Natives from the Edwards Plateau: 2012-04-22

Here is what's out there today, still blooming in the hot and dryer late April Hill Country landscape. Because of our mild winter and earlier spring rains, we still have quite a few wildflowers and lots and lots of butterflies. Butterflies are everywhere it seems, but especially on and around wildflowers. Butterflies usually only lay their eggs on one type of plant- the type that will provide food for their larvae the catiperllars.

Indian Blanket Painting

This painting of an Indian Blankets flower and bud is done on a 6 inch ceramic tile. I love the way the phyllaries (green pointy "leaves") on the bud curve and clasp around the flower before it opens. The brilliant red and yellow contrasting each other on the ray flowers makes this composite stand out from the rest. Look in the photos below for the Indian blanket flower that has no red on it.

"Indian Blanket" 6 inch, underglaze on ceramic tile

Late April Wildflower Sampler:

Hairy Wadellia Flower with Red Admiral Butterfly

Venus Looking Glass

The Prickly Pear Cactus are starting to bloom. In this first photo notice the small green fleshy structures scattered over the green pad. These are the true leaves and will soon fall off, while the pads are actually modified stems. The flowers are often clear yellow colored with delicate tissue-like petals. Pale orange flowers or yellow with orange streaks are also found.

Prickly Pear Cactus

Bluebonnet seed pods

Coreopsis, Golden-wave

Prairie bishop

Texas Skeletonplant

Purple Horsemint, Lemon Beebalm

Indian Blanket, unusual white and yellow form

Englemann's Salvia

Shrubby Boneset with white moth

Mexican Hat

Dewberry fruit

Prairie Brazoria

Blackeyed Susan, Browneyed Susan

Yellow Stonecrop - a succulent type plant that
grows very low often seemingly right on flat
rock surfaces

Shrubby Boneset with Monarch Butterfly

April has flown by so fast and with so many changes in the wildflower picture that I thought for today I would post some flowers that were started blooming a couple of weeks ago. Some of these are still hanging on in some places and some have already gone to seed. But first here is a watercolor I painted a number of years ago of some of my favorite spring wildflowers. Many appear in April. Some a bit earlier.

Tomorrow I'll post some flowers I'm seeing now in late April.