Natives from the Edwards Plateau: After the Rain

Four nights ago, we got a "Severe Thunder Storm", as the weather service reports it, or what the locals call a "Frog Strangler". One to three inches will fall, sometimes in less than an hour, with high winds, a spectacular lightening show and thunder that rattles the windows. We are thrilled that it's raining again in Central Texas after several weeks of warm dry weather and the landscape starting to become rather crispy. Today as I write this post, a slow steady rain is falling again with mild thunder. And the plants are responding already. Starting in late spring and throughout the summer a small, dazzlingly white native lily called the Rain Lily, Cooperia pedunculata, pops up and blooms two to three days after every good rain storm. Lawn sprinklers won't do the trick. It has to be real rain. The longer the dry spell between the rains, the more abundant the flowers are. You will see them along roadsides, out in open spaces and even in lawns. Hope you can find some soon. They only last a day or two.