Wildflowers
-
Trout Lilies at Tandy Hills
Continuing in the theme of “OMG, that was this year?” because apparently March has turned into January and is now the longest month ever (beware, I think April is going to be double in length as well)…let’s rewind to a month that blitzed right on by—February. Ah, we were out and about, seeing family and friends, taking hikes. And now? We look fondly back at photos and miss all of that time we spent out of doors (or eating in restaurants, or not being paranoid about the grocery store. Hm, I think I need to write an updated pandemic post…) So, back to our chilly afternoon hike at Tandy Hills…
-
Texas Spring
If there’s one thing we can count in in spring here in Texas it is that the bluebonnets and paintbrushes will continue to rise out of the soil and bloom. The sandyland bluebonnets (Lupinus subcarnosus) were the species blooming on our trip over to Lake Somerville State Park last weekend. Only a few paintbrushes (Castilleja indivisa) were seen but there were plenty of other wildflowers to gaze upon. We did find these wonderful patches of bluebonnets nearly 2 miles down the trail in an open field as it sloped towards Nails Creek. This weekend is rainy and cooler and so we’re not leaving the house to explore much. I suspect…
-
Silent Sunday | Trout Lillies
-
Pearl Milkweed Vine, Matelea reticulata | (Wild)Flower Friday
I’ve come to really appreciate the milkweed vine species, particularly the more common one in my area, anglepod, aka: Gonolobus suberosus. It grows freely in our yard and in the garden and even gets colonized by oleander aphids like other milkweed species do. Out in the Texas Hill Country, the pearl milkvine, Matelea reticulata, is more common and a delight to see when hiking in the limestone hills. Endemic to Texas and Mexico, you won’t find this species too far east of I-35, though the USDA Plants Database has one county in east Texas listed that the species is supposedly found–who knows!? iNaturalist only shows central and west Texas and…
-
Wildflowers at McKinney Falls State Park
Let’s return back to McKinney Falls State Park over Easter weekend and wrap-up our time there with some wildflowers (with a side of vines, trees, and shrubs—it was spring, things were blooming!). According to my post drafts, I have another post for Pedernales Falls State Park that I didn’t get around do. Looks like I’ll be sharing another post from there soon! Lupinus texensis, the Texas bluebonnet Callirhoe involucrata, winecup Gaura coccinea Possibly Bidens (aristosa?) Onosmodium bejariense, soft-hair marbleseed Nemophila phacelioides, Texas baby blue eyes Tradescantia ohiensis, ‘alba’ version Torilis arvensis, spreading hedge parsley, I think Amorpha fruticosa, false indigo bush Clematis texensis Achillea millefolium, yarrow Allium canadense Salvia farinacea,…
-
Propeller Iris | Wordless Wednesday
-
Spiranthes odorata | Wordless Wednesday
-
Fresh Air at Tandy Hills
Castilleja purpurea, purple paintbrush Wild onion flowers New trail Where the old trail was… On Good Friday we drove up to Ft. Worth for the Easter weekend. We got up early and made good time, stopping just twice to change and feed Forest. Always in a Tex-Mex mood when I hit the DFW area (because, seriously, Houston doesn’t compare to Tex-Mex in DFW) we went to Mexican Inn on East Lancaster in Ft. Worth, my parent’s old stomping grounds growing up. It was only a hop and skip across the road to Tandy Hills and I wanted to scope out the wildflowers. Unfortunately we were a few weeks early for…
-
Late Spring Wildflowers
Here in Texas most of the major wildflowers that are seen earlier in the spring, bluebonnnets and paintbrushes, have faded for the most part. In their place a plethora of other wildflower have taken over, such as these prickly poppies. Their white tops dot the landscape of many fields around the area and the flower is quickly becoming one of my favorite wildflowers. Over the weekend Chris and I went to Lake Somerville State Park in the Nails Creek Unit for a camping trip. You may remember that we went hiking on the Somerville Trailway there last November with our AT friend Red Hat. Chris and I didn’t hike 9…
-
Clematis crispa | Texas Native Plant Week
It wasn’t until we moved to Texas that I discovered the awesomeness of native clematis species. We encountered this species while working Big Thicket National Preserve two years ago and since then we’ve become enamoured with the plant, looking for them in nurseries we visit. Ours is growing well on a trellis in our garden having put on blooms multiple times this summer. The bottom photo is from a seed pod we found in the Big Thicket. In Texas the species is located in moist areas in the southeastern section of the state, while the similar appearing Clematis pitcherii is found in the central and western portion of the state…