Happy Texas Independence Day!
Texas declared its independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836—172 years ago today—as Mexican dictator Santa Anna’s army bore down on the Alamo. Everybody in Texas, even relative newcomers like me, knows what happened at the Alamo four days later. Rallying to the cry of “Remember the Alamo!” the Texians defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto in April 1836, and Texas became its own country for 10 years, with its own currency, army, and foreign ministers. In 1846, the Republic of Texas was annexed by the United States and became the 28th state.
In honor of Texas Independence Day, I’m posting pictures of some native Texas plants in bloom in my garden. Enjoy!
Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora ), whose flowers smell like grape Kool-Aid—really! It isn’t actually a laurel, however. This drought-tolerant, evergreen native is instead a member of the pea family.
Hymenoxys, or four nerve daisy (Tetraneuris scaposa ). These charming yellow flowers grow from tiny, evergreen tufts and bloom nearly year-round.
Hymenoxys bud
And another look
Prairie spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis ), native to many plains states, is a reliable early-spring bloomer that grows easily in shade or part-shade, providing an early burst of color before the summer bloomers like Turk’s cap fill out over them.
Agarita (Berberis trifoliata ) is our native mahonia, with prickly, blue-green, holly-like leaves. In spring these modest yellow flowers appear along the branches.
Another look
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
These are just beautiful natives Pam. A great way to celebrate Texas.
Thanks, Lisa. It’s funny how Texans get about Texas Independence Day (parades, toasts, etc.), but I thought it would be fun to play it up from a native-plant perspective. Glad you enjoyed it. —Pam
Thanks for educating us as well as entertaining us with the lovely photos. I am interested in your mahonia, we have a different type, it came with the property, but the leaves are similar and the flowers are yellow , but different than yours. Your spiderwort looks a little different than ours also, but it may be that I have never viewed them in such detail as your gorgeous pix, to see the fuzz.
Frances at Faire Garden
Well, you can just have a look at that agarita (mahonia) when you’re here for the Spring Fling, Frances. Isn’t that a cool thing to be able to say?! —Pam
Go Texas! Great pics. Mountain laurels really deserve a better name, they’ve got it all–evergreen, charming shapes, drought-tol, and the Grapette scent. They ought to be our state tree instead of the pecan.
Perhaps they ought. The problem with picking any tree as the state tree is that it ought to grow across the majority of the state. But Texas is so big, with varied climates, that it might be tricky to find a tree like that. I think of pecans as growing only in the eastern half of Texas. Do Texas mountain laurels have a wider range, I wonder? —Pam
Nice native, Pam – looks like you have a lot going on in your garden. Happy Independence Day!
It’s getting there, Diana. But “a lot” looks like a lot more in close-up, ya know. 😉 —Pam
Happy Independence Day! The Mountain Laurel is beautiful.
Thanks! I hope to get a good picture soon of the whole tree. It’s a beautiful tree in any season, but especially with those clusters of purple flowers. —Pam
Texas mountain laurels are not dependably cold-hardy. There are some in north Texas, especially where they get protected from the north wind. However I can’t imagine them surviving in the panhandle.
Where I live we have the Eve’s necklace tree which is related. However it’s blossoms are not as showy and it does not smell like Grapette (although I think it has a great name).
I didn’t think the mountain laurels were hardy in north or northwest Texas. We have Eve’s necklace here in Austin too. —Pam
Beautiful Natives Pam. The Texas Mountain laurel is gorgeous and I love the Mahonia too. Those bright-faced Hymenoxys just never seem to give up, and oh, the gorgeous blue of that Spiderwort is wonderful!
Happy Texas Independance Day!
We’ve got some good spring natives, don’t we? I’ll bet you do too. I look forward to seeing them soon. —Pam
The natives love you, Pam, and look good in your yard…but that last freeze skipped you and bumped into me. Besides having frozen leaves on non-natives like iris and cannas and loquat, I lost buds on the natives like TX mountain laurel and salvia greggii.
At our last house it was sometimes 3 or 4 degrees colder than the ‘official’ temperature so we lost mountain laurel buds frequently there, too – you guys in central or South Austin lead a charmed gardening life from my perspective ;-]
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
I’m glad to have fewer freezes, for the sake of my garden. But I do believe it’s hotter here in central Austin in the summer too, which isn’t so good for this gardener. As with all things, it’s a trade-off, right? I’m sorry to hear you lost buds on your Texas mountain laurel, Annie. That’s a crying shame. —Pam
Pam: Thank you for the pictures of the Texas natives. I have lived in PA for the past 12 years – but I remember the mountain laurel from my younger days growing up in San Antonio. I recently discovered your website and now check-in regularly for lovely reminders of the land that I still call home. Thank you.
You are very welcome, Katherine. I’m delighted to hear from an ex-pat Texan, and I’m glad you enjoyed the photos. —Pam
I love the spiderwort and had tons of it in my garden in Wisco (I think it was the native Tradescatia ohioensis or some such thing). If I ever get my hands on some here, I’m going to take your advice and plant it among the turk’s cap.
I’ll save some for you, Lee. They’re wonderful under Turk’s cap, providing sequential bloom cycles. —Pam
Beautiful pictures and a fun history lesson. The spiderwort is gorgeous! I planted some spiderwort last year and I hope mine comes back and is at least half as pretty as yours.
I look forward to seeing photos of your spiderwort this spring, Robin. —Pam