Did I tell you that basket-flowers can form large colonies?
Click for greater size and detail.
The title is a rhetorical question. I know I didn’t tell you. But they can.
Note the various stages of the basket-flowers, Centaurea americana, in this colony: some still opening, some at their peak, some already fading and turning brown. The smaller pink daubs in the background are Texas thistles, which had a colony of their own abutting the colony of basket-flowers.
Date: May 18. Location: southeastern Round Rock, less than a quarter of a mile east of where I took the last two pictures. Because this colony was new to me and was larger than the other one had been even in its heyday, I considered it a great find. Both are adjacent to what is now a frontage road of the TX 45 tollway, so eventually the properties will be built on, but I’ll keep photographing these sites in their undeveloped state for as long as they last.
For those of you who are interested in photography as a craft, points 6 and 15 in About My Techniques are relevant to this photograph.
© 2012 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Magnificent shot! Beautiful! =)
ishooteditnblog
June 1, 2012 at 5:37 AM
With a colony like that, it would be hard not to get a good picture.
Steve Schwartzman
June 1, 2012 at 6:08 AM
You just reminded me of a blog post I meant to write – born of an experience that proves it may be hard not to get a good picture, but not impossible.
This one’s lovely. I especially like the thistles in the background. Like the poor dandelion, they have a bad reputation in some circles, but they’re so attractive. I be as dazzled by the whole field as by the single specimen. 😉
shoreacres
June 1, 2012 at 6:36 AM
You’re right that even with a great photo subject things can go wrong. I’ll look forward to your eventual post to see what happened in your case.
As you know from recent posts here, I’m fond of the Texas thistle, maligned though thistles of all kinds tend to be. The Texas thistles in Austin are mostly past their prime, which means thistle down is plentiful these days, but some fresh flowers are still coming out as well.
I like your separation of bedazzled into be… and dazzled.
Steve Schwartzman
June 1, 2012 at 6:55 AM