Posts Tagged ‘spring’
Blowing in the wind
One of the highlights in the cemetery at Christ Lutheran Church in New Berlin on March 18th was the Nueces coreopsis (Coreopsis nuecensis), whose range doesn’t reach Austin and that I get to see only when I travel south. The wind made closeups difficult but I did my usual thing of getting on the ground, setting a high shutter speed, and taking enough pictures that a few of them would likely be okay.
The orange in the background came from Indian paintbrushes (Castilleja indivisa) and the blue from bluebonnets (Lupinus spp).
© 2019 Steven Schwartzman
Texas being Texas
In the spring Texas does wildflowers.
Prompted by reports of good sightings a little over a hundred miles from home in Cestohowa, we headed south on March 18. We began finding good things just past Seguin and even better ones after we detoured a little from our route to check out New Berlin. In fact the wildflowers were so bountiful on some of the properties in that area that we never got any farther. Sorry, Cestohowa.
We’d first stumbled on the flowerful cemetery at Christ Lutheran Church of Elm Creek in 2014, and this year proved its equal. Here’s an overview:
To my mind, every cemetery should be covered in wildflowers.
The tombstones are interesting, with the oldest ones dating from the 1800s and inscribed in German (remember, the town is New Berlin). Still, as this blog is devoted to nature, here are a couple of photographs that focus on the profuse wildflowers in their own right. The colonies were so intertwined that I was able to frame the flowers in lots of ways. The bright yellow ones are Nueces coreopsis (Coreopsis nuecensis).
The red flowers are Indian paintbrushes (Castilleja indivisa) and the others are bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis), the state’s official wildflower. You saw a closeup of one way back in early February.)
© 2019 Steven Schwartzman
Dogwood blossoms
Ten years ago today I photographed these blossoms on a dogwood tree (Cornus florida) near the little town of Warren in far east Texas.
© 2019 Steven Schwartzman
Two-leaf senna
Here’s a native wildflower I’ve never shown you before. That’s surprising, given that it grows in my neighborhood and that on several occasions I’ve shown the other species of senna that grows here. This one is Senna roemeriana, known as two-leaf senna or two-leaved senna. The common name refers to the fact that each of the plant’s leaves is made up of two leaflets; you can see one leaflet and part of its symmetric twin at the lower left in the photograph.
I took this picture beneath the power lines west of Morado Circle one month ago today.
© 2018 Steven Schwartzman
Blister beetle on Penstemon cobaea
On April 8th in Round Rock I came across this blister beetle in the genus Pyrota, apparently P. lineata or P. bilineata. The flower is the kind of foxglove, Penstemon cobaea, that you saw from farther back in a post here last month. Thanks to bugguide.net for identifying the genus of the beetle.
© 2018 Steven Schwartzman
Blackfoot daisies, one and many
Way back on March 31st I made a portrait of a blackfoot daisy flower head, Melampodium leucanthum, along Yaupon Dr. in my extended neighborhood. Then on April 17th I photographed a colony of flowering blackfoot daisies beneath the power lines west of Morado Circle.
© 2018 Steven Schwartzman
It’s been a good spring for the Engelmann daisy
Click for better clarity.
That’s right, it’s been a good spring for the Engelmann daisy, Engelmannia peristenia, the wildflower you got a good look at yesterday. Above you see a flourishing colony of Engelmann daisies along Gattis School Rd. in Round Rock on April 16th. The white flowers are old plainsman, Hymenopappus artemisiifolius. In the back left you can make out some bluebonnets, Lupinus texensis, and greenthreads, Thelesperma filifolium. Below is a little closer view of a part of the Engelmann daisy colony.
Did you know that Engelmann in German means Angel Man?
© 2018 Steven Schwartzman
