Gaillardia pulchella
Firewheel or Indian Blanket is a popular annual growing 1-2+ ft. tall. The hairy stem is usually much-branched and becomes woody at the base late in the season. Branched stems, mostly leafy near the base, have showy flower heads with rays red at base, tipped with yellow, each with 3 teeth at broad end. The […]
Echinacea angustifolia
The many stout stems of this perennial are 18-24+ in. tall and rarely branched. Oblong leaves are covered with stiff hairs. The flower heads, borne singly atop the stems, have pinkish-lavender rays drooping from a dark, spiny, cone-shaped center. Echinacea angustifolia tends to look poorly in its native habitat but often thrives in cultivation
Dalea frutescens
Thornless shrub up to 3 feet tall; stems gray to light brown, leaf bearing twigs thin, reddish brown. Occasional on shallow soil over limestone in unshaded upland situations. Leaves up to 1 inch long, divided into as many as 8 pairs of small leaflets and a terminal one on a central axis, leaflets 5 1/16 […]
Coreopsis lanceolata
Lance-leaf tickseed grows in small clumps but forms extensive colonies. It is 1-2 feet tall and has leaves 3-4 inches long, opposite, sometimes alternate near the top where the leaves are fewer. Some of the leaves are deeply cut, almost forming 3 leaflets. Flower heads are yellow, 1-1 1/2 inches across. The yellow center or […]
Chamaecrista fasciculata var. fasciculata
The Partridge Pea’s flowers have 5 yellow petals of unequal size and irregular shape, about 1 inch across. The upper petals have red spots at the base and the lower petal is larger than the others. Stamens are yellow. The pistil extends conspicuously to the side opposite the stamens. The plant grows 2-3 feet tall, […]
Cercis canadensis var. texensis
This Cercis canadensis variety is a large shrub or small tree, 10-20 ft. in height, differing from the more easterly Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis var. canadensis) in having smaller, more glossy, and usually hairier leaves with wavy edges, more of a tendency to have red seedpods, and a smaller stature. With a natural range extending […]
Cercis canadensis var. mexicana
Deciduous 5-12 feet multi-stemmed shrub or small tree. Leaves simple, cordate, alternate, leathery, glossy green, with undulating margins. Flowers red. Fruit a pod to 10 cm long.Mexican redbud is smaller in stature, has smaller, glossier, and more wavy-edged leaves, and is more drought tolerant than Texas redbud (Cercis canadensis var. texensis).
Centaurea americana
American basket-flower is a 1-1/2 to 6 ft. annual with a stout, leafy, much-branched stem and lavender-pink, filamentous flower heads with cream-colored centers. The flower heads are 4-5 in. wide and are subtended by fringed bracts. The plant looks similar to the thistles but lacks their prickly characteristics The name “basket flower” refers to the […]
Callirhoe involucrata
Purple Poppy Mallow’s stems sprawl along the ground up to 3 feet, forming a thick mat up to 1 foot tall. Rounded, hairy leaves are deeply lobed and cleft. The chalice-shaped, 1 1/2-2 1/2 in. wide flowers have a white spot at the base of their five, maroon petals. Flowers, which are borne on long, […]
Castilleja indivisa
One of the popular paintbrushes, this showy annual or biennial grows 6-18 in. high. Its several unbranched stems form clumps topped by bright-red, paintbrush-like spikes. The flowers are less conspicuous than the bracts and greenish at the base, they are subtended by showy, typically red-tipped bracts. They sometimes produce a light yellow or pure white […]