Pink evening primrose colony flowering along Interstate 35
We drove close to 300 miles yesterday, making a big southern loop that took us southeast of San Antonio. On the last leg of the trip, coming north on Interstate 35 through Buda, I pulled over for a great colony of pink evening primroses (Oenothera speciosa) on the edge and up the embankment of the highway. I took a bunch of pictures, this one being the very last.
© 2021 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
Oh thank you Steve! I love pink evening primroses but have never seen a whole lot blooming at once. These are simply glorious and I’d love to be there in person to see for myself this magic carpet!
Ms. Liz
April 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM
You’re welcome. Pink evening primroses are among the best known wildflowers here. One the pandemic has subsided, you’ll have to come over and see a colony of them for yourself.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 6:00 AM
I’d love to!
Ms. Liz
April 3, 2021 at 2:33 PM
From what I hear, they even speak English in Texas, so you won’t have to learn a foreign language.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 3:51 PM
Howdy Steve. From online advice I read just now: “Let the metaphors fly. Texan is nuttin’ if not colorful, so go to town, make stuff up, invent words if you must. Alliterate, elaborate, and incorporate.” Some day 🙂
Ms. Liz
April 3, 2021 at 4:25 PM
When these started to appear, they seemed to have a lot of pent-up energy. Some of the prettiest, albeit smaller, patches that I’ve seen have been around local construction sites and vacant lots. They seem willing to set up shop just about anywhere, and they certainly beautify any area where they bloom. Finding access to such a large colony must have been quite a treat.
shoreacres
April 3, 2021 at 7:38 AM
It was. Traveling north from northern San Antonio, we’d seen a few attractive groups along the Interstate 35 northbound access road, with no way to access them short of getting off at the next exit, driving back to the first exit south of them, then coming north on the access road. As soon as I saw this group on the embankment I pulled over as fast as I could. From your account and another I read online, there’s hope for more pink evening primrose colony encounters.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 7:54 AM
Ah, what a pretty sight!
circadianreflections
April 3, 2021 at 8:01 AM
I pulled over as soon as I saw it. These can form even larger colonies than the one shown here.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 8:17 AM
It is quite often that for some reason the last photo turns out best. Great shot, Steve!
Peter Klopp
April 3, 2021 at 8:23 AM
So for you the last shall be first.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 9:00 AM
Another “wow” scene. They don’t look so prim, they look pretty exuberant.
Robert Parker
April 3, 2021 at 9:09 AM
The prim rose to the higher status of exuberant.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 9:11 AM
A very proper comment, you’re in your prime. A picture permeated, pervaded and perfused to the prim with prettiness.
Robert Parker
April 3, 2021 at 9:18 AM
Your pretty persistent pertinacious performance persuades people you’re a perspicacious prodigy.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 9:33 AM
That’s a pretty impressive carpet! Glad you were able to pull over.
Heyjude
April 3, 2021 at 9:11 AM
Glad to have you along for the magic carpet ride. Getting back into the flow of heavy and fast traffic on the Interstate highway was a more daunting prospect than pulling over.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 9:14 AM
Such an expanse of pink and green is a visual treat!
Lavinia Ross
April 3, 2021 at 11:50 AM
That great expanse of pink and green
Is one I’m happy to have seen.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 11:57 AM
So beautiful – thanks for sharing this lovely scene!
Eliza Waters
April 3, 2021 at 2:53 PM
Sure thing; that’s Texas in the spring.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 3:53 PM
Sometimes here in the tropics it’s easy to forget about ‘that other world’ with changing seasons. This stunning image places me back in the joy of discovery in the natural world of my youth.
On line so little these days, it’s always a joy to go to your main page and scroll down and enjoy all I’ve missed. Forgive me for my ongoing silence – and during holy week here, most all cyber options are closed – even the parks!
Sounds like your road trip was a lovely one – perfect to kick off the season between equinox and solstice!
Playamart - Zeebra Designs
April 3, 2021 at 4:45 PM
Then let’s hear it for your brief return to those happy days of yesteryear! February’s sustained frigid weather delayed spring flowering, but nothing could hold it back forever, and now we’re really underway. As usual at this time of year, I have more pictures than I know what to do with and I’m scheduled eleven days out and counting, which is to say I’m falling further behind. Oh well, así es la vida, ¿verdad?
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 4:56 PM
A dream in pink (and green), Steve. I have never seen this many primroses in one location.
tanjabrittonwriter
April 3, 2021 at 7:58 PM
Truth be told, I’ve seen more than this many from time to time. They put on quite a display.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2021 at 8:20 PM
The difference between Texas and Colorado!
tanjabrittonwriter
April 3, 2021 at 10:02 PM
Latitudinally and altitudinally.
Steve Schwartzman
April 4, 2021 at 5:01 AM
…and likely in more -ally ways… 🙂
tanjabrittonwriter
April 4, 2021 at 5:59 PM
But probably not in alleyways.
Steve Schwartzman
April 4, 2021 at 6:23 PM
Stunning – what a sight.
tomwhelan
April 3, 2021 at 9:20 PM
I wonder whether any of the thousands of people who drove past this colony also felt the need to stop.
Steve Schwartzman
April 4, 2021 at 4:47 AM
I know I would!
tomwhelan
April 4, 2021 at 10:05 AM
I wouldn’t doubt it.
Steve Schwartzman
April 4, 2021 at 10:14 AM
I can imagine hitting the brakes, or pulling a quick u-turn to see and photograph them.
tomwhelan
April 4, 2021 at 6:42 PM
This was to our right as we headed north on an Interstate, so a U-turn would’ve meant getting off at the next exit, driving back to the first exit south of the flowers, crossing over, then coming north again. I took the alternative: I pulled over as quickly as I could.
Steve Schwartzman
April 5, 2021 at 5:48 AM
An interstate? I was imagining a more friendly back road.
tomwhelan
April 5, 2021 at 5:16 PM
At least this area wasn’t fenced, the way most properties along back roads are.
Steve Schwartzman
April 5, 2021 at 5:30 PM
What a fantastic sight! Makes me smile – thank you!
Ann Mackay
April 4, 2021 at 4:34 AM
You’re welcome. It was a sight to behold, and beheld it I did.
Steve Schwartzman
April 4, 2021 at 4:49 AM
Lucky you! 🙂
Ann Mackay
April 4, 2021 at 9:52 AM
Oh, how Californian! (. . . almost, different species)
tonytomeo
April 4, 2021 at 11:49 AM
“California” poppies grow as far east as west Texas.
Steve Schwartzman
April 4, 2021 at 1:25 PM
but the evening primrose that is native to where I was in school does not go quite so far.
However, now that I think of it, the species that I remember is probably the Mexican evening primrose, rather than the California evening primrose. I do not remember what the range for that species is, and now that I look, can not find it.
tonytomeo
April 8, 2021 at 12:05 AM
According to
https://www.horticultureunlimited.com/plant-guide/mexican-evening-primrose/
the “Mexican” evening primrose is the same species as the pink evening primrose shown in my photograph, whose distribution you can see at
https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=OESP2
Steve Schwartzman
April 8, 2021 at 5:16 AM
Oh, so that is why they looked familiar. I remember them growing on the canyon walls though, rather than out in meadows.
tonytomeo
April 8, 2021 at 10:44 PM
Now that you say that, it sounds familiar.
Steve Schwartzman
April 9, 2021 at 5:02 AM
I’ll bet this was a beautiful sight
norasphotos4u
April 4, 2021 at 8:36 PM
One of several we’d passed, but this was the best and I couldn’t pass it up.
Steve Schwartzman
April 5, 2021 at 5:49 AM
A wavy sea of pink … spring has sprung … hooray!
denisebushphoto
April 5, 2021 at 12:20 PM
I was certainly feeling in the pink after I saw this roadside display.
Steve Schwartzman
April 5, 2021 at 2:34 PM
Great last shot Steve ..
Julie@frogpondfarm
April 8, 2021 at 1:40 PM
Yes, to go out in a blaze of glory!
Steve Schwartzman
April 8, 2021 at 2:56 PM