A last and majestic look at huisache for this year
Click for greater clarity and size.
A March 23rd e-mail from native plant lover Agnes Plutino tipped me off to a stand of huisache trees at the corner of Williamson County Rd. 151 and N.E. Inner Loop in Georgetown, some 20 miles north of Austin. Two days later I was there, and this photograph from that visit is a last tribute for 2013 to the majesty of an Acacia farnesiana when it’s covered with flowers. I wish you could see a full-size version of this on a large monitor. I also wish I could send you the scent.
© 2013 Steven Schwartzman
“Majestic” is a good word, I suspect. Ours are much smaller and shrubbier, but they’re finally in bloom. I stopped by a small stand last week, to see if I could catch the scent. It was light, but delightful – it seemed a little spicy to me. NIce, anyway.
shoreacres
April 7, 2013 at 7:18 AM
“Majestic” definitely fits some of the huisaches we have in central Texas, and you can imagine that with greater size comes greater scent. Our huisache flowers are fading now, but they’ve had a great run of over a month, so I’m happy. During that time and in various locations I took hundreds of pictures, only a few of which I’ve been able to show here. I’m glad your huisaches are finally doing their thing.
Steve Schwartzman
April 7, 2013 at 7:49 AM
Just booked our airline tickets for May! Hope our paths will once again cross, Bonnie
Bonnie Michelle
April 7, 2013 at 7:42 AM
Sure, let me know once you’re in town. Just two days ago I was at the Wildflower Center, which understandably had a lot more visitors in April than in December. In fact, the next morning I did a slide show and native plant walk at the Mueller Greenway, and two people in the audience who were visiting from Sweden said they’d seen me at the Wildflower Center the previous day.
Steve Schwartzman
April 7, 2013 at 7:54 AM
You are indeed a celebrity! Hopefully Daniel and I can meet up with you and your wife for dinner!
Bonnie Michelle
April 7, 2013 at 4:28 PM
We look forward to it.
Steve Schwartzman
April 7, 2013 at 7:17 PM
I wish I could teleport myself from this still-dreary landscape into that flowering world. What an inviting display!
Marcia Levy
April 7, 2013 at 8:24 AM
Good of you not to take umbrage at this majestic tree, given the hardships that the toppling of a large one has put you through. I don’t know about a teleport, but an airport is always a possibility; let’s hope next spring.
Steve Schwartzman
April 7, 2013 at 8:32 AM
What’s the scent like, is it describable?
Emily Heath
April 7, 2013 at 9:52 AM
I don’t know how to describe scents, but at
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/article/Huisache-s-fragrant-golden-yellow-blooms-a-spring-4393073.php#ixzz2Po6wkjI3
I found this: “Some liken the fragrance to a blend of violets and orange blossoms, therefore the common name sweet acacia.” You can read more about huisaches in that article.
Steve Schwartzman
April 7, 2013 at 2:26 PM
Sounds lovely.
Emily Heath
April 9, 2013 at 3:35 PM
I’ve liked and wanted one of these trees. So glad that you got a photo of the stand. Must smell realty good. Linda described it as spicy. Did not know that it would grow all the way to the coast.
petspeopleandlife
April 7, 2013 at 10:35 AM
They shouldn’t be hard to grow: in the wild I’ve seen them spread over a plot of land pretty quickly. My response to the previous comment tells what some people say the scent is like.
Steve Schwartzman
April 7, 2013 at 2:50 PM
Thank you.
petspeopleandlife
April 7, 2013 at 3:41 PM
A beautiful, impressionistic photo of a haze of gold.
Mary Mageau
April 8, 2013 at 11:06 PM
I’m glad to hear that you’re as enchanted with this richly blossoming tree as I was. By limiting the photograph to a rectangular portion of the tree I wanted to emphasize the patterns of the myriad flowers and the darker branches running diagonally through them.
Steve Schwartzman
April 8, 2013 at 11:12 PM
I would love to see this. And I’ve always wanted to visit Austin.
TBM
April 9, 2013 at 3:46 AM
Let’s hope you can visit in the spring, when nature is at its most appealing. Unfortunately the peak for huisaches comes before the peak for wildflowers, but maybe you’ll be able to stay for a couple of months.
Steve Schwartzman
April 9, 2013 at 6:04 AM