This widespread milkweed species is a larval host to monarch butterflies in addition to queen’s and the gray hairstreak. It has has the similar long seed pod with silky hairs that other milkweeds use to propagate. Preferring full sun to light shade, once established these plants can handle mesic to xeric conditions comfortably. These species has a very hairy stem, as seen above, and is apparently not milky when broken like most milkweeds and is instead clear. Definitely add this one in for diversity in your butterfly garden and to attract monarchs! More information: +Wildflower.org +TPWD on the species +Aggie horticulture +Milkweed guide

This little plant is actually a sedge but the unique white top turns it into a beautiful and unique wetland plant. A similar but smaller species, Rhyncospora colorata might throw you off at first but the latifolia species is significantly larger. Sandswamp whitetop sedge grows in wet areas and would make a great pond plant in a garden. There really not a lot to write about this one, but it is a pretty little plant that most people would over look. More information: +USDA plant database +David’s Garden information +Floridagrasses.org +Wildflower.org

This orchid is a familiar orchid as we saw it often in Florida. It’s always nice to see familiar plants back here in Texas. This beautiful orchid, according to Wildflower.org gets it’s genus name from a Greek word meaning beautiful beard. You can definitely see that beautiful beard in the photos above! Calopogon tuberosus is a widespread ground orchid occurring in many states of the U.S. and is typically found growing in wet pine ecosystems. Flowering time is late spring to early summer—these were blooming in late May/early June at the Watson Preserve. As always with orchids, you should never collect them from the wild and find a reputable source…

We initially saw these roses growing along Texas Point NWR and later discovered they are an invasive rose. Originally from China they join a host of other roses that have naturalized across the south, including the Cherokee rose and prairie rose. While they are beautiful, they are like other invasives and smother out native vegetation. Definitely think twice before planting or starting these plants in your own yard and opt for a non-invasive rose! This guy in Tampa had a tree sized McCartney rose! Yikes! More information: +Texas invasives +Galveston Bay invasives +USDA plant database

Ah, yet another salt marsh plant! This dicot is a native to the majority of the US and several Canadian provinces. This heliotrope can handle saline and wet communities and is found around salt marshes and margins of wetlands within the interior. It flowers for quite awhile from spring to early fall, preferring mostly full sun. I can’t find a lot about the wildlife value of the plant but I imagine it attracts butterflies. It could be difficult to find in nurseries if you are trying to use it as a garden plant, so maybe starting from seed from a plant in a natural habitat might be the way to…

Ok, ok, this isn’t a wildflower, but a grass, however I really like this grass so I’m throwing it in for fun! Yes, we’re still on a run of salt marsh plants I learned in college and as for grasses, they are really difficult (in my opinion) to key out and since I actually know this one I’m going to share it. As its common name suggests, salt grass is tolerant of saline environments however it is known to grow in non-saline areas. It handles the wet soils well but can tolerate drier, sandier soils as well. In North America the habitat it can grow in is widespread, including the…

This is another plant I learned in my Coastal Plant Ecology course in college, Borrichia frutescens. Found in dunes and salt marsh areas this is a colorful favorite for those areas. This salt tolerant coastal native is a perennial and has a slight succulent feel if you pierce the leaf. This large colony was found at Texas Point NWR, but anywhere along the Texas coast you can find sea ox-eye daisy. I imagine that the yellow flowers are great wildlife attractors, particularly butterflies and the brown seed heads would make interesting inclusions to cut flower arrangements. If you’ve got a bright sunny spot in your garden and are looking for…