flower (raceme*) resembles the bonnets worn by pioneer women, hence the name. Typically blue in color, the flower florets also will grow in shades of white, pink, lavender, purple and maroon. Each floret has a wide white banner spot in the center of the banner petal. As the floret ages, this spot often turns reddish-purple. As the entire flower (raceme) ages, one of the top petals turns reddish-purple. It is considered ephemeral; it goes dormant by late spring.

According to Mike Quinn, past president of the Austin Butterfly Forum, “the bluebonnet is the larval food host for the Northern Cloudywing, Gray Hairstreak, Henry’s Elfin, Painted and American Lady, and Orange Sulphur butterflies.” (Wildflower.org)

Wild Lupine

Wild Lupine (Lupinus perrenis) Photo courtesy of Illinois Wildflowers.

Like the Texas Bluebonnet, Wild Lupine (Lupinus perrenis) likes well-drained soil and a sunny location. Wild Lupine, however, blooms late spring to early summer. It, too, is considered an ephemeral because it goes dormant by mid-summer. Its blooms, described as pea-like, are blue to violet in color and also have a white area at the tip of each floret.

Although the Wild Lupine is the only host plant for the Karner Blue butterfly caterpillar, a federally-endangered species native to the Great Lakes region, it is also a host plant for the Frosted Elfin and the Eastern Persius Duskywing butterflies.

Seeds and Leaves

All species of Lupinus have leaves which are palmate with anywhere  from 3 to 11 leaflets. When seeds are ripe they spring from their pods with a popping sound. Before they can germinate, however, the seeds must be scarified (roughed up) to allow water uptake.

The bluebonnet and Wild Lupine belong to the Legume or Bean Family (Fabaceae or Leguminosae) which makes the plant a good source for nitrogren — a natural fertilizer. That is why plants of the Legume Family are able to grow so well in disturbed areas and often are used as a cover crop to enrich the soil.

*Spike-like cluster

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Wildflowers of Minnesota, etc

There’s a fun new book now available about the wildflowers of Minnesota. Published by the University of Minnesota Press, friends Phyllis Root and Kelly Provo share their wanderings around the State searching for wildflowers. Great photos and fun notes are included in this user-friendly guide which  takes you through a year of native plants and where to find them.

Author Root already has 40 children’s books to her name, and Provo is a professional photographer so you know Searching for Minnesota’s Native Wildflowers is going to be a gem. You can also sign-up for their blog at Searching for Minnesota’s Native Wildflowers.

A North American Resource

A good book to use to find your way around prairies in North America is by authors Charlotte Adelman and Bernard Schwartz called Prairie Directory of North America: The United States, Canada and Mexico. This second edition includes prairie sites by country and state, and includes over 300 new sites. Bernie’s wonderful photos and Charlotte’s rich text make this a special resource for learning about the North American landscape.

 

Woodland Help

One other book I’d like to mention is Common Sense Forestry by Hans W Morsbach. I was fortunate to meet Hans a number of years ago. What a delightful gentleman, and so passionate about his woodland. If you’re trying to develop a forest, or even restore one, you’ll not only enjoy reading this book, but you’ll also learn what you should and shouldn’t do to successfully complete your goals.

Thank you Marty Rice for making me aware of this wonderful new book about Minnesota wildflowers.

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Pocket Prairies

A new name for an old concept? On our way to Minneapolis for the memorial service for a dear old friend, Jeff Rice, we listened to Science Friday on WPR. One of the items discussed was the Texas gardening concept called Pocket Prairies. What a novel idea! What a great name to get the attention of someone new to native landscaping! So of course I had to research the concept more.

Royal Catchfly (Silene regia), Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) and Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) are good forbs to use in a pocket prairie, along with the grasses Little Bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) and Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepsis).

Pocket Prairies

According to Katy Prairie Conservancy (KPC), “a pocket prairie is, typically, a small (often under 1 acre), urban planting featuring plants native to the highly imperiled coastal prairie ecosystem of Texas and Louisiana.

There really isn’t a lower limit to the size of these plantings nor is there any shape that they need take. They can be more or less formalized based on your aesthetic tastes, your neighbors receptivity to native plants, plant availability, ease of maintenance (more formalized plantings will need more maintenance), etc.” (KPC)

They recommend eight steps which follow very similarly to the guidelines promoted by Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes. They are:

  1. Select and assess the site — light, size, border and document
  2. Prepare the site — remove existing vegetation by sod-cutting, smothering or herbiciding
  3. Select local native plant forb and grass species — purchase plants from local native plant nurseries,  native plant sales or mail-order native plant nurseries, or rescue plants from, with permission, from prairie remnants in danger of destruction or collect seed, with permission, from locally established prairies
  4. Plant — enlist friends, family, neighbors, and local groups to assist you with the planting
  5. Phenology — record your observations as the garden grows: journal, blog, Flickr, etc
  6. Share your Pocket Prairie’s story — tell your friends, family and neighbors about your garden’s success, become a citizen scientist, offer tours, share on-line: Facebook, Instagram, Pintrest, etc
  7. Maintain the site — give it some TLC* the first few years, remove invasive species always
  8. Teach — volunteer with a local native plant organization which helps to teach the community about the benefits of using native plants in landscaping

Although the radio interview referenced only Texas as a source for pocket prairies, I did find the term used in conjunction with a few other states. If this hasn’t become a well-know term in your state, help spread the word — encourage everyone who doesn’t already have a prairie planting, to plant a pocket prairie!!

*TLC stands for tender loving care:  as necessary, provide mulch and water, and pull competitive weeds until seedling root systems are substantial enough to get all their needs from their own environment.

Other thoughts

See also BRASH: Border, Recognize the Rights of Others, Advertize, Start Small, Humanize

Wild Ones Landscaping with Native Plants, 4th Edition is a how-to booklet on becoming a native plant gardening enthusiast.

There’s also a great children’s book by Phillis Root with marvelous illustrations by Betsy Bowen entitled Plant a Pocket of Prairie. Although we don’t have kids, I bought the book just for the illustrations; makes a wonderful coffee table book.

 

 

 

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More Super Blooms in California

It appears there is a silver lining in all the terrible environmental happenings going on in California these days. Southern California is experiencing a super bloom.

The Super Bloom

Over the past two years, much of Southern California has been super dry with drought conditions. This has kept the invasive grasses and other non-desirable plants from blooming, preventing them from forming seeds which would typically have sprouted last year and taken space from more desirable native species. Then the heavy rains this past winter allowed the dormant native forb seed to absorb the extra moisture and to germinate and bloom into a super bloom. And, with the cool weather they have recently been experiencing, this should mean the super bloom will last that much longer.

Blankets of Wildflowers in Southern California

Walker Canyon Ecological Reserve in Southern California has been in the news recently because of their super bloom, so much so people have been coming from all over just to view the blooming phenomenon and to take photos. But in so doing, are trampling the forbs — just like the buffalo of old? Hey — one way to outsmart extincton!

Video courtesy Nắng Ấm Cali and YouTube.

More Super Blooms 2019

Southern California sites you may wish to visit on-line:

Other sites in California you may wish to visit on-line:

See also the Theodore Payne Foundation’s Wild Flower Hotline.

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