Self-sowers

Cynthia Mueller c-mueller@tamu.edu
Mon, 29 Mar 2004 08:13:48 PST
Self-sowers in Central Texas include:

Gaillardia strain 'Lorenziana' which can seed all over its flowerbed,
and which comes in every sort of color and doubling effects.
Viola tricolor
Tradescantias
Penstemon tenuis - a soft violet blue and P.cobaea
Texas betony,  Stachys coccinea - spires of red trumpets
numerous rainlilies
Philippine lily
Ornamental peppers and an antique strain of Pseudocapsicum
Crinum bulbispermum
Sunflower 'Silver and Gold'
Maximilian daisies - Helianthus maximilianus
Lantana trifolia - violet berries are good about germinating, although
the ordinary varieties are not
Rudbeckias of various sorts
Coleus
Elsholtzia ciliata - a Vietnamese lemon-flavored herb
And don't forget larkspur - every seed that hits the ground germinates
The many basils - dill - cilantro and celery, although parsley, etc do
not
Garden mustard, Sooyo cucumbers and Basella or garden spinach.
And, finally, not really a weed but a very pervasive plant, chickweed
(Stellaria media).  It's really a valuable garden occupant because it is
extremely useful in the diet of young birds in the spring.  If canary
breeders ran out of everything else, entire broods of chicks could be
grown on chickweed.  It was also diced and served up to young turkeys
and chicks and part of their beginning diet.  Although it is sometimes
rather smothering, it is valuable.

Cynthia W. Mueller
College Station, Tx
Zone 8b-9


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