New Tickseed and More Horsemint

Toward the end of last summer, the meadow started to look a little spent. The fall brought another burst of life, but there were a couple tough months. Around that time, my dotted (spotted) horsemint (Monarda punctata) was growing and flowering nicely. If only there were some of that in the meadow! So I'm trying to make some cuttings of my existing plants that are starting to grow back. But I broke down and bought some too just in case the cuttings fail or wont' be ready in time to flower. Here are a few shots from last year that show the horsemint in its prime.

Here are some overall shots from this year after planting the horsemint and a new coreopsis.

Welcome home.

The garberia gives some wonderful texture. It looks like its getting ready to flower again.

The yellow necklacepod pokes up.

A closer shot of the entrance shows the beautiful new growth on the red-tipped cocoplums.

Best black-eyed susan plant ever.

Here is the new coreopsis variety I found today at Twigs n' Leaves native nursery in St. Pete. It's a Coreopsis basalis. The lady at the nursery said they had never seen it down here before but it seems to like it hot and dry. I haven't had many coreopsis come back from seed and it seemed like they needed more water than I was willing to give them. Hopefully it does well.

A group of muhly grass makes the back side of the meadow.