In case you didn’t get enough yellow
In case you didn’t get enough yellow from that lone Maximilian sunflower last time, here’s a paloverde tree (Parkinsonia aculeata) that was flowering away along Loop 360 within sight of the sunflower bud on May 5.
© 2016 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Interesting that there is so much yellow to be seen on a tree with the name paloverde.
Gallivanta
May 29, 2016 at 5:33 AM
I’ve got an explanation. The meanings of the Spanish word palo include ‘stick’ and ‘branch’:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/a-catkin-fallen-onto-a-paloverde-thorn/
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2016 at 6:25 AM
Yellow and blue make a nice combination, as we have discussed in the past. In this case, having the frame filled with a majority of branches makes a nice composition.
Steve Gingold
May 29, 2016 at 6:44 AM
It’s me in my maximalist phase. In a recent slide show that I put on, I followed a section of “Less is more” pictures with one called “More is more.” This photograph would have been at home in that second section.
And yes, we’re both fond of yellow and blue together. Atypically, I haven’t had a lot of chances for that lately because of predominantly overcast skies and more than the average amount of rain.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2016 at 6:55 AM
I have been reading about the rain in Texas, but assume that you are not in the same danger zone as most of the areas I’ve seen in the news.
I captured a bit of late spring yellow yesterday which will show up soon, but unfortunately no blue to accompany.
Steve Gingold
May 29, 2016 at 7:07 AM
Bastrop, mentioned several times in the news story at
https://weather.com/storms/tornado/news/plains-deadly-severe-weather-outbreak-flooding-tornado
is only about 30 miles east of downtown Austin. Where we live in northwest Austin, there’s been rain but no downpours and no damage I’m aware of.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2016 at 7:18 AM
Glad that you are being spared. I assume you are on higher ground. Stay safe.
Steve Gingold
May 29, 2016 at 7:23 AM
I hope we’ll stay safe. We’re planning to drive up into the Midwest beginning on Thursday, and I’m seeing some warnings of tornadoes up there. Fortunately the Midwest is a big region, and the chance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time is tiny.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2016 at 7:29 AM
I hope you have a great trip. Of course the odds are in your favor as you say, but if they are somewhere, I hope it’s not where you are.
Steve Gingold
May 29, 2016 at 7:41 AM
Thanks. We have no desire to follow Dorothy’s route to the land of Oz.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2016 at 7:55 AM
It’s been interesting this year to watch the huisache along highway 146 fade and give way to paloverde. Both have been thick this year, and the paloverde still is hanging on. It is beautiful against a blue sky.
This is the first year I remember seeing so many examples of one species supplanting another. I happened to be in Galveston on Friday, and was astonished to see the cemetery still filled with flowers. When i stopped to look, I was even more surprised. The coreopsis are almost gone, but the gaillardia have moved in. If there’s even a hint that the clouds are going to move out today, I’ll move in, too, and see if I can get some nice images of the cemetery in its changed clothes.
shoreacres
May 29, 2016 at 7:12 AM
I like your metaphor of changed clothes. I’ve heard native plant people refer to the seasonal succession of wildflowers on the same plot of ground as time-share, borrowing from a phenomenon much newer than wearing clothing.
I do hope you make it back to the Galveston cemetery today to document the floral change-over. You’d have the beginnings of a through-the-seasons series.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2016 at 7:26 AM
Good morning, Steve,
I like this flowering tree a lot. We did get some yellow here, too, lately [http://tinyurl.com/z8yx53x].
Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend,
Pit
Pit
May 29, 2016 at 9:28 AM
These trees are favorites of mine when they’re fully flowering, as this one was. I expect you’ve seen a few out by Fredericksburg, too.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2016 at 9:38 AM
Well, actually I haven’t. But then I’m usually not looking enough for nature’s beauty. 😦
Pit
May 29, 2016 at 12:43 PM
Now that you’re tuned in, perhaps you’ll see one before the flowering time comes to an end.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2016 at 1:56 PM
Maybe I will. I’ll certianly try.
Pit
May 29, 2016 at 2:33 PM
I’ve never seen one of these trees. Beautiful photo, Steve!
Lavinia Ross
May 29, 2016 at 11:19 AM
This is a warm-climate tree, and that’s why it grows in the southwest of the United States but not further north. When we visited Arizona a couple of years ago we additionally found a different species there that’s also called paloverde.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2016 at 1:52 PM
I have been to Palo Verde in Costa Rica and know the tree well. I didn’t know it was grown over there!!
eduardolibby
May 29, 2016 at 11:40 AM
The southwestern United States marks one extreme of the range of this species, which also grows as far south as northern South America. That’s why you’ve seen it in Costa Rica. You can find more information at
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PAAC3
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2016 at 1:55 PM
Thanks! Our Palo Verde National Park is named after the tree, but I didn’t know its range was so wide.
eduardolibby
May 29, 2016 at 5:08 PM
I lived in Honduras in 1968 and 1969, so I might have seen paloverde trees there, but way back then I didn’t know anything about native plants.
Steve Schwartzman
May 29, 2016 at 6:22 PM