Turnera Buttercup

30-04-2021 admin

Turnera Buttercup Yellow
Turnera Buttercup Plant

The expression of color deep in the center of Turnera flowers is so cool. This one has brush strokes of purple-brown. Trailing Yellow Buttercup works great as a spiller in a mixed container, in a small pot alone, or when placed in the front of a border to cascade over the edge of a raised bed.
One of the most popular landscape plants, low growing shrub.
Turnera Ulmifolia possesses Antiinflammatory and Expectorant property. It is good for Gastric problems including Constipation and Diarrhea. The leaves of the herb are rich in Sterols. It is used for treating Hair loss and Thrush. An infusion of leaves of the herb are used to treat Dysentery. A tea made from the leaves acts as Aphrodisiac.

Love the color yellow but you’re not quite sure which plants are right for your space? I am here to help, this is a short list (though it is quite long) of some of my favorite yellow Xeriscape plants for Central Texas.

Turnera goes by several common names, including Cuban (or Brazilian) Buttercup, Yellow Alder, or ramgoat dash-along - an inference that it increases the sexual libido of goats when they eat the foliage. It is a tropical shrubby perennial growing to 4 feet tall and wide but. Gulf Coast Research and Education Center. Plant City Teaching Garden. Growth Habit: Perennial Height: 2 feet Zones: 9 to 11 Light: Full sun/part shade. Bloom: Yellow; year round.

Daylily is a perennial bulb that goes dormant (sleepy time) at the first freeze and returns in late winter. It will bloom a couple of times over the summer and the bed of long green grass like leaves stay all year until winter. This plant will take from full sun to part sun, low water and requires little to no maintenance.

Yellow is the color of happiness, cheerfulness, hope and fun. Yellow is the color of sunshine and it is a bright, warm hue in the landscape. Yellow flowers grow best in full sun but there are a few exceptions that do well in part sun as well. Yellow is a big butterfly attraction and creates contrast in the landscape.

The Jerusalem Sage has a really fabulous flower form and a beautiful true sage colored leave.

Jerusalem Sage

flomis fruticosa

Jerusalem Sage is a stunner of a plant when it blooms. This evergreen mounding plant reaches from 2.5′ tall to 3′ wide, prefers full sun but will take partial sun. The leaves are a true sage color with sage green front and silver back of the leaves. the flower form is much like a crown with petals in rows around the bud formation. I will say that this plant can be a little fickle in some spots and will not tolerate wet feet. Good drainage will help and it is great as a specimen. This plant is evergreen and requires no maintenance except to cut back spent flower heads.

Yellow Bells Esperanza-beautiful and drought tolerant.

Esperanza, Yellow Bells, Hardy Yellow Trumpet, Trumpet-flower, Yellow Elder
Tecoma stans

Yellow Bells Esperanza is a spectacular plant in the landscape. It is a big one so make room, it can reach 8′ wide and 10′ tall but is more typical at 6′ x 6′ so allow it its space and you will benefit from all it has to offer. This is a full sun plant that likes its sunlight and is a very drought tolerant and low maintenance. This plant goes dormant after the first hard freeze then returns in early spring. Cut back the dead branches when you see new growth coming in.

Turnera Buttercup opens in the morning and closes in the evening.

Turnera Bittercup, Yellow Buttercup, Yellow Alder

Turnera ulmifolia

I love this plant though I would probably consider it more of an annual than a perennial but it is worth the time to replant if necessary. If you are in Austin you can find this plant at Barton Springs nursery on Bee Caves Rd. This is an excellent plant for a pot or a feature on the garden. I have also planted this in rows and it is beautiful planted in mass. It will re-seed readily which can be good it you are having a hard time keeping it over the winter. You may also try covering this plant to protect it over the freezing temps.

Four-nerve daisy, Hymenoxys, Stemmy four-nerve daisy, Yellow daisy, Bitterweed,

tetraneuris scapose

This low mounding daisy is an excellent choice for the front of your bed as its low profile grass like blades and long-stemmed bright yellow daisies are an awesome outline for a garden. The 4 nerve daisy also commonly known as Hymonexis is an evergreen perennial that blooms all summer long. Full to part sun, low water and the only maintenance is to cut off the spent blooms. Very cool border or rock garden plant 1.5 t x 1.5 w .

Mexican Mint Merigold

Mexican Mint Marigold, Spanish Tarragon, Texas Tarragon, Sweet Mace, Yerbis Anis
Tagetes lucida

This perennial herb is as beautiful as it is delicious. If you are an anise fan as I am you are going to enjoy the flavor profile of this plant. Aside from the myriad of medicinal and edible uses it is a super drought tolerant, low maintenance plant for the Texas landscape. Mexican Mint goes dormant after the first hard freeze and returns in the spring. It loves the sun so give it proper light. It will bloom in late summer then is covered in bright yellow flowers late in the season. It also makes an excellent cutting flower with its fragrant leaves and flower clusters. Cut back the dead stems in late winter. Grows to about 2.5-3 x 2

Texas Flowery Senna, Tree Senna, Flowering Senna, Golden Shower tree

cassia corimbosa

The flowering Senna tree is an excellent specimen for a protected area. It can be a little fickle in a hard freeze so I recommend planting it in a south end of your yard away from the northern exposure. Mine is planted close to my home and has done beautifully over the winters and can reach heights and widths of 10 x 10. This plant is a huge hummingbird attractor.

Golden Showers Thryallis

Golden Showers Thryallis

Galphimia glauca

Golden Showers Thryallis is an awesome Austin plant though listed as zones 9-10, this plant does fabulously in zones 8b in a protected area. Use this plant along a southern exposure fence, among a large landscape like mine where there are layers but plenty of sun or as a hedge plant in front or back of your home. Because of its open airy stature it is a lovely shrub alternative to the “boxier” varieties.

Evergreen to semi evergreen, color all summer long and great for sun to part sun areas. Low water and little to no maintenance.

In Austin we have a spectacular native landscaping palette and there are so many stunning plants to choose from. Choose them all as I have or use a few statement plants, but however you fit them in they will be an impact in your Central Texas landscape.

For more fantastic plant ideas check out my YouTube channel or click here to visit (and like 🙂 my LL&D facebook page where you will find photo albums for sun, shade , trees, shrubs and more.

Lisa LaPaso

Lisa’s Landscape & Design

“Saving the PLanet One Yard at a Time”

Posted in: Austin Xeriscape ♦ Central Texas Gardens ♦ Landscape and Design ♦ Native and Adapted Plants ♦ Water Wise Perennial Plants ♦ Xeriscape design austin
Tagged: austin native landscaping, Austin Xeriscape, flowering perennials for Austin Texas, flowering plants for austin Texas, Xeriscape plants austin, Xeriscape plants for Central Texas, Yellow flowers for Texas

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture does not promote, support or recommend plants featured in 'Plant of the Week.' Please consult your local Extension office for plants suitable for your region.

Brazilian Buttercup
Latin: Turnera ulmifolia

Brazilian buttercup is proof that one person’s weed is another’s wildflower.

Summer in the garden is a tough time for most plants. Whenever daily temperatures - the average over a 24-hour period - exceed 85 degrees, most plants begin to shut down. The ones that don’t close up shop in the heat and humidity of summer hail from the tropics. One that has stood up well in our gardens during periods of excessive summer heat is Turnera ulmifolia, a native of the West Indies that is now naturalized throughout much of tropical America.

Turnera goes by several common names, including Cuban (or Brazilian) Buttercup, Yellow Alder, or ramgoat dash-along - an inference that it increases the sexual libido of goats when they eat the foliage. It is a tropical shrubby perennial growing to 4 feet tall and wide but less than half that when grown as an annual. If given room and sunlight, it grows as a mounded, much-branched plant with woody basal stems and aromatic, fresh-looking, bright green leaves to 3 inches long.

The five-petaled flowers are bright yellow and to 2 inches across, slightly cup-shaped when open and generally resemble the blooms of a buttercup. The flowers are not fragrant and remain open only one day, but they are produced with abundance throughout the heat of summer and into the fall. The nectary at the base of the flower produces lots of sustenance, for the blossoms are under constant attack by bumblebees and butterflies. The fruit is a pea-sized capsule containing numerous seeds.

Turnera has been classified as belonging to its own small plant family. It is named in honor of William Turner (1508-1568), an English clergyman considered the father of English botany, because he translated an herbal of his day into English from its original Latin. The epitaph refers to the fact that the leaf somewhat resembles an elm.

Brazilian buttercup is an example of a plant that causes those responsible for identifying and banning invasive plants some heartburn. It is adaptable to a wide variety of growing conditions, and in nature it prefers disturbed sites. It is fast-growing and one of the first plants to pop into bloom after a hurricane. It is already widely distributed throughout the tropical world, partly because it is an attractive garden plant and so easy to grow. And it loves the heat, so when the heat really cranks up in the tropics this is one of the plants that can be relied upon to bloom.

Turnera was introduced to most gardeners in the temperate parts of the United States in the 1990s when Texas horticulturists got together and began promoting plants that would stand up to summer heat in their challenging climate. From that introduction it has crept into the plant trade and can now be found offered occasionally in local nurseries and big-box stores.

I’ve watched the plant for 15 years in northwest Arkansas and see no indication it is likely to become an established weed in this area. It will reseed, but the few scattered seedlings come up with the heat of summer, so they have little time to grow before being killed by frost. Only in the warmer parts of zone 9 will Turnera survive over winter. Turnera is similar to Lantana, another widely escaped weed in the tropics, and should pose no threat of escaping the bounds of the garden in colder parts of the country.

Brazilian buttercup should be planted in sunny areas of the garden after the soil has warmed in the spring. Once established, it has considerable drought tolerance. As a young plant it is compact and free-branching, so plant at least 18 inches apart if the intent is a mass planting. It also is well suited for use in mixed containers.