Blackfoot daisies
Click for greater clarity.
Blackfoot daisies, Melampodium leucanthum, often appear in clusters, as you see in this photo taken on the property of native-plant-ophiles Dale and Pat Bulla in northwest Austin exactly one year ago today.
© 2013 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Die sind ganz wundervoll!!
einfachtilda
March 5, 2013 at 6:40 AM
I’m glad that you find them wonderful.
Steve Schwartzman
March 5, 2013 at 7:08 AM
Sweetly perky–almost ushering in Spring.
lensandpensbysally
March 5, 2013 at 7:29 AM
The weather here for the past few weeks would pass for spring in most places, but it’s been unusually breezy on many days, as it is this morning. That sometimes has led me to use higher shutter speeds with blowing subjects to stop the movement, but not in this picture from last year, when all was still.
And now I get to ask a favorite metaphysical question: if a singer sings and a writer writes, does an usher ush?
Steve Schwartzman
March 5, 2013 at 7:45 AM
I never think of daisies as having such wide petals. These remind me more of a single petaled zinnia in form. (Although, white zinnias never look this clean and crisp!) The daisy’s pure white and notching at the outer petal edges make them very lovely!
Lynda
March 5, 2013 at 9:41 AM
Yes, the white rays are wider than we think of a “typical” daisy as having, but the sunflower family is so vast (it includes zinnias) that there are lots of variations. Some other species of daisies in Texas have not just one notch at the tips of their rays but two or three. In any case, the blackfoot daisy is a common species here, so we’re fortunate to be able to see at least some of them flowering for much of the year.
Steve Schwartzman
March 5, 2013 at 10:12 AM
You always surprise me! I had no idea they were related.
Lynda
March 9, 2013 at 9:44 AM
You can get an overview of the vast family in this article.
Steve Schwartzman
March 9, 2013 at 11:30 AM
What a Great Way to Brighten a Tuesday – Thanks:)
cravesadventure
March 5, 2013 at 10:53 AM
I love this plant. In the hot sun they smell strongly of honey — you can smell them feet away. It’s hard to grow them in my area of Dallas in that heavy black clay I’m cursed with in my yard. I keep amending and trying, though, just to have that wonderful honey aroma.
gardengirl59
March 5, 2013 at 12:22 PM
I’m no gardener, but maybe you can buy some soil that’s not clayey and use it in a good-size flowerpot to have at least one blackfoot daisy plant.
I haven’t noticed the honey smell when there’s hot sun but I’ll pay attention in the months ahead.
Steve Schwartzman
March 5, 2013 at 1:30 PM
“What a Great Way to Brighten a Tuesday.” — I’d say that’s a capital way to brighten our Tuesday.
Steve Schwartzman
March 5, 2013 at 1:25 PM
A lovely picture!
bentehaarstad
March 5, 2013 at 12:34 PM
Thanks, Bente. I planned to post this photograph a year ago but kept postponing it. Better late than never.
Steve Schwartzman
March 5, 2013 at 1:50 PM
Such sweet fresh faces – just the image I needed to remember that spring is almost here. Thanks, Steve!
composerinthegarden
March 5, 2013 at 6:54 PM
You have a good imagination to see them as faces.
Steve Schwartzman
March 5, 2013 at 10:33 PM
Oh, I always see faces in daisies and other composite flowers – their eyes follow me in the garden 🙂
composerinthegarden
March 6, 2013 at 7:44 AM
It’s good that they can face up to you and tell their floral truths.
Steve Schwartzman
March 6, 2013 at 9:11 AM
Great line, I’ll remember that 🙂
composerinthegarden
March 6, 2013 at 10:14 AM
These are beautiful. It took me a while to realize what was special about them was their perfection – they aren’t nibbled or frayed or showing any signs of disease or insect infestation. Living on the land of native-plant-ophiles must be a good deal!
shoreacres
March 8, 2013 at 10:32 PM
You’re probably right about the extra care the plants get there. Only this morning I was working on a post for a couple of weeks from now that will show a nibbled flower for a change. I’ve got to give the bedraggled its moment in the sun every now and then. In the meantime, here’s to pristineness.
Steve Schwartzman
March 8, 2013 at 11:16 PM