Plant Story--slimflower scurfpea, Pediomelum tenuiflorum, an Inconspicuous Pretty Native

Sometimes you look right through it 

slimflower scurfpea, Pediomelum tenuiflorum

Sometimes its the green clump in the brown grass

slimflower scurfpea, Pediomelum tenuiflorum

Short (rarely more than 2' tall), with small leaves pea-like, small blue-purple flowers, and a difficult name  to remember (in English or Latin), slimflower scurfpea, Pediomelum tenuiflorum (pea family, Fabaceae) doesn't get much attention. Yet it is an American native wildflower with a range all across the mid-continental grasslands, from Indiana and Kentucky to Montana and New Mexico (see USDA plants data base under Psoralidium tenuiflorum).

Travel Story--Central Texas in April

I just returned from a tour of part of Texas with the American Horticultural Society. We went to public and private gardens, museums, and parks where wildflowers were blooming. I wore myself out dashing between wonderful plants. 

hill country rain lilies, Cooperia pediculata

Plant Story--Oenothera curtiflora, Velvetweed, Small-Flowered Gaura,

Velvetweed is a very widespread plant, found all across the United States except the Northeast. It stands up to 9' tall and yet has a very low profile. 

velvetweed, Oenothera curtiflora

Native Plants Are, Well, Wild

When you plant a native plant, you might find it spreads aggressively around the yard, crowding out  other plants in the garden. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if you are growing natives, you need to be aware that some are pretty wild. 

black-eyed susan, Rudbeckia hirta
along a path; not where I planted the first one