Beat the Heat

 

Flame Acanthus is a hot weather bloomer.

The heat of the Texas summer is enough to make everything wilt, but there are some native plant species that truly thrive in these unrelenting temperatures and drought-stricken conditions.  These plants include Turk’s Cap (Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii), Flame Acanthus (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii), Violet Ruellia (Ruellia nudiflora), and Western Ironweed (Vernonia baldwinii).

Turk’s Cap, also known as Drummond’s Turk’s Cap, Wax Mallow, Mexican Apple, Manzanita, and Sleeping Hibiscus, is a spreading shrub to 4 feet high, with large green leaves on upright stems.  Bright red flowers atop the stems are twisted into a whorl from which protrude red stamens.  These flowers are a natural source of nectar for hummingbirds and butterflies, and it is a host plant for the Turk’s-cap White-Skipper butterfly.  The resulting fruit is red and marble-sized, and edible for animals and humans alike. Turk’s Cap is the perfect plant to grow under trees that tend to shade out non-native turf grasses, as they form a natural cover and provide much needed color from May all the way to November.

Turk's Cap

Turk's Cap fruit

Turk's-cap White-Skipper

An airy, spreading shrub to 5 feet tall, Flame Acanthus has tender lance-shaped green leaves and tubular red flowers that open to 4 lobes and occur along terminal spikes.  Blooming in full sun from June to October, it attracts both hummingbirds and butterflies, and is also known as Hummingbird Bush, Wright’s Acanthus, and Mexican Flame.  It is the host plant for the Crimson Patch, Elada Checkerspot, and Texan Crescent butterflies. The fruit is a small, hood-shaped capsule with seeds attached to a hooked stalk that helps to eject them from the capsule when it dries and splits open.

Flame Acanthus

Flame Acanthus seed capsule

Crimson Patch

Violet Ruellia is an erect herb that is woody at the base with few branches, growing to 2 feet tall.  The dark green leaves are oval-shaped, and the trumpet-shaped violet flowers at the ends of stalks open at sunrise and fall from the plant in early afternoon, from March all the way through October. Also called Wild Petunia, it does well in sunny areas and is a host plant for the Common Buckeye butterfly.  One of its’ subspecies is a host plant for the Malachite butterfly, a south Texas species rarely seen in central Texas.

Violet Ruellia

Common Buckeye

Often stout and forming colonies 5 feet high, Western Ironweed has hairy unbranched stems, large green leaves with serrated edges, and loose clusters of bright purple blooms at the apex of each stem.  From July to the first frost, these fuzzy blooms provide nectar for various types of pollinating insects and the seeds nourish several species of birds.  Also called Baldwin’s Ironweed, it is the host plant for the Parthenice Tiger Moth.  While this species’ growth can be aggressive, it flourishes if allowed to spread in larger, open, sunny areas.

Western Ironweed

These native species can (and often should) be pruned back in winter as they can get too leggy.  They have low water needs once established, and can tolerate hot temperatures and still continue to bloom.  They are the perfect plants to beat the heat, benefit our local wildlife, and provide much needed color in your own native summer garden!

Some Like It Hot

Eastern Ringtails, a type of Clubtail, obelisking.

The dog days of summer are upon us, and a long stretch of sultry weather lies ahead.  It can be a challenging time for people and for wildlife, but for some, it is their chance to put on a show. 

Bouquets of Mountain Pinks

Mountain Pink close up

Mountain Pink (Zeltnera beyrichii), also called Meadow Pink, Catchfly, or Quinineweed, is an annual herb less than a foot tall and best described as a neat bouquet of small, pink flowers.  Blooming May through July, Mountain Pink sprouts up like an inverted cone 8 to 12 inches high, on hot, rocky hillsides, limestone outcrops, and along gravelly roadways.  Its leaves are threadlike and are held below the multiple 0.5 to 1.0 inch wide showy pink five-petaled blooms that provide nectar for moths, butterflies, bees, and other insects.

Woolly Ironweed

Woolly Ironweed (Vernonia lindheimeri) is a 10 to 30 inch high clumping perennial, with woolly gray stems and long, narrow leaves.  Its bright purple flowers lack true petals, but the disk flowers are arranged in showy, terminal clusters.  A well-behaved species that should be used more often in gardens and landscapes, Woolly Ironweed blooms from June to September, and prefers open hillsides, roadsides, and fields offering full sun.  It is a good nectar source for many species of butterflies during the heat of summer, and is highly deer-resistant.

Blue Dasher, a type of Skimmer, obelisking

To prevent overheating on hot, summer days, some dragonflies and damselflies assume a handstand-like position called ‘obelisking.’  They raise their abdomens until the tip points up toward the sun, which helps to minimize the surface area of their body that is exposed to solar radiation.  Both males and females of these species will raise their abdomens when the temperature is high, and lower them again if shaded. Laboratory experiments have shown that this behavior is effective in stopping or slowing the rise in their body temperature.  This method of thermoregulation is practiced by about 30 different species in the Skimmer, Clubtail, and Broadwing Damsel families.  All are considered ‘perchers’ or sit-and-wait predators that spend a considerable amount of time stationary.

A sure sign that we are in the midst of a hot summer is the sound of cicadas buzzing in the air.  For their size, cicadas make as much noise as a large animal, and can be heard up to a quarter of a mile away.  In fact, the word ‘cicada’ is a direct derivation from the Latin meaning ‘buzzer.’  Many common species of cicadas in North America are in the genus Megatibicen  and are generally called the annual or ‘dog-day’ cicadas because they emerge every year in July and August, the dog days of summer.

Resh Cicada, Megatibicen resh

Male cicadas have structures called ‘timbals’ on the sides of their abdomens, and it is with these structures that they create their buzzy songs.  Unlike grasshoppers or crickets that rub their wings or legs together to produce sound, cicadas vibrate these timbals against their hollow abdomens, which amplifies the resonance of the sounds. They can even modulate the sounds by wiggling their abdomens toward or away from the tree trunk on which they are perched.  Each species has its own distinctive sound, and they use different mating songs to attract the appropriate mate.

Even in the heat of a long Texas summer, nature is busy going about its mysterious ways, offering sights and sounds that can recalibrate our senses, and allow us to continue to appreciate all that it has to offer.