I've grown native plants a
long time, but I still ask,
what should we do in summer for
the ones that bloom and fall?
Should we prune or not?
To put us in the know, San
Antonio native plant designer
and wildlife steward Drake
White preps us for a new season.
Drake, it is so great
to see you again.
Thank you so much for having me.
I appreciate this opportunity
to educate others. First Drake,
Tell us about you.
I am the owner of the Nectar
Bar, which is a local native
landscape company
and a small nursery.
And what I do is I
create habitat for
pollinators and wildlife.
I am a Texas Master
Naturalist, and I'm
also a member of the
Native Plant Society.
I enjoy doing education
things for children and
children of all ages
because we should always
strive to continue
to learn and educate
ourselves throughout life.
Why are you so committed
to designing and
planting for wildlife?
I think it's really important,
especially for our pollinators.
Without pollinators, we
don't have plants; is
really the gist of it.
A lot of it is you
know talked about that.
Oh, you know one of
every bite that we eat is
created by a pollinator.
But the realistic of it is
if we don't have pollinators,
we don't have plants.
So and if we don't have plants,
we don't have a lot of things.
And with that also comes that,
hey, you know what, since it's
native, not much care
really needs to go into it.
Yes, you have to get
it established, but
you don't need to
really water it so much.
Most of them will die
if water them too much.
So it's really like, hey,
who doesn't want to save water?
We definitely want
to save water.
And in our heat,
it just thrives.
I always look forward to fall.
It's my favorite season
because after we've gone
through a grueling August,
I really welcome the change of
season, but also all the colors
and all the wildlife.
So why is it important to
have fall blooming flowers,
not just spring flowers,
which are great, but why
should we have fall flowers?
Well, fall flowers are
really important because
it helps with many things.
One with migration,
the Monarch butterfly.
They need a lot of fall
flowers just to kind of fatten
themselves up with nutrition
to continue their journey
to Mexico, but also
with other pollinators.
Other butterflies need
to kind of get themselves
ready to go into
what they call a diapause
or a hibernation of such.
They kind of hibernate
over in leaf litter
and things like that.
So it's really important
for our wildlife
to kind of get prepared for
fall, for winter in the fall.
So in order to do that,
we have to kind of do our part
to make sure that that's
available for them.
So to kind of help them a little
bit after the brutal summer.
What are some plants
that we should prune
and how much and
why do we do that?
OK, so typically what I like
to say, your timeframe in
pruning for fall would
be between June 1st
and the mid to third
week of August.
And what you want to
do is whatever there's
different plants
would take different things.
So, for example, frostweed, June
1st or that first week of June,
whatever its height
is, you would cut it by half.
And what that's going to do,
it's going to push out, become
healthier, a thicker stem and
give you multiple flower heads,
which is what the Monarchs
need during their migration.
It is definitely a fall bloomer
to start blooming for you
around the end of
August, beginning September.
And that's really important.
One of their main staples that
they choose, a lot of things
get really make your different
salvias, flame acanthus,
Maximillian sunflowers,
all of those are ones that
are probably looking kind
of scraggly right now.
So looking at what you
have in your space,
you'll see the ones that
are kind of sticking
out really leggy
and you'll take it back to
where the most bushiest part is.
So it could either be by
half or it could be maybe
just a couple of inches.
You just kind of have to
stand back and see where the
fullest part of your plant is
and trim it back to that part.
That way, more flowers will
come, even if it has flowers.
People are so afraid, they're
like, oh, but it has flowers.
And in they're hummingbirds
are using it right now.
So those 10 flowers that
you may have or twenty
flowers that you may have,
if you trim those off,
you'll have 30 to 40, because it
doesn't have to spend the energy
getting into those ones
that are long and making
keeping that alive.
It can say, OK, here, boom, give
all that energy into new growth
and new flowers, which
are more in abundance and
it's a healthier plant.
Does that apply to
Turk's cap as well?
Could we kind of trim those off?
Mine are getting
already really leggy.
Yes, Turk's cap as well.
And depending on how high
some people have this year,
you know, this year is
just going to fund for for
plants, even with with the
big freeze that we had.
A lot of our natives have
made it and they have for
just gone gangbusters.
My turk's cap also is very leggy
and it's about six foot
tall, which typically it never
has been over three feet.
So what I will definitely
be doing here in the
next couple of weeks
is trim that by half or at
least hip height for myself.
So maybe about three foot tall.
I'll cut it back by half
in my space, in your own
space that you may have.
You can kind of judge.
But yeah, it'll definitely
push out sometimes, too,
when it tends to get so
leggy, it falls over and
we don't want that, too.
So by cutting back,
you're creating a healthier
stem and it's not top heavy
to fall over and break.
How like can we go say we
don't get a chance to do this
until the last week of
August, maybe even, you
know, say Labor Day week?
Is that OK? Yeah, that's OK.
Maybe if it's that late,
you may not want to cut it
as drastically, but trim off and
always trim off a little bit.
Step back, see how it looks.
You can always trim
a little bit more. Wonderful.
Now with native plants,
do we need to fertilize?
How do we then kind of pump
them up a little bit?
This is a wonderful
question about do we need to
fertilize native plants? So.
I said the only thing
that you could do
or you may want to do
is actually just give
it some good compost.
I mean, some really,
really good compost.
If you're feeding them a
chemical fertilizer, most likely
it's not going to be
happy with it and it
may not survive at all.
They don't like
chemical fertilizers.
And many of times,
especially those
that are new to it, don't know
how to correctly
measure out that.
And sometimes they
burn the plant. So it's better.
You can never burn the plant.
You can't put too much.
You can't do any of that
with a natural just compost
with some good worm castings
or things like that.
That's much easier, much
better and actually healthier
for your native plants.
And that probably should be done
three times a year.
So you'll want to do it.
Maybe September 1st and
then just kind of go, you
know, every three months.
Fall is also the best time
to plant new plants,
to get them established
over the winter.
Nurseries will have them in the
fall because they're blooming.
And so you can see how they look
and you can get your color
combinations together.
Why should we plant in fall?
And also, maybe give us
an idea, something for
sun, something for shade,
something for like a
tiny little bed, like,
you know, those little
tiny pocket beds at the front
porch or for a container.
One reason why you would want
to plants in fall
and not really so much
in summer is because it
can't you can't do both.
It can't get itself established
and protect itself from the heat
and weather that we have here.
We've been lucky this year.
We've had kind of not so bad
summer, but we're
not finished yet.
So there's no way
that it can do both.
It can't grow its new
roots and establish
itself and protect itself
from the harsh weather
elements that it can hit
during our hot summer.
So fall is definitely the best.
Trees you definitely
should only plant in fall and
and winter come spring
it's a little bit too late.
A few plants that
I could definitely
suggest milkweed for me.
You can never have enough native
milkweed. So fall and spring,
you should always plant at least
a couple of them for plants.
I would say your fall
asters flame acanthus is
just I mean, for everything
from hummingbirds to
butterflies to a host
plant for caterpillars.
I mean, you win all the way
around with that one
and it takes literally
like no maintenance.
And then frostweed.
So it's definitely a staple for
the Monarchs during migration.
It does this cool little thing.
If we were to get a freeze,
it busts at the seams and shows
you little ice ribbons.
But it's also a host plant for
the Bordered Patch butterflies.
Some of those things that I
just mentioned, the frost weed,
the fall aster and
the flame acanthus,
you can do in either
sun or shade or dappled.
So you'll get more blooms
with these flame acanthus
definitely in the sun.
And it won't get as many
blooms, but it will still
bloom in a dappled shade.
Turk's cap absolutely
loves dappled shade and
it can take some sun,
but it can't bake all day long
or it's not really happy.
It gets kind of I don't
know about that, but
frostweed frostweed.
definitely I mean, even if
you're out in your natural
areas out on a hike,
you'll see it and typically
you'll see it in understory.
you'll see it and typically
you'll see it in understory.
you'll see it and typically
you'll see it in understory.
It's definitely in shaded
dappled sun areas.
And another one that would
do really good in sun
or shade is snake herb.
And snake herb is a little
groundcover with purple flowers.
It's also a host plant for
the common Buckeye butterfly.
It doesn't grow really
much taller than
about six inches max.
And it'll spread out and be
a nice little ground cover
for anywhere that
you have in shade.
But it also grows in sun,
so you get a double bonus.
But you can also have small
spaces or even in containers.
A lot of people think, oh, I,
I live in a small condo
or I have a townhouse
and I don't have much of a yard.
But you get plants
even even what we like to call
a way station in a pot.
So if you had like a 16
inch to a 20 edge round
pot, you can actually put
a frostweed a zizotes
days or texana,
which they do well in pots.
And then something that everyone
I feel must have is mistflower.
So if you have Gregg's
mistflower, you have
those three things.
You have created a healthy
ecosystem in a plant, on
your porch or on your patio.
And you are now servicing
and helping wildlife as well.
So whether you have a huge
yard acreage, a.
Small backyard, a small
planting spot, or just you
can only do it in a pot,
everyone can as absolutely
plant for wildlife
and for butterflies.
So when you mentioned
milkweed, what are the native
ones that you mentioned?
I know they're hard to
source, but what are the
ones that maybe we could
look at? And then what
is your feeling about the
tropical, the Mexican milkweed,
the debate on whether we should
cut them back early or or not?
What's your take on that?
With native milkweeds here in in
in in Bexar County, it's
going to kind of differ
depending on where you're at in
your and it's for every state.
Well, I should even
say for every country,
because there's milkweed
in every country.
And it's important
to those areas.
In my experience, the ones
that do the absolute best
are the antelope horn,
the green antelope horn,
zizotes and Texas milkweed.
Those are your absolute
best out of those your zizotes
and your Texana are
going to be the ones
that do fabulous in pots.
They're okay in pots.
And the bonus with that
is that you don't need
to bring them inside.
If we're going to get a freeze,
just leave them out.
They're fine with it
and they're going to survive
and they're still
going to grow back.
Now, with your tropical
milkweed, it's not native.
Many people have already bought
it or they're willing to buy it
because it's so readily
available in the nurseries.
And the number one thing
that I see is that,
well, it's got aphids.
I'm not touching it.
I don't want something
that has all those aphids on it.
And I'm actually
saying, yes, you do.
You do, because that
tells you that it's clean
milkweed. And what I mean
by clean milkweed is
the fact that there are
no pesticides on that.
Ladybugs, lacewings,
hoverfly larva,
all that will take
care of your aphids.
You don't need to
do anything to it.
Even sometimes, the caterpillars
purposely eat the aphids.
I recommend cutting it back
twice a year, June 1st.
Cut it down to the ground.
And the reason why I say
this is because spring
migration has brought
all of the plants together.
Are all of the butterflies
together that can actually
drop the OE spore on that.
And so we want healthy
we need for the fall migration.
So if we actually cut
it back because it's
not going to die back
for us in the summer,
like our native milkweeds
sometimes die back.
So if they die back
and they grow back,
it's fresh, new growth
that's ready for the fall.
Migrating monarchs
that may break dormancy
its actual diapause
and then lay their
eggs on that plant.
So we want fresh, healthy
plants available for that.
So if you have that,
even if it has flowers,
I promise you, you'll
get more flowers.
It'll be a bushier,
healthier plant and it'll
be clean enough for any
Monarchs that may lay eggs,
but also your Q ueens.
And then again, you'll trim it
for the second time in December.
Well, I guess depending
where you're at.
So if kind of here, I always
cut it back around December
1st and I just keep it
cut back until January 1st,
because we can
still be quite warm
all through December
and things grow really,
really well because it's
not so hot. So, yeah,
I just keep cutting it back
and I leave it cut back and it
just bushes out and bushes out.
So I recommend here of
Bexar County just to cut
it back December 1st.
But some people that are further
out and it gets colder quicker,
you may want to cut
that back starting.
First of all, our first of
October into mid mid-October.
So anywhere between October
1st and December 1st
is when you should
definitely be cutting it back.
You're also involved
with a really fun family
event in San Antonio.
People from all over the
state and perhaps even from
all over the country attend.
It's called the
Monarch Butterfly and
Pollinator Festival.
This year, it's going to be
an in-person event once again
on October 16th in
Confluence Park.
So tell us more about this.
We are so excited to finally
be able to come back in person.
I am the chief docent manager.
I basically educate the
volunteers that will be helping
tag and release the butterflies
to educate people.
If you've never done it,
I mean, just to have the
experience yourself is fabulous.
But the fact that we actually
get to teach people why. Yes.
You know, the butterfly
getting to have that
experience is the wow factor.
They actually get to
learn why it happens.
A lot of people don't know that
there's a two way migration.
And when they find out,
this also inspires them.
What I want to be involved.
How do I get involved?
So many questions are asked.
Even by little ones.
And I love it. Like,
well, where does it go?
Well, it's going to Mexico.
It's a wonderful family event.
Are you going to wear
your butterfly wings
again? Absolutely.
I'm always ready with my wings.
Well, I hope people
can come on down to that.
In the meantime, how can
they follow you on social
media or your website
so that they can learn more
of your tips all the time
or get involved with you?
In San Antonio, they can see
me on Instagram and Facebook.
I have both. And they also go to
my Web page as well.
This is so inspiring.
I learned so much, and I know
that our viewers will, too,
and our pollinators
will all be very thankful.
So really, thank you so much.
Thank you so much for having me.
Peace, love and butterflies.