The Self-Seeding Flower That Adds A Pop Of Color To Your Fall Garden

There's still plenty of time to enjoy your garden before the winter months set in. If you're searching for a vibrant flower to add to your fall garden, consider the Wyoming Indian paintbrush (Castilleja linariifolia). Some also refer to this eye-catching beauty as the painted cup due to its showy "petals". Its vibrant bunches of foliage are actually leaves called bracts while the true flower is hidden underneath. This plant is prolific in the American Southwest where you can spot it peppering large prairies and woodlands with its striking color. Gardeners in USDA Hardiness zones 3 to 8 can also enjoy this plant in their own backyard.

The Wyoming Indian paintbrush is hard to miss with its brilliant red hue. It can grow as high as 4 feet, but is commonly between 18 to 36 inches tall. With blooms that last from April into October, this self-seeding perennial is an excellent candidate to plant in late summer for a spectacular fall garden. The Wyoming Indian paintbrush also attracts butterflies and hummingbirds to your yard. While it thrives in the wild, this flower can be difficult to cultivate at home. Let's go over how to grow it.

Transplanting the Wyoming Indian paintbrush is difficult if not impossible. Your best shot at enjoying it is growing this wildflower from seed. Growing the Indian paintbrush is a bit of a long play—you'll need to plan to sow them a year ahead of time. Start your seeds in the fall and allow for a cold stratification period of about six to eight weeks. Be sure to use nutrient-dense, well-drained soil. Keep in mind that these plants are hemi-parasitic meaning they can survive on their own but also absorb key nutrients from nearby host plants using specialized, root-like structure called a haustoria. Don't worry, this does not kill the host plant. When sowing any variety of Indian paintbrush, be sure to plant it alongside compatible host plants such as sweet grass (Hierochloe odorata), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), or June grass (Koeleria macrantha).

The following spring, your seeds should begin to germinate if they went through a proper cold stratification period. At this point, they should grow liberally alongside their companion plant. If you can dedicate yourself to establishing this plant, it's the perfect perennial to grow in your garden for autumn blooms. The Wyoming Indian paintbrush self-seeds so it should propagate on its own. You can also collect the seeds and repeat the process of cold stratifying them before planting.