COSMOS people, cosmos is the answer - pretty uncomplicated daisy, very pretty foliage! The tall bright yellow and the tall orange kind only.
Loves the heat - drought tolerant - reseeds like crazy.
You can literally shake out the seeds from the old plant or better yet, use the entire plant as mulch, the remaining seed heads will sprout.
The diablo variety is perfect for that and no, it will not revert to something unsightly, can get to five-six feet. I was very pleased to discover some changed to a light - sort of a vanilla yellow color and a few became shorter with the third or fourth re-seed. One even had a bright red outline.
Doesn't like wet feet, not happy in the shade, and accepts any kind of dirt.
My garden is filled with them. I liked them so much the first year I re-ordered a seed packet which I have not had to open, plenty of freebies sprout everywhere (they are really easy to pull up too) and I shake the seedheads wherever I want them - no planting or digging.
@Trudie Love the wildflower with re-cycled art idea.
I'm shuddering at the idea of entering an empty lot, around here that might get you shot or brought in for questioning or G only knows what.
Our county crew will mow down and kill everything in sight with a chemical vengeance.
My only contribution, viable action consists of running out there the moment I hear their equipment roaring up and tell them to stay the hell away from the ditch along our property - in a nice way of course.
It has become a true natural habitat - I am the self-appointed defender of nature's realm.
Last count - 12-15 elderberries, loads of fern, a native low growing yellow daisy the only thing out of all my wild seed attempts that survived, tall native grass and plenty of weeds - some quite pretty like Spanish needle - a white daisy. Over the years I've managed to remove most of the foreign invasive species.
These days it is alive and thriving, always teeming with frogs, dragonflies, bees and every flying critter under the sun, so many different butterflies and weird metallic green bees and the strangest bumblebees.
All the birds fight over the berries... especially the cardinal and the bluejays, we have two types of aquatic turtle, herons, and egrets, a hawk, every kind of woodpecker in the old trees shading the ditch from the other side, squirrels, raccoons, opossums and a visiting pair of wild ducks all enjoying this small pocket of land.
I'm not a fan of restricting my garden to native plants only, I like all plants. I fend off the garden thugs and make sure there are plenty of plantings to feed the wildlife but I don't see any reason to exclude a plant because of where it came from.
Roses came from China - what would all those beautiful British gardens look like without Roses?
Wildflowers are beautiful, we have many different kinds in our lawn to the disgust of our lawn guy who finally gave up on recommending round-up to us. I'm thinking of throwing out clover seeds...
I was horrified to find out people spray for caterpillars if they so much as lay an egg on a passionflower leaf. Nature made passionflowers a host plant - the passionflower will be just fine. You wouldn't kill a pretty Zebra butterfly now would you?:)
Expand beyond the milkweed please, I'd hate to be left with only one butterfly species. Maybe I should get active locally?
All that native species talk reminded me of a purchase I put off due to covid. Two native firebush for the butterflies, the hummingbirds and the bees. It will make a good windbreak in the back forty where it can grow undisturbed, did I mention I never cut anything? It seems wrong, like cutting off a leg or an arm. Unless it is damaged, infested or a threat, I'm not cutting it.
The firebush has beautiful flowers, thrives on neglect and they are inexpensive.
Here is a link to a private butterfly garden in Florida. Her garden design looks awesome but way too orderly for me.
http://butterfly-lady.com/tag/firebush/
