Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

To make sure we understand what you're asking, you have property near Dallas where you hope to have blooming flowers in June sufficient to cut or pot and take to Austin for a wedding reception. We will be happy to list some Texas native flowers that bloom in June. However, we hope you will consider the logistics of what you're planning to do. Even assuming you can get enough blooms and plants to satisfy your requirements, you then will have to transport them to Austin, trying to keep them from wilting or dying until they can arrive at the reception. You will be cutting them in a very hot time of year, needing to get them into water right away, and keep them in water in order to have them fresh-looking at the affair. If you were thinking of saving money by doing this, consider the expenses of preparing soil, purchasing seeds or starter plants, getting water to them, and defending them from insect and animal predators, waiting to have a snack on the fresh young plants. Not to mention the weeds!

However, even more compelling is the problem of time. Most wildflowers seed themselves out in Fall, the seeds go into the soil to rest and prepare for germination in late Winter, and then begin blooming around March. Many are annuals which will bloom very profusely for a month or 6 weeks, and then settle in to make their seeds for next year. Perennials often don't begin to bloom until the second year after planting. If you have a greenhouse and sufficient resources to do so, you could try planting seeds and getting them started quickly, then transferring to pots in hopes they would bloom in time. This is also a pretty expensive and time-consuming project.

We promised you plants that will bloom in June; what we can't promise is there being much chance of seeding or planting starter plants now, nearly February, and expecting a satisfactory crop in June. Since at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, we recommend only plants native to North America and to the area in which they are being grown, we will find blooming plants for North Central Texas, where the land is on which you hope to grow your flowers. Follow the plant links to our webpage on each plant and learn when they should be planted, what kind of exposure to sun they need, and how much moisture they will require. 

Amblyolepis setigera (huisache daisy) - annual, 6 to 15" tall, blooms yellow March to June

Callirhoe digitata (winecup) - perennial, 8 to 20" tall, blooms white, red, purple April to August.

Centaurea americana (American star-thistle) -annual, 1 to 1-1/2 ' tall, blooms white and pink, May and June

Coreopsis tinctoria (golden tickseed) - annual, 1 to 2' tall, blooms yellow, brown April to June

Echinacea purpurea (eastern purple coneflower) - perennial, 2 to 5' tall, blooms pink, purple April to September

Engelmannia peristenia (Engelmann's daisy) -perennial, 2' tall, blooms yellow March to July

Gaillardia pulchella (firewheel) - annual, 1 to 2' tall, blooms red, yellow, brown May to August

Lobelia cardinalis (cardinalflower) - perennial, 1 to 6' tall, blooms red, May to October

Machaeranthera tanacetifolia (tanseyleaf tansyaster) - annual, 6 to 12" tall, blooms purple May to October.

Phlox drummondii (annual phlox) - annual, 6 to 12" tall, blooms white, red, pink, purple March to June

Melampodium leucanthum (plains blackfoot) - perennial,6 to 12" tall, blooms white, yellow March to November

Wedelia texana (hairy wedelia) - perennial, 1 to 3' tall, blooms orange, yellow May to November.

Amblyolepis setigera

Callirhoe digitata

Centaurea americana

Coreopsis tinctoria

Echinacea purpurea

Engelmannia peristenia

Gaillardia pulchella

Lobelia cardinalis

Machaeranthera tanacetifolia

Phlox drummondii

Melampodium leucanthum

Wedelia texana