A close look at some desert willow flowers
Click for better clarity.
As you saw last time, on August 30th I photographed a flowering desert willow tree, Chilopsis linearis, on the restored prairie at what used to be Austin’s Mueller Airport. Now this close look at a few of the tree’s many flowers lets you understand why people and institutions have increasingly planted the desert willow as an ornamental.
© 2013 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Pretty flower. Reminds me a bit of Catalpa which gets profuse with blooms. People don’t always care for them because of the seed pods that litter their yards with foot long “beans”.
Steve Gingold
October 2, 2013 at 6:13 AM
I think the reason this reminds you of catalpa is that they’re in the same botanical family. In fact I’ll be showing part of desert willow pod in the next installment of this miniseries.
Steve Schwartzman
October 2, 2013 at 7:05 AM
The Russians bred desert willow with catalpa and it is available in the trade. It’s called a Chitalpa (Chitalpa tashkentensis). It has very similar flowers to the desert willow, but has thicker leaves and thicker trunks. It’s not quite as brittle as the desert willow. I don’t think it’s quite as fragrant as the desert willow.
Kathryn
October 2, 2013 at 2:41 PM
Thanks for letting us know about this hybrid. Obviously Chilopsis and Catalpa are closely enough related to make crossing them possible, though the article at
http://ucanr.edu/sites/scmg/Plant_of_the_Month/Chitalpa_tashkentensis/
points out that the flowers of the hybrid are sterile, so no pods are produced.
Steve Schwartzman
October 2, 2013 at 3:34 PM
Yes, I can see why they like them. The flowers are delicate and nicely colored with the yellow and pink. Too bad we don’t get to see them up here. Too cold for them, I guess.
Jim in IA
October 2, 2013 at 7:18 AM
I think you’re right that the desert willow doesn’t grow as far north as Iowa because of the cold. Perhaps a trip to warmer climes one of these days will let you see one of these trees “in the flesh.”
Steve Schwartzman
October 2, 2013 at 7:38 AM
The space station passed over me again this morning. This time, it made Orion jump over it.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ItTwy78_ryDfZ8UpaZruR9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink
Jim in IA
October 2, 2013 at 8:01 AM
Awesome picture! Keep it up 🙂
stmdesignsworld
October 2, 2013 at 10:18 AM
That’s what I’ve been doing. It’s a lot of work, but I aim to please.
Steve Schwartzman
October 2, 2013 at 10:24 AM
Absolutely gorgeous, Steven.
Bruce Thiesen
October 2, 2013 at 10:22 AM
Yes, these are great flowers, and most likely they’ll become better known as more people plant desert willows.
Steve Schwartzman
October 2, 2013 at 10:28 AM
from this angle it almost resembles a petunia – I love the colour combo, nature does this so well.
Heyjude
October 2, 2013 at 10:36 AM
Agreed, the colors go well together, and the lines and crinkles add to the appeal.
Steve Schwartzman
October 2, 2013 at 10:40 AM
I’ve thought that they look a little like a cross between foxglove blooms and orchids, both flowers I find beautiful. Maybe I can find some little desert willow sprouts to nurture in the back mini-meadow…
kathryningrid
October 2, 2013 at 12:32 PM
I see the resemblance to foxglove, of which Austin has a native species (that I somehow haven’t yet managed to show in these pages).
I like the sound of your “mini-meadow,” which now suddenly reminds me of the first lines in Longfellow’s “The Song of Hiawatha”:
On the shores of Mini-Meadow,
Of the northern part of Texas,
Stood a sprig of Desert Willow…
Steve Schwartzman
October 2, 2013 at 1:50 PM
Ah, I see what you did there: you made a maxi-haha!
kathryningrid
October 2, 2013 at 2:11 PM
Touché.
Steve Schwartzman
October 2, 2013 at 3:17 PM
Just beautiful!
montucky
October 2, 2013 at 7:36 PM
Thanks, Terry. Perhaps you saw one of these trees when you lived in Arizona.
Steve Schwartzman
October 2, 2013 at 8:53 PM
The flowers are ever so beautiful. I lived in the area for almost a year and I don’t think I saw ever saw this which is a real pity.
Charlie@Seattle Trekker
October 2, 2013 at 11:35 PM
Ah, too bad. Maybe you’ll get to go back to an area where the desert willow grows and see one flowering.
Steve Schwartzman
October 3, 2013 at 7:21 AM
Now that you’ve provided this closer look, it’s easy to see the differences between this and oleander. Expectations certainly can cloud vision. (Now all I have to do is find a way to get that 1950s Hamm’s beer commercial out of my mind!)
shoreacres
October 5, 2013 at 10:26 PM
I’d say that commercial really hammed it up.
Steve Schwartzman
October 5, 2013 at 11:08 PM
This is gorgeous! I planted one of these in my front yard in California. It took a while to get going, but once it bloomed it was magnificent!
Lynda
October 7, 2013 at 7:46 PM
You’re the first person who’s commented on any of the four desert willow pictures who has seen the tree in person. Good for you.
Steve Schwartzman
October 7, 2013 at 10:30 PM