Hiking,  Outdoors

Easter Empty Field Explorations

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We drove up to DFW for Easter this year. It’s been quite a few years since we’ve done that, instead opting for camping during Easter. But a variety of reasons had us without a reservation for a campsite and we opted to spend some time up there this year. I snuck away on Saturday afternoon to go check out an empty field down the street from my parent’s house. Well, truthfully, I had steps to get in for my FitBit challenge so that was a major reason, but I had driven by earlier that morning on the way to the grocery store and decided it needed to be walked through for some iNaturalist botanizing. The field has been a field since I was a kid, tucked between a bank and houses. As I’ve seen the other empty fields turn into houses in the last decade, I figured this one was living on borrowed time. Surprisingly there were some lovely prairie remnants left and of course a few invaders, too, but otherwise it was a nice way to get some steps in and take in some pollen-filled fresh air.

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Dakota Mock Vervain, Glandularia bipinnatifida

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Sword-leaf Blue-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium ensigerum — I think. I really loved the deep purple of this particular species and it grows different than some of the species down my direction.

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llinois Bundleflower, Desmanthus illinoensis

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Tenpetal Anemone, Anemone berlandieri
While our anemones have mostly started disappearing after going to seed, I managed to catch a few still in bloom in this field.

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Zizotes Milkweed, Asclepias oenotheroides – I knew there was milkweed in this field because I’ve seen it blooming during the summertime but I always thought it was likely to have been antelope horns, A. asperula but I was wrong!

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Beaked Cornsalad, Valerianella radiata

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Drummond’s Onion, Allium drummondii
There were several lovely mounds of this allium, very gorgeous!

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They come in pink, too!

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A palette of wildflowers!

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Can’t go wrong with some pink ladies (buttercups as we called them growing up), Oenothera speciosa

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Slender Vetch, Vicia ludoviciana

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Texas Vervain, Verbena halei

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Harmostes reflexulus, a little scentless plant blug.

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Seven-spotted Lady Beetle, Coccinella septempunctata

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And the trio of goobers post-egg hunt on Saturday evening. Zoe is heading to high school next year and Grayson is going to middle school, while Forest will be in second grade! Time flies!

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