Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

You are correct on the dates from the various books and our websites. Marshall Enquist, author of Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country says July to October. Without knowing exactly who entered the information in our Native Plant Database, we think that one number is as good as another. Personally, this member of the Mr. Smarty Plants Team feels that native plants start blooming when they have accumulated the energy to do so, in order to set seeds for their propagation, and stops when that energy is used up, or it has been very hot and dry, or the blooms get eaten. In more technical terms, when they are good and ready, and your guess is as good as anyone else's. Everyone researches, finds numbers or dates, and quotes that as the "right" time, but no one asks the plants.

As you will see from this USDA Plant Profile map  Conoclinium coelestinum (Blue mistflower) grows quite extensively in North America from Texas to Ontario, and from the middle of the nation to the East Coast. There are bound to be variations in bloom times, due to climate and rainfall in that large a space. Gardening in Harris County, which comes pretty close to being the southernmost area in Texas, we would say that the longer blooming time of April to December would be the most accurate. If however, you are planning on a beautiful bloom for a specific time (like a wedding), we would warn you to have a variety of types of plants, blooming, not blooming, shrubs, etc. in case the mistflowers didn't get their invitation to the affair.