Why Wright's Skullcap Is The Ultimate Addition To A Flower Garden

Flowering perennials might just be the lazy (or busy!) gardener's saving grace. They facilitate a convenient "set it and forget it" approach to gardening. Better yet, if those selections are native flora, they will thrive with little additional care while drawing in local pollinators. For anyone living in USDA Hardiness Zones 7 through 10 — or those with container gardens or potted flowers that overwinter indoors — Wright's skullcap (Scutellaria wrightii) might tick all those boxes and more.

There are actually as many as 350 members of the Scutellaria genus, or skullcap, which are plants in the mint family. You may have heard of the Texas pink skullcap (Scutellaria suffrutescens) or the downy skullcap (Scutellaria incana). Named for 19th century botanical collector Charles Wright, Wright's skullcap (Scutellaria wrightii) is native to the limestone bluffs and prairies of Texas and Oklahoma. It's also sometimes called the shrubby or bushy skullcap. This plant boasts evergreen foliage and, when in bloom, a profusion of eye-catching tubular flowers in shades of purple.

As you may have already surmised from its native range, Wright's skullcap is a drought- and heat-tolerant plant that doesn't require much water to thrive, making it a great potential garden addition if you live in a dry area under restricted water use. You can enjoy a fairly long blooming period — from spring all the way through the summer. Additionally, its lovely flowers are appealing to more than just humans: insect and bird pollinators are also drawn to its blooms, which might improve the overall health of your garden.

If you have an open spot in your garden that just seems to be always roasting in the sun, Wright's skullcap will fit right in. Though, it will also tolerate a little bit of shade as long as it gets at least 4 hours of direct sunlight. It prefers well-draining soil that isn't too rich and, while it does appreciate some regular watering, especially during the spring, it hates soggy or waterlogged roots. Don't worry too much about fertilizing; while a regular application of balanced liquid fertilizer during its early spring growing season might be beneficial, too much can produce leggy growth and suboptimal flowering.

If you've had success with one Wright's skullcap plant and want to increase its presence in your garden, you can try propagating it from either seeds or cuttings taken in the early spring. Make sure to take your plant cuttings before buds appear. If you'd prefer to try from seed, you can collect them from the seedheads that appear all through summer once blooms are spent. In fact, cutting the seedheads back may encourage subsequent blooming. You can also divide mature plant clumps.