Almost a monoculture
Some Texas wildflowers grow so densely as to form a virtual monoculture. That was the case with these firewheels (also called Indian blankets), Gaillardia pulchella, on the Blackland Prairie in Pflugerville on May 6th.
© 2020 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
I suppose because of the large population of Native American people here, these lovely plants are known as Indian Blanket, and I believe these are a favorite of folks around here. Generally, we don’t see such a dense area of them (lack of wild prairie), but mostly along roadsides. They are in full bloom right now. How fortunate you are to have captured them in such a large colony!
Littlesundog
May 16, 2020 at 6:49 AM
In some years I’ve come across the drying seed heads of a large basket flower colony and wish I’d come across the site a couple of months earlier when the colony was densely flowering. In this case I caught it at that most colorful stage.
Gaillardia pulchella and Gaillardia pinnatifida are widely dispersed across New Mexico and Arizona. I’m guessing the common name “Indian blanket” arose based on blankets made by tribes in that southwestern region.
In central Texas we also have nice displays of firewheels along roadsides. Once in a while I’m fortunate to have access to land where they grow more broadly, like this prairie property in Pflugerville.
Steve Schwartzman
May 16, 2020 at 7:15 AM
Indian Blankets, this is indeed a fitting name for this wildflower, as your photo clearly indicates, Steve.
Peter Klopp
May 16, 2020 at 7:52 AM
Someday I’d like to have a blanket that looks like one of these flowers.
Steve Schwartzman
May 16, 2020 at 11:28 AM
I’d like to have a blanket that looks like ALL of these flowers!
krikitarts
May 16, 2020 at 3:56 PM
That’d work too. There are companies like Fine Art America that will enlarge a photograph onto a shower curtain but I’m not aware of any that will transfer a photograph onto a blanket.
Steve Schwartzman
May 16, 2020 at 4:05 PM
Search for ‘photo blanket.’ Some of them are quite nice.
shoreacres
May 16, 2020 at 8:22 PM
Thanks. Shows how much I didn’t know. I found that even Costco, of which we’re members, does photo blankets.
Steve Schwartzman
May 16, 2020 at 8:50 PM
They certainly blanket the land in a most attractive way.
Gallivanta
May 16, 2020 at 8:30 AM
Well said!
Steve Schwartzman
May 16, 2020 at 11:29 AM
Oh wow, that’s pretty!
circadianreflections
May 16, 2020 at 10:37 AM
This is one of the best known wildflowers in Texas. I see that a couple of Gaillardia species make it into southern Nevada:
http://bonap.net/Napa/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Gaillardia
Steve Schwartzman
May 16, 2020 at 11:32 AM
That’s a long drive from my part of NV. 😀🌺
circadianreflections
May 16, 2020 at 2:59 PM
Yes, Nevada’s big. I didn’t know what part of the state you’re in.
Steve Schwartzman
May 16, 2020 at 3:13 PM
And surely Seurat.
Michael Scandling
May 16, 2020 at 10:54 AM
Surely Seurat = S.S. = Steve Schwartzman
Steve Schwartzman
May 16, 2020 at 11:33 AM
You said it!
Michael Scandling
May 16, 2020 at 11:49 AM
Now that you mention it, I did. Even if you hadn’t mentioned it, I did.
Steve Schwartzman
May 16, 2020 at 2:06 PM
You did.
Michael Scandling
May 16, 2020 at 3:35 PM
There’s just ‘something’ about a colony like this. I found a wonderful swath of G. amblyodon atop the Willow City loop last year, and a huge spread of something yellow. My Kerrville friend was with me, and we just sat there and looked and looked. It’s nice to be able to look at these this year.
shoreacres
May 16, 2020 at 8:35 PM
“Something” indeed. Hooray for Texas in the spring, and happy Gaillardia to you. I hope you find an equally good colony over by the coast before the summer hits.
Steve Schwartzman
May 16, 2020 at 8:56 PM
Beautiful blanket!!
norasphotos4u
May 16, 2020 at 8:38 PM
This is one of the best known wildflowers in Texas.
Steve Schwartzman
May 16, 2020 at 8:56 PM
Ah yes, but the difference between this and a true monoculture, is that I’m guessing when these blooms have finished, they will make way for something else.
eremophila
May 17, 2020 at 3:36 AM
Right you are. I’ve heard plant people refer to it as time sharing. In fact one succession had already taken place in the location shown here. If you look closely at the second picture, you’ll see a few dark vertical stalks among the firewheels. Those dark stalks are the dry remains of Indian paintbrushes that had flourished there a month or two earlier. Here’s a picture from another time and place showing the two together:
https://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/indian-paintbrushes-and-friends/
Steve Schwartzman
May 17, 2020 at 7:26 AM
I like that idea of timesharing!
Thanks for the link, gorgeous.
eremophila
May 18, 2020 at 4:36 AM
A few times recently here a television ad has run for a company that claims to be able to get people out of timeshare agreements. I wouldn’t want to get out of nature’s timesharing, which offers me variety at no cost.
Steve Schwartzman
May 18, 2020 at 6:33 AM
Fantastic! We rarely get a carpet of wild flowers like this in the UK. Poppies and bluebells sometimes, but they’re not common.
Ann Mackay
May 17, 2020 at 5:35 AM
I’ve seen pictures from the UK showing a carpet pf bluebells. I didn’t know that that’s not common there. In contrast, you’ve seen that a dense expanse of wildflowers is a familiar sight in Texas.
Steve Schwartzman
May 17, 2020 at 7:29 AM
Our countryside is so intensively farmed that areas of wildflowers are something special that needs to be protected. (Some areas are.)
Ann Mackay
May 17, 2020 at 5:27 PM
Agreed. We have the same problem here. Almost all the Blackland Prairie was lost first to farming and ranching, and now to development.
Steve Schwartzman
May 17, 2020 at 7:03 PM
Sigh. I’d love to find a meadow blanketed with Indian Blankets.
Steve Gingold
May 18, 2020 at 2:54 PM
You know where to find them—after a long drive.
Steve Schwartzman
May 18, 2020 at 4:31 PM
I’ll gas up the Forester and head on down…I wish.
Steve Gingold
May 18, 2020 at 4:57 PM
Then we can mate your Forester with our Outback.
Steve Schwartzman
May 18, 2020 at 5:01 PM
My sort of blanket! 🙂
Julie@frogpondfarm
May 22, 2020 at 1:39 AM
I covered it in this post, rather than it covering me.
Steve Schwartzman
May 22, 2020 at 6:33 AM
I’m so grateful for your eye and that you share your photos and writings. I miss Texas in spring most of all, and while I’m happy here in New Zealand, your portraits of wildflowers bring me much contentment. I’ve spent the last 2 hours looking at 3 months’ worth of springtime in Texas. Aaaaaah!
Jenny Meadows
July 8, 2020 at 12:15 AM
Hi, Jenny. Via these pages you’re a vicarious walker through the wildflowers of Texas. It’s understandable how you’d miss a real walk-through. Your “Aaaaaah!” says it all. While we’re past the spring now, I’m still finding plenty of wildflowers to photograph, as forthcoming posts will confirm.
Steve Schwartzman
July 8, 2020 at 7:38 AM