Natives from the Edwards Plateau

Friday, April 27, 2012

Late April Wildflowers and Butterflies

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

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Spring Wildflowers Watercolor

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.

Wildflower Painting

Wildflowers, 9 x 21 inch watercolor

The flowers in this painting are (from top to bottom and left to right):

Prairie Paintbrush, Gilia, Cedar Sage, Stemless Evening Primrose,

Baby Blue-eyes, Indian Blanket, Bluebonnet, Winecup, Golden-eye Phlox

Early April Wildflower Photos

Bluebonnets and Cloth of Gold
(Lesquerella gracilis; Mustard Family)

Cedar Sage (this one likes
to grow
under Cedar trees)

Green Thread

Wild Foxglove

Sensitive Briar- a low growing
plant whose leaves fold
up when touched

Blue Gilia

Damianita - this showy plant makes
mounds of golden color in and fall.

It is great for native gardening and

the leaves have a pleasingly aromatic

smell when touched.

Indian Blanket

Monarch Butterfly Caterpillars
on Milkweed

White Barbara's Buttons

Englemans Daisy

Pink Evening Primrose

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Wildseed Farms, Fredericksburg

Last weekend we went to Fredericksburg to celebrate my daughter's birthday. On the drive from Austin on HWY 290 we stopped at Wildseed Farms, 7 miles east of downtown Fredericksburg. We were delighted to find it having it's best spring blooming season that I've ever seen. Wildseed Farms is the largest working wildflower seed production farm in the US and a big tourist destination (Yup, even bus-loads of flower-lovers come here). The display gardens, trial plots and flower fields are stunning this year. If the photos below of the red corn flowers look like their glowing, it's because they actually look that brilliant in person. We also enjoyed the outdoor seating area surrounded by show gardens and the nursery, while eating tasty frozen snacks. The homemade soft serve peach ice-cream is a must. And yes there is a gift shop, actually three, that sell more than just the wildflower seeds.