The Texas Master NaturalistTM curriculum textbook offers several convenient definitions of the word “weed.” Weeds have purpose regardless of what we may think of them. Primary plant succession is a natural process to stabilize soil, amend mineral and chemical imbalances; a weed covers and protects precious, life-giving soil from erosion by wind and water, adding a little layer of organic matter behind for good measure. Master Naturalists know the fabulous secret about weeds: these tiny, unassuming winter rosettes may become spring herbaceous forbs … wildflowers.
“And what is a weed but a plant whose virtues have yet to be discovered?”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Before Texas became a state in 1845, hundreds of wildflower species were making a living along the coastal prairies and marshes in Fort Bend County. Only in the last century have plants traveled by foot – carried by people from the other side of the planet. Today, the chickweed and dandelion grows alongside medicks and clovers, thriving in a welcoming winter Texas climate much as descendants of those ancestors (us) still do.
In the last century, mowing has become a ritualistic if not unnecessary suburban activity each winter. Tiny weeds show themselves beneath the tips of yellowed St. Augustine grass blades, patches of unexpected green within an otherwise dormant landscape. Should we refrain, beauty and functionality would unfold wherever flower stalks are allowed to rise unclipped. Often, the only thing required is a subtle shift in paradigm — perhaps a little bit going against the grain.
Slender vetch – like the Texas bluebonnet, from central Texas – provides much more than just food for awakening bees and butterflies. Their evolved relationship with soil microbes ‘fixes’ an otherwise unusable form of elemental nitrogen straight into the gumbo clay soil, creating a micro-habitat for the bacteria that directly consume it. These microbes in turn mineralize an atmospheric nitrogen so others can take it up in soluble forms – the Nitrogen Cycle. Vetch, clovers, and medicks all provide free and natural fertilizer for the whole plant and animal community. Let it grow and yours will be the greenest garden in the heat of summer without the use of store-bought fertilizers (which also harm Texas waters).
The rest of Fort Bend’s tiny late winter wildflowers are as pretty as they are purposeful. Take the time to recognize anemone, crowpoison, butterweed, violet, meadow garlic, and pinkladies. Should you mow down the flower stalk of fleabane, the dazzling field of short white daisies along with tiny diverse wildlife will also be missed.
Join the No Mow Movement
- Mow turfgrass high (Halloween) to protect soil through winter
- Refrain from mowing/watering turfgrass in winter dormancy
- Push-mow walking paths, keep edges tidy to communicate with neighbors
- Use iNaturalist to discover the wildflower species popping up in your yard
- NO SPRAYING! Pesticides and herbicides are destructive and harmful
- Communicate with your HOA or City about your No Mow plan and why
- Place a wildlife sign in your yard (NPSOT may provide with a donation)
According to Xerxes Society, native bees do not travel far from their homes, hunkering down among pithy stems of plants in our gardens, keeping warm underground through winter. Some butterflies emerge from pupae and caterpillars among leaf litter dropped from trees. Left untouched, unmowed, unraked, the leaves are where tiny and beautiful groundstreak and hairstreak butterflies eclose, completing their life cycles. Like tiny native bees, they need flower nectar right there to begin their lives right.
It’s not difficult to name a weed before dismissed it as unwanted. Many are already emerging before we begin our spring clean-up chores in earnest mid-March; iNaturalist can help us learn what wildflowers will be springing forth from our yards unchecked.
For the feather-lover in all of us, the best way to help birds thrive is by promoting insect abundance. The seed-eating bird that frequents our backyard feeders needs thousands of caterpillars in order to raise a family to fledging each year. This springtime mass emergence of Lepidoptera is the largest transfer of energy to animals than with any other type of plant eater. Insect diversity is best accomplished through a variety of locally native plants provided at just the right time, Nature’s time.
About the Header Image
Andrena sp. mining bee stops for a late winter nectar sip at fleabane, Erigeron philadelphicus growing among the St. Augustine turfgrass in suburban Fort Bend County. Many Andrena are host-plant specialists, visiting flowers of only a single or a few closely related plants. They are ground-nesters and solitary; as single moms, they do not spend time guarding the nest and therefore do not sting like eusocial honeybees or social wasps might. Fleabane is a member of the Asteraceae, the plant family with the most species in Texas. (Photo credit: Shannon Westveer)
Learn More About Conserving Wildflowers
- Bee City USA by Xerces Society | No Mow May Initiative
- Native Plant Society of Texas Houston Chapter | Join Us
- YouTube Texas Master Naturalist Coastal Prairie Chapter | Don’t Mow … Let It Grow!
- iNaturalist.org | Late Winter Wildflowers of Fort Bend County (NOTE: Introduced plants in PINK)
- ButterfliesAndMoths.org | Learn about Lepidoptera species and what they need