Prairie beardtongue

Year-round

Prairie beardtongue is a native Arkansas wildflower with tall spikes of small white trumpet-shaped flowers. It settles in easily once it has full sun and soil that drains well, and needs very little care after that.

• Give it full to part sun and soil that drains well, whether that is rocky, sandy, or regular garden loam. Standing water at the roots is the main way to lose this plant.
• This species grows naturally in the Ouachita Mountains region, which includes Garland County, so a Hot Springs yard is already inside its home range.
• Plants form an upright clump 1 to 3 feet tall with white, tube-shaped flowers blooming from May into summer.
• Bees and butterflies visit the flowers regularly, including long-tongued native bees the Xerces Society names specifically for this plant.

The upright, clumping habit and white flower spikes read as a tidy, HOA-friendly border plant rather than a sprawling wildflower.

Fall

Fall is cleanup time as this plant finishes blooming and goes dormant. It also leaves behind reddish seed pods on red stems that stand out if left standing.

• Hot Springs' average first frost lands in early November, so blooming has already wrapped up and the plant is heading into dormancy well before then.
• Wait until frost has browned the stalks before cutting them back close to the ground. There is no benefit to trimming green stalks early.
• Good drainage matters through fall's rain just as much as summer. University of Tennessee Extension notes well-drained soil is essential to this plant's survival year-round.
• Prairie Moon Nursery describes the seed pods as reddish and perched on red stems, so leaving a few stalks standing into fall adds a bit of fall interest before the final cutback.

Cutting back the dead stalks after frost keeps a front bed looking tended through the dormant months.

Winter

Winter is quiet for this plant. Because it grows wild in this same region, it is already suited to whatever winter Hot Springs typically brings.

• This species occurs naturally in the Ouachita Mountains region that includes Garland County, so it already handles local winter lows without covering or mulching.
• There is nothing to do outdoors right now. Skip watering and feeding a dormant plant.
• If an unusually hard freeze warning comes through, a light layer of leaf mulch over the crown gives extra protection to a plant still in its first year. Established plants do not need it.

Leaving the dormant clump alone over winter keeps a low, tidy footprint in a front bed rather than bare dug-up ground.

Spring

Spring is when new growth appears and the flower stalks that will open by May start forming.

• Hot Springs' average last frost falls in late March, so it works well to clear last year's dead stalks and top-dress with compost once that date passes.
• Keep watering light. This plant does best in medium to dry soil, and spring's wetter stretches are the easiest time to overwater it.
• Give it full to part sun. A spot shaded most of the day will produce fewer flower stalks.

Summer

Summer is bloom season, with the white flower spikes opening through the humid Hot Springs summer. Deadheading spent spikes can stretch the show a bit longer.

• Once a flower spike finishes blooming, snip it off just below the last flower. Missouri Botanical Garden notes this can bring on a second flush of blooms before the season ends.
• Good drainage matters most right now. A humid summer with heavy rain, like Hot Springs gets, is when soggy soil is most likely to rot the roots.
• This plant tolerates heat and dry spells well once established, so extra watering beyond normal rainfall usually is not needed.
• Long-tongued native bees, swallowtail butterflies, and ruby-throated hummingbirds are frequent visitors to the flowers during bloom, per Xerces Society records.

Deadheading spent spikes keeps a front-yard bed looking tended through the rest of the season.