Coyote Brush (Baccharis pilularis)
Coyote Brush is a deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, medium-sized shrub that blooms at a useful time of year, providing a nectar source for skipper butterflies and other native insects in the fall. Although it is more common at the coast in Oregon, it thrives in open sunny places and is a useful evergreen component of wildlife hedges. The small, thick leaves are slightly sticky, and abundant little creamy-white flowers cover the bushes in early fall. It tolerates repeated heavy pruning and self-sows zealously. Excess seedlings are easy to pull out, as volunteers at the park have learned.
Contributed by Rachel Foster
Though not wildflowers, the leaves on maple trees are beginning to display their bright fall colors, as have these on a maple tree near the Wilkins shelter in Hendricks Park.
