New headware for Mexican hats
Last year provided me with more, and more different, portraits of Mexican hats (Ratibida columnifera) than ever before. Just 10 days into 2021 I had the chance for yet another new take, this time of dormant plants forming arcs beneath the weight of wet snow, as shown above. The second picture give a broader view of the landscape as it looked in the northeast quadrant of Mopac and US 183 that afternoon. Because of the snow covering I couldn’t always tell which plants were which, but the distinctive seed head remains of Mexican hats made identification easy in this case. You see them in these pictures as elongated dark dots.
© 2021 Steven Schwartzman
Hats in snow. That should make for good germination in the spring! Well, at least we can hope for that. I really enjoy that first image with the bowing stems.
Littlesundog
January 15, 2021 at 6:27 PM
I saw lots of arcs formed by various kinds of native plants that the snow pressed down. I could hardly get enough of them. As for Mexican hats in Austin, they do well pretty much every year, so they must be well adapted to our conditions.
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2021 at 7:36 PM
That was quite a frosting of snow you got down there. Do you still have snow on the ground or has it melted?
Lavinia Ross
January 15, 2021 at 7:26 PM
No, the snow mostly disappeared by the end of the next day. Often the bits of snow we get every few years don’t even last that long.
Steve Schwartzman
January 15, 2021 at 8:00 PM
Wow! So much snow so far south and so little in our valley! I wonder if mother Nature is confused.
Peter Klopp
January 16, 2021 at 9:06 AM
Actually we got no more than 2–3 inches of snow. Perhaps the fact that I keep showing pictures of it makes it seem like more than it was. I don’t know about Mother Nature, but I certainly wasn’t confused about my eagerness to spend as much time as possible taking pictures of the snow and ice.
Steve Schwartzman
January 16, 2021 at 9:14 AM
Good for you, Steve. I would have done the same. In the meantime, I am taking pictures of the juniper berries and the Oregon grapes without the snow.
Peter Klopp
January 16, 2021 at 4:54 PM
A lack of snow here is normal, and that’s what we soon went back to. I’d have thought you’d have snow up there.
Steve Schwartzman
January 16, 2021 at 9:13 PM
A little bit is falling as I write this comment. More sunshine is in the forecast.
Peter Klopp
January 17, 2021 at 9:32 AM
Then enjoy your little bit of snow while you can.
Steve Schwartzman
January 17, 2021 at 12:57 PM
Love the patterns and lines in this composition beautiful! Smiles hedy ☺️
sloppy buddhist
January 16, 2021 at 2:56 PM
Plants curved beneath snow are a rarity here, so I could hardly get enough of them.
Steve Schwartzman
January 16, 2021 at 9:11 PM
Look at that! It’s a whole field of snowbreros! La nieve es buena — at least for the photographer.
shoreacres
January 16, 2021 at 10:26 PM
What a good hybrid word you’ve invented for the occasion, snowbrero. Snow sure was good for this photographer, no cabe duda.
Steve Schwartzman
January 16, 2021 at 10:33 PM
Gorgeous, Steve!
bluebrightly
January 29, 2021 at 12:47 PM
This kind of scene may well remind you of your New York days.
Steve Schwartzman
January 29, 2021 at 9:32 PM