Springing Along

Brown-eyed Susans (like me!) are abundant.

Now that we’ve finally bid a not-so-fond farewell to winter, the wildflowers in our neighboring master-planned community are flourishing.

Two of my most-loved wildflowers

I’m happy to report that small patches of bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush continue to thrive.

Bzzzzzzz!

Which means that the little buzzers are sticking around. Which is fine as long as they’re not sticking me!

Indian blankets mix with other blossoms.

Finally showing their lovely orange-yellow blooms are Indian blankets, another favorite wildflower of mine. It always seems like there are no two alike.

A couple poppies mingle with pink evening primrose and red phlox.

New to the scenery are orange and red poppies. They’ve dotted the landscape before, but now they’re out in copious amounts.

Poppies are plentiful.

Every week it seems like there’s something different to see, which makes me look forward to my exercise even more.

Who knows what this weekend will bring. I can’t wait to find out!

Pretty Progress

Bluebonnets galore!

It’s been almost seven weeks since I posted a photo of the first bluebonnet in my neighboring master-planned community.

A lot has happened in that time. As in a bountiful burst of blooming bluebonnets!

But that’s only part of the story.

This is the patch where the first bluebonnet blossomed.

Adding to the gorgeous bluish-purple hue that Texans love so much is an abundance of red and pink.

The pink, as in evening primrose, always joins the bluebonnets this time of year. But that fiery red?

A colorful display

For the first time since I’ve been jogging and walking in this area, Drummond phlox has inundated the scenery. In the past, there might be a half dozen or so of the crimson cuties dotting the landscape. But times have changed . . . at least for this wildflower season.

Plenty of purty posies

Welcome to the neighborhood!

Spring Has Sprung!

Love seeing all this orange!

According to the official calendar, spring arrived yesterday. It was ushered in by our neighboring master-planned community with a gorgeous Indian paintbrush show.

There are three distinct kinds of paintbrush growing.

I first noticed the splash of orange earlier this week as I drove past an area where a small crop of paintbrush bloomed last year. Now it’s definitely large and in charge!

These look almost reddish.

As much as I enjoy seeing them, I wish they were sprinkled among the bluebonnets that are in another area of the community. Having orange and blue together reminds of my beloved alma mater, the University of Illinois.

Hail to the orange (Indian paintbrush), hail to the blue(bonnets)! And, especially, hail to spring!!

Bluebonnet Buddies

Looking very purply now

When I checked on the first 2014 bluebonnet last Saturday, I was pleased that it was still going strong. Plus I couldn’t help but smile when I saw what was surrounding it.

The more the merrier

Friends! Hopefully, the first of many. It’s great to know that before long purple will rule the landscape in our neighboring master-planned community.

But that’s not all.

Staying in the same color scheme

I spotted these lovely, delicate wildflowers (linaria, also called toadflax) along the walking path about a quarter mile from the bluebonnets. I haven’t seen them in this area since 2011.

Kind of on the purple spectrum

Once the (hopefully!) last gasp of winter blows through in a day or two, I expect that spring is going to push plenty of blooms our way.

Believe me, I’m ready for them!

Sidebar: I’ve been claiming that it’s the last cold day of winter for about six weeks. I hope I’m right soon!

One-Word Wednesday

Now that I’ve seen my first bluebonnet, Texas’ state flower, I know that it’s spring.

First!

Natural Beauty

Love the purple!

During my younger son and Jim’s doubles round last Friday in Cypress, I was a bit distracted by nature.

That happens to me a lot when I’m toting my Nikon D700 and beloved Nikon 105mm macro lens.

This made me smile.

Hard to blame me, though, when a rainbow suddenly appears in the sky.

Golden!

Which soon was followed by a spectacular sunset. Nature did its best to make me forget that I was there to shoot disc golf.

And I was glad it did!

Five for Five

Gotta love the yellow.

Last Sunday morning during my five-mile walk in our neighboring master-planned community, several sights moved me to snap pics with my Nikon S6200.

Let’s call it five miles, five photos. I started off with the sunflowers, which finally are blooming everywhere this month.

Do you see what I see?

Next there was this rabbit trying to hide in the grass. I usually see at least a half-dozen bunnies during my walk.

Looking a little blue

This odd-colored catfish caught my eye. For some reason it was lazing around near the lake’s shore.

Refreshing!

The best friend of a walker/runner during Houston’s notoriously steamy summers? Sprinklers! I doused myself in one of them after I captured the scene.

Pretty in pink

Near the end of my journey, these purty petals almost blocked my way along the sidewalk back home. I think they wanted to be included in this post.

And so they are!

A-Tisket, A-Tasket

Starting the blooming journey

When I saw these cuties in a small section of our neighboring master-planned community recently, I thought they were thistles.

Up top

But I soon discovered that they’re actually basket-flowers. Must be because of the interesting weave pattern that you can see in the top photo.

A little bee visits.

Looks like the critters don’t care what it is!

One-Word Wednesday

These dandelions were snapped at Imperial Park.

Puff!

Weeds can be purty, too!

 

 

Late April Update

Still blue and beautiful

Now that it’s the end of April, it’s time to assess how the nearby wildflowers are doing as we head into Houston’s loooooong, hot summer. So I recently took a nature walk in our neighboring master-planned community to snap a few pics.

First and most importantly, the bluebonnets still are growing and thriving. Unfortunately, the weeds are overgrown around them in many places; I’m hoping that’s some sort of landscaping plan rather than laziness by the maintenance crew.

There’s a lot of pink.

Adding to all that blue is an amazing amount of pink, thanks to a bumper crop of evening primrose. These little beauties are all over the place in Houston!

Indian blankets add lovely pops of color.

I’ve been jogging in this community for about six years, and it’s been interesting how the wildflowers are ever-changing. For example, this is the first time the Indian blankets have been plentiful. That makes me smile, because they’re one of my faves.

However, I’ve yet to see a sunflower. Those have been commonplace the last few years. I guess life is all about trade-offs, even when it comes to nature.

You can never have too much purple.

A recent returnee along the walking path are foxgloves in different shades of purple.

Up close and personal

They’re pretty as both a group and individually and are springing up all along the route.

A waspy bee enjoys an Indian blanket.

One thing that hasn’t changed? Those flippin’ bees! Wherever I go, whatever I do, they seem to think we’re going to go through it together (name that song!)

A bee hovers over a bluebonnet.

Personally, I’m a solo act.