Prairie verbena flowers in winter
Glandularia bipinnatifida; January 6, 2021; far north Austin.
© 2021 Steven Schwartzman
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Someone caught a nice focused ray of light on some dewy goodness.
Steve Gingold
January 22, 2021 at 4:13 AM
This time the ray radiated from a flash. The dew was natural.
Steve Schwartzman
January 22, 2021 at 6:00 AM
Thought it was your ring flash in action. Prairie verbena seem to hold on no matter how low the mowers set their blades, no matter the season. Another inspiration from the master of wildflower portraits.
RobertKamper
January 22, 2021 at 7:34 AM
You seem to be right about prairie verbena holding on no matter how low the mowers set their blades: this specimen and a few others nearby were indeed growing in an area that gets regular mowing and looked like it had been mowed not long before my visit. What’s worse is that most of the site, which for years provided me with nature photographs, has now been built on and only a small part of the property still has plants growing wild on it.
Steve Schwartzman
January 22, 2021 at 7:47 AM
When I am able to find the time, I have some shots of the strip along Old Chisholm Trail Road in Round Rock that I will be posting somewhere (blog, facebook, NPSOT?) where Callirhoe involucrata var. lineariloba and Clematis drummondii have bloomed reliably in front of a 19.5 acre plat of land that had a for sale sign until 2020. I was there in September and got some shots of the Texas lantana and other wildflowers (and some invasives) individually and against the backdrop of the bulldozers clearing the land. Time’s a’wasting (just North of CR 3405?6?/Old Settlers Blvd., Rudy’s Cracker Barrel, etc.). I should be out there before the Winecups disappear – they were in evidence Jan 2020.
RobertKamper
January 22, 2021 at 8:07 AM
Ah, winecups in January. That’s earlier than I’ve ever seen personally, but pictures of prodigies of various species have been appearing in Facebook’s Texas Wildflowers group for the past month. Whenever I want to photograph the lineariloba variety I know to head up to Williamson County, where it’s quite common.
Steve Schwartzman
January 22, 2021 at 8:35 AM
That’s a timely reminder from a relatively common flower that I need to begin searching for a somewhat visually similar but rare flower: Phlox nivalis ssp. texensis. It can be found at the Sandyland Sanctuary, along with Winkler’s White Gaillardia and the Scarlet Catchfly, but the last two years I’ve been too late to find it.
shoreacres
January 22, 2021 at 8:05 AM
There’s that Latin “snow” word again, even if the phlox flowers in your link are purple, which is what you noticed they have in common with prairie verbena. I expect this spring you’ll get an early start hunting for that elusive phlox.
Steve Schwartzman
January 22, 2021 at 8:27 AM
To find wildflowers in the dead of winter must have given you a thrill, Steve. The best I can hope for is to find some green grass on the golf course.
Peter Klopp
January 22, 2021 at 8:06 AM
From the pictures I’ve seen in Facebook’s Texas Wildflowers group for the past month, native species are flowering more this winter than any in the two decades I’ve been aware of such things. I haven’t found as many wildflowers in the past few weeks as some of the people who’ve posted in that group, but I have found some, and if we don’t get another freeze I expect to see more in the next few weeks.
Steve Schwartzman
January 22, 2021 at 8:41 AM
How enchanting to find this prairie verbena in winter. Lovely photo, Steve.
Jet Eliot
January 22, 2021 at 8:29 AM
Enchanting is a good word for it. Happy winter enchantment to us all.
Steve Schwartzman
January 22, 2021 at 8:42 AM
That is a beautiful specimen, Steve.
Lavinia Ross
January 22, 2021 at 11:51 AM
As nice as it is, it’s not unusual here. This is one of our most common native wildflowers and it puts in an appearance for most of the year, even if only in small numbers now.
Steve Schwartzman
January 22, 2021 at 3:49 PM
Beautiful – I’m glad it survived the evil mower!
Ann Mackay
January 22, 2021 at 12:38 PM
Me too, naturally. I’ve seen so much wildflower depredation due to moving.
Steve Schwartzman
January 22, 2021 at 3:49 PM
Our daughter Batty used to live on Verbena Road, just around the corner from our place, and it’s good to see your image of one. It’s much prettier than that road.
krikitarts
January 28, 2021 at 1:50 AM
At least we’ll give credit to the town for naming a road after a wildflower, and one that has native representatives.
Steve Schwartzman
January 28, 2021 at 3:49 AM