White Gaura (aka Whirling Butterflies)

Here is another one of my favorite spring/summer flowers.  Gaura lindheimeri is a great plant for the a spot in the front of the garden. Gaura lindheimeri is also called Whirling Butterflies.  It grows about 2-3 feet tall flower spikes while the foliage is shorter than that.  The plant gives an airy feel to the area.  The flowers will bloom upward on the spikes. Gaura blooms from April through November.  The leaves are a dark green about 2-3 inches long to 1/2 inch wide with the upper leaves smaller.  Gaura likes rich clay or sandy soils of prairies, pinelands, moist edges of ponds, lakes and seepage areas. 
Gaura can and will form into groups or colonies.  The flowers are visited by numerous species of insects, especially small bees and beelike flies.  A great plant to have.  It has little to no trouble with insects and diseases.  I have had this plant for many years and I love it.

Plains Coreopsis

This is one of my favorite Texas wildflowers.  It is called Plains Coreopsis.  I have also heard it called tickseed.  It usually blooms here from late March until summer.  It has perfect timing here because it starts blooming right when my bluebonnets are looking very ugly while I wait for them to go to seed.  The plants are usually 1-2 feet high.  The stems are solitary, leafy, and multi-branching.  The flower heads are about 1 inch across yellow with a red-brown spot in the middle.  Sometimes they may be all yellow or all brown.  The leaves are 2-4 inches long.  It mainly grows  in moist area in prairies, pastures, and fields.  This is one of my all time favorite spring/summer wildflowers.  It blooms for a really long time.  And it even lasts a long time when you are having extreme weather conditions.  This is a must have for wildflowers.

Texas Bluebonnet Time

It has been a wonderful season for bluebonnets this year.  I know the spring rains that we have had played a big part in making this year so beautiful.  I live right outside of Houston so really it is not too far for me to go to see the bluebonnets in the hill country.  But at my house you don't have to go far at all.  I planted bluebonnet seed in the garden right after we put the soil in (our backyard was nothing but builders sand when we moved in). And every year since then we have more and more bluebonnets that spread and pour into the lawn and garden pathways.  I love going outside and looking at a sea of blue and pink and maroon bonnets.  Yes, I said pink and maroon bonnets.  They are not as prolific as the blue ones but they still come back every year.  One year I decided to add some Aggie bonnets, which are maroon for Texas A&M University. They were actually developed by A&M.  I was told that they would cross pollinate with the bluebonnets but I didn't care.  As the next year rolled around I had a few maroons bonnets and a few pink ones mixed in with a bunch of blue ones. They are really a sight to see.  I love springtime at my house.  I end up spending more time outside than I do inside.  (The house doesn't get a good spring cleaning where I live, but the yard does.)
So here is how you grow them if you would like to add them to your garden.  The variety that I have is Lupinus texensis. These plants are Texas natives, which I love. They bloom from March-May.  Although at my house they tend to bloom early but they finish early also.   It loves prairie, pastures, hillsides and slopes to call home.  It doesn't require much water to survive.  I do notice that when I don't splash it down with the water hose from time to time that it will get spider mites.
I don't use any chemicals on it since bees love bluebonnets.  It is also the larval host plant to the Elfin butterfly and the Hairstreak butterfly.  The bluebonnets are susceptible to herbicides. So please don't spray anything on them or near them. If you do spray them, then that chemical can affect any of the bees and butterflies that drink its nectar. Please be careful.
You can add plants directly to your garden or you can easily sprinkle the seeds in the fall.  What I do is every year after the plant has finished flowering I wait for the plant to die.  The seed will mature on the dying plant and then when they are ready to come out of their pods they pop out and go flying to their new location. Yes the plant is ugly and doesn't look pretty at all but I will never have to buy more plants or seeds at the store again.  It is that easy.  Bluebonnets are a great wildflower to have in the garden.  Every year I truly enjoy going out and watching the bees and butterflies hovering around the fragrant flowers.  It is an awesome sight to see.