There’s a large bouquet of wildflowers that signal the arrival of fall — and welcome the migration of butterflies and birds that pass through our area this season.
Bluebonnets, winecups, prairie verbena and Indian blanket dress up meadows and medians in Texas in springtime. But there’s a large bouquet of species that are specific to fall.
These late bloomers signal a change of season as we finally end our hot dry summers. They also welcome the migration of butterflies and birds, including hummingbirds, that pass through our area in September and October.
One example of a specific fall blooming wildflower is the array of mistflower species. They range from one to six feet tall, in white, lavender and blue. Monarch and queen butterflies making their 2,500-mile migration trek southward feast on the nectar-laden flowers to fuel up.
Another stunning roadside show-off is gay-feather or blazing star, now fully ablaze on area roadsides. A one- to two-foot tall woody stock of purple frilly petals, it can start blooming in August and will last into October.
A native plant that’s sometimes overlooked, frostweed is an incredible nectar plant for pollinators and found in almost all our natural areas and woodland spots. Exclusively a fall bloomer, it grows four to six feet tall with a large bouquet of tiny white flowers at the top. Frostweed gets its name from what happens at the base of the plant in our first hard freeze. The roots and stem at the base of the plant are holding water. When we get that hard freeze, the frostweed base explodes into a unique ice sculpture.
You need to be up early in the morning strolling our natural areas or creekway trails to catch this little wonder of nature. By the time the sun is midday warming the earth, those delicate ice sculptures will have thawed and melted away.
You can’t talk about showy fall wildflowers without bringing up the Maximilian sunflower. This showy specimen thrives in ditches along our highways, growing up to six feet tall with large gold-centered sunflowers from base to tip. But just because it grows along highways doesn’t mean you can’t also grow it in your sunny landscape bed. It will perform well in your fall pollinator garden.
There are many other native wildflowers that are not specifically fall bloomers but have an extraordinarily long blooming season. Take zexmenia, for example. This hardy little orange flower can begin blooming in April and continue all the way into November. During our long hot summers, you may not see it blooming as survival is the focus. But once the weather cools and we get some fall rain, it will show off again with its mounding, bushy, orange-yellow flowers.
Turk’s cap is a great long-blooming native. With its bright red, spinning petals and tall stamen, it attracts hummingbirds buzzing through our area in fall.
Cowpen daisy can be a real fall showoff. It loves the understory and cooler fall days. And golden-eye grows strong through our hot summers but waits for September to burst forth with numerous yellow flower heads.
This is but a short list of wildflowers that bloom in Central Texas come fall. But don’t take my word for it — explore our natural areas, creek way trails and take a country drive to see for yourself.
Perhaps you’ll be inspired to try a few of these in your yard and welcome fall’s late bloomers into your garden oasis.