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Texas Wildflowers: Distichlis spicata, salt grass
Ok, ok, this isn’t a wildflower, but a grass, however I really like this grass so I’m throwing it in for fun! Yes, we’re still on a run of salt marsh plants I learned in college and as for grasses, they are really difficult (in my opinion) to key out and since I actually know this one I’m going to share it. As its common name suggests, salt grass is tolerant of saline environments however it is known to grow in non-saline areas. It handles the wet soils well but can tolerate drier, sandier soils as well. In North America the habitat it can grow in is widespread, including the…
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The Royal Fern Bog
There’s a pretty unique area where we are working called the Royal Fern Bog. It is a cypress and tupelo swamp covered in lizard’s tail (the white flowers in the photos) and royal ferns, Osmunda regalis. I shot these several weeks ago and I’m really happy with the very first one. It will probably make it to the Wildscape site. Enjoy the bog!
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Argiope aurantia juvenile | Black and Yellow Argiope
I’m not looking forward to these spiders getting larger, they seem to get bigger by the day. We keep walking into their webs on an hourly basis, thankfully Chris is the web walker most days. Took me a bit to figure out which spider this was because it was a juvenile but I found a great resource here. I love spiders from a distance and always see very cool ones in the mud and even walking on the water and floating plants in the Thicket. Wish I had my camera for those shots but when you are waste deep in mud and water, and carrying equipment and such, it isn’t…
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One Year Ago | Harpers Ferry, WV
With Meghan and Jesse on the Potomac Bridge. I had pink hair. *kinda wish I could dye it again…then again, maybe not* Meghan’s Blueberry was just a glimmer in her eye. Oh, hot and sweaty…almost half way. So long ago, yet not. See who else is making it to the mental half way point this year.
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Watson Rare Native Plant Preserve | Part I
A few weekends ago, on our Sunday off, Chris and I went to the Watson Preserve. It’s about an hour from Beaumont and well worth the drive. In fact, it has such a diversity and beat the Sundew Trail at the Big Thicket that day for having more blooms and plants worth seeing. I’d love to meet Geraldine Watson sometime (you must watch the video that is the link!). If you are ever in the area I highly recommend stopping by this place and checking it out. I’m breaking the trip down into several posts as I took a zillion photos. The photos on this post are with three areas…
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And Summer has arrived.
Holy Moly it is hot! Heat paired with humidity and oof, it is going to be a long summer. In Florida I would’ve hibernated for much of the summer. I remember going a few weeks not mowing our backyard because I just didn’t feel like doing it. The grass would get tall and inch up between the container garden and then at the end of the summer we’d do a gigantic trim from the humongous growth that had occurred. Texas is similar in heat and humidity, though the humidity varies depending on the region. Since we’re working on the coast the heat might not be too high, 90s instead of…
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Silent Sunday | Clematis crispa seed pod
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Texas Wildflowers: Borrichia frutescens, sea ox-eye daisy
This is another plant I learned in my Coastal Plant Ecology course in college, Borrichia frutescens. Found in dunes and salt marsh areas this is a colorful favorite for those areas. This salt tolerant coastal native is a perennial and has a slight succulent feel if you pierce the leaf. This large colony was found at Texas Point NWR, but anywhere along the Texas coast you can find sea ox-eye daisy. I imagine that the yellow flowers are great wildlife attractors, particularly butterflies and the brown seed heads would make interesting inclusions to cut flower arrangements. If you’ve got a bright sunny spot in your garden and are looking for…
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In Progress | Hollyhock in Pastel
After more than a year and a half hiatus from drawing I’m trying my hand at it again. I’ve been toting around some art supplies every time we went to a project but it had been gnawing at me to do this for awhile. So, here it is. I go back and forth from thinking I’m doing ok to wanting to say it sucks. If I look across the room at it I think “oh, it looks good”, and then I look at it up close I think “who am I kidding?” So there it is. I’ve had the photo I am working from printed for maybe three years. Yep.…
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Florida Trail Tales 11: Blountstown to Nokuse Plantation
Preparing for our first 30 mile day, we got up well before dawn to start hiking in the dark. We’d informed the motel managers that we’d leave the key in the room since we were leaving so early. It was pitch black when we left the hotel, our headlamps on full blast. This was our first night hiking adventures since summiting Katahdin back in August. We followed S.R. 20 for a mile or so before trying to locate a bike path that went through the north end of Blountstown, through neighborhoods. The sky was starting to lighten as we made it to the edge of town and we finally extinguished…