On our way home from Beaumont we stopped by the Pitcher Plant Trail in the Turkey Creek Unit of the Big Thicket. We showed up just after sunrise, Chris was a bit miffed we didn’t get there a few minutes prior, but I think it worked out anyway. We’d been to this trail before last November but the pitcher plants weren’t blooming or looking too swift. Now they were blooming and looking great!

It’s only about an hour from Beaumont so I’m sure we’ll end up there again during our next two months in Beaumont.

I tried the white background thing again but it wasn’t that great, however I got a few shots that were blog worthy. Then I slapped the red filter on for some black and white photography, something I hadn’t done in quite awhile. I think I’ll be hitting that up more in the coming weeks.

I’ll be working on updating photos to the Wildscape website in the coming weeks and include a select few from the pitcher plant trail. My favorites are the last diptych.

Pitcher plants, this particular species is Sarracenia alata, are carnivorous and will digest unassuming bugs that fly into the plant. More information on this species and others.

Great white egrets nesting

Itea virginica and white ginger flower
Bunny, something I don’t know, beaver dam, and green heron

Pond covered in small and giant salvinia, an invasive exotic

Banded water snake, Nerodia fasciata

The same day we went to the Beaumont Botanic Gardens we drove over to Shangri-La Botanic Gardens to see what they had in store. This was an affordable garden, $6 entry for a regular garden tour and then $10 for a garden tour and a boat tour down a bayou to a few of their education centers and maybe to see a beaver dam or two!

We opted for the $10 and arrived there when they opened so our boat tour was completely empty. The naturalist leading the tour and the pontoon driver were interested in what we were doing in Beaumont and then everything lead to the AT and FT of course! Since we already knew a lot of the ecology of the area she skipped the general tour information and we opted to go up the river to some beaver dams. No beavers in sight, but it was still cool to see. We came across a few dams in the Big Thicket and a coworker has been lucky enough to see one.

The gardens itself were pretty cool. They reopened after 50 years a few years ago. Apparently there was a big hurricane 50 years ago that damaged a lot of the garden and the owner decided to let the property just heal itself. Then the Stark Foundation opened it back up only to have Hurricane’s Rita and Ike come through again. Apparently the bayou used to have a lot of alligators but they disappeared after one of the hurricanes only to be found down at the junction of another bayou, dead. I was a bit disappointed to see they aren’t really doing much on the invasive species front as they have a lot of Chinese tallow and salvinia taking over some of their areas. I’m sure there is lygodium in there, too.

But, the gardens were beautiful and they also host a rookery that is very popular with birders.

I would definitely recommend going to this garden again and if we have the time when we head back to Beaumont in a week we might drop by again on one of our weekends off.

On our Sunday off a week ago in Beaumont we took a trip to a few botanic gardens. One of them is a free to the public garden, the Beaumont Botanic Garden. We arrived too early to see the conservatory but we did a tour of the garden. I think the rose garden was the most stunning but they did have some other beautiful parts in the garden. Several people were taking graduation photos.

We’re off for at least a week as we switch projects down in the Big Thicket but when we return we’ll drop by the conservatory and see what’s blooming in there.

I was drawn to this flower while photographing the white bluebonnets and was sad to read that they were not native wildflowers. These European natives are now used for roadside stabilization and as a forage crop for cattle but have taken over some areas and tend to shove natives out of the way.

Too bad it isn’t a native because it sure is pretty!

-FAO factsheet

Other wildflower series:
Indian paintbrush
Texas bluebonnets

The second in a series on wildflowers:

Texas bluebonnets are the ubiquitous sign that spring has sprung in Texas. Well, there area few other signs, but when you are driving down the highway and see the flowers blooming, you know it’s time to start digging in the dirt and pulling out the shorts—maybe!

The bluebonnet is one of five state flowers. That is, all five lupine species are considered the state flower! Texas bluebonnet story.

A few years ago I grew some in a container in Florida. They did pretty good for the climate and some day I’d love to grow them again.

Of course there are the beautiful fields of flowers that everyone sits in to get their photos taken….

But then you’ve gotta get down into the flowers and see what’s crawling on them like this little Misumenops celer spider!

Or maybe to see the hairy seed pods that the flower produces. The bluebonnet is part of the Fabaceae family, the bean family of plants.

Photo by Chris Little

And then on rare occasion you will find an alba variety of the bluebonnet like this lone one in a sea of violet-blue.

Prints of all photos on the wildflower series are available for purchase. Please send me an email at oceanicwilderness at gmail.com if you are interested

-Bluebonnet vitals
-The Real Story of the maroon bluebonnet: definitely one for Aggies!
-About White Bluebonnets

The first in a series on Texas wildflowers.

The commonly known Indian Paintbrush is almost as famous as it’s wildflower friend the Texas Bluebonnet. The bright red of the paintbrush is usually in a field alongside of its more popular friend. The red and blue are a symbol that spring has definitely arrived in Texas!

This native annual can be grown from seed in your own yard if you so wanted. The red of the plant is actually not the flower but bracts surrounding the smaller, less conspicuous flower.

In the field we photographed we found a magenta variety in the mix…
*later edit*: I actually think this might be Castilleja purpurea, prairie paintbrush.

and also a lighter, peach shade too. I’ll be on the look out for an alba variety as well!

*Above originally written before we found the alba variety*

We spotted these on Tx175 near Athens in a median. A few more were spotted further along the roadside.

Chris getting down and dirty for some good photos!

If you are interested in a print from the series, please contact me at oceanicwilderness at gmail.com

More information on the Texas paintbrush:
-Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
-Texas Natives
-Get your own!

After finding the flowering plant of spring coralroot orchid at Texoma a week ago Chris and I wanted to find more to get better photos. I asked the folks at Tandy Hills if they’d seen any there but they answered with a negative. My next step was to ask the Fort Worth Nature Center and I got a positive answer. We weren’t quite sure where we might find them other than near the river area and in shaded leaf litter so we set off for the Riverbottom trail.

We walked for twenty minutes or so and then Chris spotted some that already had seed pods. *drat*. We kept walking and found a larger colony and none in flower. We were too late. At least next year we will know where to look and what time of year to attempt it.

They are very unassuming and could easily be missed.

Would love to see these flowers through my reverse macro lens!

Prem sent me a Texas newspaper link regarding the blooming of Texas native orchids and why you should not pick the orchids. I think that in general folks in Florida are familiar with orchids and the legality of taking orchids (though some still get taken) but since Texas orchids are a little more subtle and not as well known it is good to get the word out—leave ‘em be!

Found this while taking the coralroot photos while laying in the leaf litter. Little wasp nest maybe? Anyone have an idea? TINY—tiny! I mean, maybe pinkie nail sized and taken with a reverse lens macro set up.