Hambone’s Mercantile has many hats these days, but it all started with native plants. We’ve collected seed stock from all over the DFW area, and we love just throwing seeds around to see what comes up. Sometimes, it’s poetic chaos, sprinkled with a few volunteers that normally aren’t considered desirable. Such is the case with one of our native wildflower beds last year.
This bed was borne of Argemone albiflora (white prickly poppy) collected near what used to be my grandfather’s farm in Archer County, Texas (I haven’t been successful growing this from seed in controlled conditions. Prickly poppy just refuses to be tamed), Monarda citriodora (Lemon bee balm) from our remnant prairie in Wise County, Gaillardia pluchella (blanket flower) from Erath county, and Achellia millefolium (common yarrow) from root transplants originating in Erath County. These seeds were just cast on the ground a couple of years before these photos. They’ve been coming up every year since.
When letting native plants do what they do, I tend to leave the non-grassy things to see what pops up. In this case, I got a lot of Conyza canadensis (horseweed) that politely took a seed in the back row, adding some really interesting texture to the bed as a whole. Black eyed Susan (not sure of the exact ID of this one) joined in, and I have no idea where it came from, but it was a lovely pop of color contrast. There’s also some peppergrass (also unsure of exact ID of this one) in there, and a handful of obligatory non-natives, but this bed was riotous and glorious for months like this. Native gardens don’t have to be complicated or fussy, or well-planned to be stunning and eye-catching!
If you’d like a few native seeds to scatter around and see what pops up, visit our Etsy store and get your fill!
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