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Anita Garmon is a charter member
of the Texas Native Plant Society, North Central Texas Chapter and the
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. She is also a member of the Arlington
Conservation Council, the Arlington Historical Society, the Arlington
Garden Club and the Arlington Council of Garden Clubs. When not volunteering
in the Wildscape Demonstration Garden in Arlington, she can be found singing
with the Silver Serenaders, a senior choir of Texas and assisting with
bi-lingual classes. The wildflower drawings on this page were created
by Anita.Anita's Wildflowers - By Anita Garmon
Many people are declared "wildflower enthusiasts," but many of those same people are unaware of the particular names, colors, habitat requirements and actual numbers of the thousands that we have here in Texas. I would like to acquaint you with some of the beautiful ones that we have
here
in our area, denoting mostly by common name, color and time of year in
bloom.We are noted for our bright Bluebonnets in Texas. Their bloom time is usually March through April and sometimes into May, according to weather and rainfall. Along with Bluebonnets, often intermingled, one can see Texas paintbrushes, shades of red, orange and lemon yellow, blooming May through June. Also in that time span the showy pink Primroses are blooming profusely,
March
to July and occasionally in the fall. Another spectacular pink flower
seen during spring and summer is the Echinacea, otherwise known as Coneflower,
a sturdy daisy-like flower. This pink flower blooms sporadically up until
late August and September, again according to rainfall and temperature.
We have several striking yellow bloomers, among them several varieties of Coreopsis. An annual one, called Coreopsis tinctoria, starts blooming sometimes in late February and stays in bloom
for
long periods; a perennial one, called Golden Wave, is a spring bloomer
and usually starts to bloom in April through June.There is some Salvia that bloom almost year round. There are several blue ones. We also have lovely purple specimens, among them Mexican Petunias or Ruellias, and fall-blooming Asters. For late summer and fall, we have the Goldenrods, bright red Turks Caps and we even have one wildflower, known as Cardinal Flower, which under certain conditions such as rainfall and good protection has been known to bloom in January.
These are some of our lovely wildflowers and there are more that bloom in a rainbow of colors almost year round.