Fallugia paradoxa - Apache Plume

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/37056/
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=FAPA
A beautiful native to New Mexico shrub. Wildflower.org says "It can however become too aggressive in optimum conditions." I do see it spreading in a canyon about a half mile away from my home. The seeds are carried on these feathery plumes. In my opinion this is the most ornamental part of this plant and I certainly wouldn't want to pinch them off so unless I could find a way to keep this plant under control I probably won't use it in my home landscape... the conditions are indeed optimum here. A very pretty and beneficial native plant: "An important forage plant for wild animals, nectar-insects, cover nesting site, nesting material and erosion control"

another view of the flower

and one more of the seed plumes.. oh so pretty in my opinion

I have tried this sooo many times and I never can get them to live in my summer heat.

How hot does it get in Red Oak? It gets pretty warm here!

Oh Angele, I have wanted that shrub for such a long time, and it is native to Texas too.
I guess I am going to have to come and visit New Mexico and get one, I cant find it here.
I think it is gorgeous!
Josephine.

Very hot.. and my seeds came from a time from New Mexico - tree times had seedlings and three times they died when summer hit. Josephine did any of the seed I gave you grow?

No Mitch it didn't, I haven't had any luck with it, and it is so pretty!
Maybe one of these days, right? we just don't give up.
Josephine.

That is it... this plant to too nice to give up on!

This is a native here too . I thinkit is too hot to grow it though. I usually see it a couple of hours north of here where it is not quite as hot.

Summer temperatures here average in the mid 90s with occasional 100+ days. It isn't unusual for afternoon thundershowers to relieve the heat though. The soil is very sandy and drains quickly.

I think the soil maybe the deciding factor on this plant, we have heavy clay, so that is probably the reason it doesn't do well around this area of Texas.

Hmm I may have to experiment with the soil part and see if I can get it to grow here.

That might be it... and very little summer rain.

We get almost no summer rain so that would not be a problem.

wow that is pretty. hmm wonder if it would like it here/

Hi Josephine,

I just saw apache plume at a nursery around here. I think it was Tinker Grove, but it may have been Weston Gardens in Bloom...

Dennis

Hi Dennis, thank you for letting me know, where is Tinker Grove? I hope that was it, because Weston gardens is really expensive.
Please come and post here too we need more native plant lovers.
Josephine.

That reminds me a little bit of smoketree - Cotinus obovatus - a native shrub around here. There are purple leaved cultivars now but I prefer the plain old native smoketree, which you see in a lot of old house gardens here.
http://biology.missouristate.edu/Herbarium/Plants%20of%20the%20Interior%20Highlands/Flowers/Cotinus%20obovata-%205.jpg
http://biology.missouristate.edu/Herbarium/Plants%20of%20the%20Interior%20Highlands/Flowers/Cotinus%20obovata%20-%204.jpg

That is so pretty, I happen to have a tiny one that Mitch gave me.
It is native to Texas also and I love them, mine is only a foot tall so it has a long way to go.
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=COOB2
Josephine.

Hi Josephine,

Tinker Grove is in Colleyville. It used to be a Redenta's.

Dennis

Thank you Dennis, I will try the Redenta's here first, Colleyville is a ways from us, we shall see, but thank you for letting me know.

Angele, those photos are stunning!

I planted one near my driveway and like your quote mentioned it can get a bit out of hand, needs lots of pruning. I think it is because it has a gravel mulch to keep down weeds and that holds in more water. I have them coming up all over the place and plan to take that one out just because I tire of pruning it. They are all up along the ridges of the mts. across from my house, so we definitely have the right conditions for them. The quail love them too. I think you can see it in this photo to the left of the desert willow.

Wow! how lucky can you get.

LOL! Nice way to look at it, but it is getting so large and I don't want it to overtake my other plantings. So I will either prune it way down, it is much larger than that photo now--or take it completely out. I have also had some of my non-gardening neighbors complain because the blooms blow into her yard. Which is silly of course, I am sure it is the blooms from the natural groups of them all along the ridgeline behind her house and not my one plant, but you know how some neighbors can be!

Don't take it out just because of your neighbor.. she will just find something else to complain about! I say that mostly because of the ones growing on the ridge. sheesh!

thank you for the compliment critterologist :-)

Yeah, you have her number! I will probably just cut it way back so and enjoy it another year. Now that I have thought about it, I realize it is just overgrown because I didn't prune it last year.

Oooh.... I want to try to grow this so bad.

You get too much rain--according to High Country Gardens website this one can only handle up to 20 inches of rain per year. And since I get almost 20 inches a year here, I can pretty much guarantee you're at least double that. So if you're going to try it, you'll need perfect drainage and a way to protect it from excess rain. You could try doing it in a container and drag it onto a covered patio or something when it rains, but I've had trouble growing extremely drought tolerant things in containers, it is tricky to get the watering right.

I wonder if there is a 'replacement' plant that would do well in your area CaptMicha? The only other shrub I can think of with the feathery plumes is Calliandra none native to Maryland according to the USDA site.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/search.php?q=Calliandra+eriophylla&Search=Search+PlantFiles

I love plants with plume type flowers; Celosia is a particular favorite of mine - it happens to be native to your area not mine!! That surprised me!!!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/search.php?q=Celosia&Search=Search+PlantFiles

If it is the feathery plumes you like I'm sure we can come up with something!

I agree with the humidity, since they are all over the area where I live and we got 9 inches of rain last year, I would say they like low water. Of course mine by the driveway is in an area where runoff flows when we do get rain and it is mulched so that is why it grows a bit more than I need. I am pretty big on listening to Nature and planting want does well in your area.

I still want to give it a shot, even though I probably won't win with it. I have a nice area that dries out a lot, on the top of a hill so there's never any sitting water. I'm going to plant my hardy cacti there.

I thought Celosia was one of those plants from Europe.

Calliandra eriophylla is native to MD?

I grow Prairie Smoke, I really like it. The plumes look alike.

Never hurts to try, I would suggest you have really good drainage and of course we want to know how it goes!

I think angele said Calliandra was not native to MD. Can't picture it being native there, that's for sure!

I found one and have planted it. here's to hoping it makes it!! I love this out itn the wild and found it for sale at a nursery about an hour away from my place.

Marie, just be warned that they do well in the wild, so with the gravel and runoff by my driveway they REALLY do well, so much so that I have to prune them. Not a bad thing but I don't want more maintenance. I never water them or do anything else but prune though! LOL!

Hi cactus. I put it on the side of my house that has more native planted and will be filling the area with gravel as soon as possible. I have to remeber to not be kind and water them. I am know as the master of "Death by Water:"