First spring wildflowers
I recently showed you some summer and autumn wildflowers that have carried through into what is so far a winter without a winter here, and I’ll show you at least a couple more in the days ahead. Still, I thought it would be timely to interrupt with something I found two days ago on Dessau Rd. near E. Howard Lane in far northeast Austin, around the corner from the possumhaw in the second picture in yesterday’s post: a bunch of ten-petal anemones (Anemone decapetala) that were already beginning to flower, including the one in the photograph above. Anemones are among the earliest wildflowers of the new year in central Texas, but January 18th was early even for anemones. Happy “spring.”
© 2016 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Beautiful
v4vikey
January 20, 2016 at 5:30 AM
Another name for anemone is windflower but it wasn’t windy when I took this picture.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 6:29 AM
It’s beautiful, as is the photo. Too early to hope for spring here, sigh.
BuntyMcC
January 20, 2016 at 5:59 AM
That’s why I wrote “spring” with quotation marks. It’s 48°F here and cloudy now, not what would pass for a spring morning in Texas.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 6:31 AM
Welcome to the early bloomer. A beautiful sight.
Gallivanta
January 20, 2016 at 6:31 AM
Early and also small: this flower was probably 2cm tall.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 6:34 AM
‘Spring’ brought an inch of fresh snow last night to cover the dirty grey icy crust lingering from before. It looks better now. The flowers will be waiting for a long time yet.
Jim Ruebush
January 20, 2016 at 7:46 AM
The new covering should put a spring in your step when you go out walking.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 7:51 AM
Truly, gorgeous!
Nandini
January 20, 2016 at 8:03 AM
The backlighting helps.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 8:13 AM
Yeah, that’s what I noticed!
Nandini
January 20, 2016 at 8:13 AM
You can make out a bit of the internal parts as discerned through their shadows.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 11:26 AM
So sweet a greeting this snowy morning.
melissabluefineart
January 20, 2016 at 9:46 AM
We have white here too, but it’s from the thick cloud cover this morning.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 11:23 AM
I had to laugh this morning~I woke to the sound of snowblowers (I’d prefer thunder). I sat there wondering how bad it was and finally steeled myself for a peek~it was the merest dusting! Somebody was certainly over-reacting.
melissabluefineart
January 20, 2016 at 11:26 AM
You expect an overreaction in the South on those rare occasions when we get a bit of snow, but it seems out of keeping with the wintry tradition of northern Illinois.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 11:28 AM
It sure does 🙂
melissabluefineart
January 20, 2016 at 4:25 PM
So beautiful…
Heyjude
January 20, 2016 at 2:37 PM
It was good that we had blue skies that day. Today is cool and overcast, so I couldn’t have taken a backlit picture like this one.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 3:05 PM
I would say that it would make a fabulous glass wall light, sort of Lalique x Tiffany, but I have said that before. So I shall shut up.
Heyjude
January 20, 2016 at 3:27 PM
No need to shut up, Jude: just make it Lalique x Tiffany x Schwartzman.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 4:19 PM
Of course 😀
Heyjude
January 20, 2016 at 5:40 PM
Bellísima flor. Excelente macro.
Gracias Steve.
Isabel F. Bernaldo de Quirós
January 20, 2016 at 3:31 PM
¿Tenéis anémones en España?
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 4:48 PM
I’ve been trying to up my game and get in at least 12,000 steps each day so I’ve taken to walking about town to see what is looking good. We have winter bloomers like hellebores, camellias, and Sarcococca that are all in bloom, but today I also saw my first real spring bloom, about two months early for us.
Charlie@seattletrekker.com
January 20, 2016 at 5:32 PM
Over here, and maybe where you are, some of the earliest plants to bloom each year are aliens that must think it’s April or May back in the old country.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 6:59 PM
My first thought was “rain lily,” because of that smooth, elegant rise from stalk to bud. The shape is so appealing: and the color, too. But an anemone will do just fine — I love the word itself — and I’ve put it on my list of things to look for.
Is it truly decapetala, or is that a combination of sepals and petals, as a couple of sources suggested?
shoreacres
January 20, 2016 at 7:35 PM
I looked in Shinners and Mahler’s Flora of North Central Texas and found that all the segments are sepals described as petal-like.
If I ever found a rain-lily flowering in January I’d be thrilled, but I’m pretty sure I’ll never see such a thing. I’d say it’s always been well into spring before I’ve seen any.
Steve Schwartzman
January 20, 2016 at 9:16 PM
We do get some pretty early blooms while there still remains snow on the ground but not this early and we barely have any snow yet. The storm this weekend appears to be missing us although we may see some light stuff. Could be a couple of feet in the mid-Atlantic.
This is a lovely portrait and with such nice warmth.
Steve Gingold
January 21, 2016 at 2:25 AM
Approaching the end of January and barely any snow yet in Massachusetts: how things change. The forecast here calls for 32° during the overnight into Saturday, so maybe I’ll get another shot at some frostweed ice. Even if you don’t get much snow, you might have a chance to photograph some ice patterns.
Steve Schwartzman
January 21, 2016 at 7:28 AM
Thanks for providing a vicarious spring thrill, Steve!
composerinthegarden
January 21, 2016 at 7:56 AM
Just call me the Vicar of Austin, Lynn. I still haven’t finished showing the holdover autumn wildflowers we’re seeing here.
Steve Schwartzman
January 21, 2016 at 8:02 AM
Love this .. We are right in the middle of a hot summer!
Julie@frogpondfarm
January 21, 2016 at 4:31 PM
I heard the same thing about a hot summer from someone in Australia yesterday. An article in the newspaper over here in the United States today says that 2015 turned out to be the warmest year since records have been kept.
Steve Schwartzman
January 21, 2016 at 4:52 PM
That doesn’t surprise me …
Julie@frogpondfarm
January 21, 2016 at 6:28 PM
I’m just starting to catch up on your blog now, Steve. I’ve missed the regular dose of exquisite and interesting images. This one has so many of the features I enjoy about your photography. You bring out all the beautiful details of flowers with your composition and use of light. This one appeals to my romantic side. Forgive me if I take some time to catch up. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by work at present and don’t have as much time for reading blogs as I used to. I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and 2016 brings you many special memories. Perhaps one day we will see some pictures from another trip to Australia? 🙂
Jane
January 23, 2016 at 12:19 AM
Amazingly, sometimes life takes precedence over blogs. There’s no obligation to look at everything that has transpired in the last couple of months, Jane, but I appreciate your interest, as always, and your insights. The flower picture in this post is meant to appeal to the romantic side, as it did to yours.
I’d be only to happy to visit Australia again if a trip becomes feasible. The last time I was there (and the only time) was for a wedding, and I didn’t gt to go around in nature the way I would have liked to. On a return trip I’d have much better camera equipment.
Steve Schwartzman
January 23, 2016 at 9:02 PM
What a great macro image!
Truels
January 27, 2016 at 5:21 AM
Thanks. The lighting certainly helped.
Steve Schwartzman
January 27, 2016 at 6:42 AM
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