# Post your spring pictures here



## BrassMan

As one who dwells in one of the lower places in the lower 48 states, I can assure those of you who live in the upper 48 that spring is indeed on its way. Here are some shots from our "yard" today, of bluebonnets (the state flower of Texas), an Indian paintbrush, and a still-blooming bluebonnet being visited by a bee that just cannot wait.


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## NogDog

Looks like some crocuses -- usually the first thing to bloom -- are starting to poke up here in Joisey, but we're probably a couple of weeks away yet from anything truly "springy".


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## BrassMan

NogDog said:


> Looks like some crocuses -- usually the first thing to bloom -- are starting to poke up here in Joisey, but we're probably a couple of weeks away yet from anything truly "springy".


Crocuses are springy! Especially when they're poking up through snow, which we don't have. Take a photo for us!

Here's one more odd sign of spring in south Texas. Live oak trees are weird. They don't shed their leaves on a regular schedule, nor do they bloom on one. Sometimes they do both at the same time, and sometimes they do both in the spring. Here's one of ours doing both:










This is not normally a problem unless it's a BIG tree, like 300 years old, and unless it's upwind from one's pool. This is a case of very bad planning:


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## kory

University of Washington 10 days ago.


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## Carol Hanrahan

Oh, I love these pictures!
Need more  Need more  Need more


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## Susan in VA

Beautiful pictures!  I don't have anything to add yet; the only thing blooming in my yard is the purchased potted pansies.  But the tulips are about five inches out of the ground, so it won't be too much longer!  

I used to have lots of crocuses...  then about two years ago they all disappeared.  No idea why.


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## BrassMan

It looks like one of our olive trees is about to bloom for the first time ever:










And the wisteria will be fully in bloom in a matter of days, making the whole place smell like grape Kool Aid:


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## BrassMan

We don't have cherry trees  but we do have redbuds:


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## BrassMan

Here's a neighborhood on the other side of town. The flowers are Indian pinks (or Indian blankets), huisache daisies (yellow), and a few scattered bluebonnets and verbena, plus scads of tiny flowers that are too small to see. This is the first rainy year since 2007, so the flowers seem to be making up for lost time.


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## Carol Hanrahan

Great pics, Brassman!  Picture perfect!


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## BrassMan

OK, then, how about equal time for verbena? It's doing its part:


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## ak rain

I know I should not have looked at this thread. all I can say is maybe we won't be hiding eggs in the snow this year for first time in 3 years
sylvia

they are really great pictures


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## BrassMan

Bluebonnets are the state flower of Texas, and we do have fields of them here and there, but for our county the #1 flower is probably the huisache ("wee-satch") daisy. There are acres and acres of them, bright yellow, which shimmer like gold in the sunlight.


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## BrassMan

One more and I'll quit for now. This is wisteria. We should have half a patio of this hanging down, but the wind is howling 40 mph+ and they'll probably be on the ground by this evening.


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## corkyb

Sigh....Still have dirty snowbanks here and there, especially in the corners of parking lots.  Haven't even seen a crocus yet this year.  It will get here though.  It's actually been beautiful out.


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## BrassMan

Well, tomorrow is the first day of spring. Ironically, a cold front is due in South Texas about noon tomorrow. We may be close to freezing Sunday morning and Monday mornings. We'll have to protect our little tomato plants! If it's any comfort, corkyb, you wouldn't want to see pictures of this place from the last two springs, unless you have some weird liking for stubs of brown grass over bare dirt. It's all due to El Niño, apparently. 

Be of good cheer. In two weeks you'll see things growing. In six weeks you may be complaining about the heat. I expect we will be.


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## BrassMan

Here's a picture just sent me by a distant cousin (I wish), actually a relative of my wife's, in Maryland--crocuses, working hard!


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## telracs

Hey, Brassman, come visit our flower a day thread and post some of your flowers there!


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## BrassMan

Found this field of Indian paintbrush out by the college today:


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## BrassMan

OK, here we go. This is very unusual: the blooming of a century plant. They don't exactly bloom once a century. Each plant blooms once and then dies, perhaps at twenty years of age or so. Also called agave, this is the plant tequila is made from.

The flower is incredible. I'll post pictures periodically. This picture, which I'll call day 1 (because we first noticed it today) shows the spike just emerging from the leaves--see the red "v" at the top of the picture. Any sci-fi writers who are looking for a triffid-like plant to put in a book should pay attention. It'll take months, but it's going to be unbelievable.

Note: center right is the stalk of the last bloom, from several years ago.


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## corkyb

OK, Brassman, I can't wait to see this flower.  The plant itself, even including the stalk, looks a lot like my yucca "grove".
Paula


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## BrassMan

corkyb said:


> OK, Brassman, I can't wait to see this flower. The plant itself, even including the stalk, looks a lot like my yucca "grove".
> Paula


Yuccas do bloom at the top of a stalk, but the plant doesn't die and the leaves, unless they are trimmed, make a drooping "coat" for the stalk. They're quite beautiful, but the century plant is several orders of magnitude different. My wife uses the dried skeleton of a century plant (about ten feet tall) as a Christmas tree. But that's only part of it....

The spike in the picture in the post above is already seven feet high. Remember: it's a single flower! Just wait--it'll take months to mature, but you won't believe it.


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## BrassMan

Last afternoon I went out and shot some of our yuccas near the house. There are different species of them, so your results may vary:










While I was at it, I shot that century plant spike from the ground. With the camera at the height of my head, you can see the stalk is already seven feet tall:


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## leslieray

These spring pictures are beatutiful! Thanks you to all that contributed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## cheerio

great pictures


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## BrassMan

We're into the second stage of spring in south Texas. The satsuma tree is covered with blooms. (That's a sort of orange/tangerine cross. The wrinkly fruit are sweet, peel easily, and have few seeds.) The early flowers, huisache daisies, verbena, and blubonnets are fully mature and beginning to set seed. The second shift of late bloomers can't be far behind.

Surely signs of spring have moved to the north--600 miles? 1000?


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## Betsy the Quilter

Beautiful, Al, thanks for sharing!

Betsy


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## BrassMan

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Beautiful, Al, thanks for sharing!
> 
> Betsy


You're welcome! How about a prickly pear flower?


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## Jeff

BrassMan said:


> Surely signs of spring have moved to the north--600 miles? 1000?


We have spring but it's been too windy here to get any good close-up shots of flowers yet. As soon as we get a calm day...


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## BlueEyedMum

Since I'm in Florida the plants I guess are mostly all year round..but looking at these photos I can't wait to move for next Spring

Here's a couple of flowers here...


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## loca

Def puts me in a good mood.


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## Cindy416

Beautiful flowers! Still nothing at all blooming around here, but it IS 80 degrees, so maybe things will look up. 

Al, I love the photos of the large fields of flowers in bloom. We have nothing like that, as everything that's tillable is planted in corn, beans, or wheat. I'd love to be able to look around and see fields of flowers. The only place I've seen the flowers that you photographed in the fields is in garden centers or in a hanging basket or planter. 

I think I need to go somewhere for a flower fix. (NOT Earl May's or any other such retailer!)


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## NogDog

Only flowers I've seen in my yard so far are a pair of rather sorry-looking crocuses, and one lonely dandelion. However, both my dogwoods look like the flower buds could open any day now. Unfortunately, parts of my lawn are starting to grow, and I may have to get the mower out for the first time soon (though probably will only need to do about half the yard the first time).


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## BrassMan

Cindy416 said:


> We have nothing like that, as everything that's tillable is planted in corn, beans, or wheat. I'd love to be able to look around and see fields of flowers.... I think I need to go somewhere for a flower fix. (NOT Earl May's or any other such retailer!)


Most small farmers have pretty much given up on this semi-desert area of south Texas. There are lots of pastures, for cattle, and brush country, for bird and deer hunting (and turkeys, wild hogs, and such). Wildflowers collect in the bar ditches ("borrow" ditches) alongside country roads and alongside the freeways (planted by the highway department). Our house has a four acre "yard" in the middle of a bunch of cow pastures. Cattle do not eat wildflowers, so ranchers generally mow them down. We do not. We let them go to seed and don't mow until they're dried and the seeds have dropped. That's why we have them so thick.

Here's a shot of the place next to us. The few flowers you see are on the road side of the fence...unfortunately in my opinion. I guess if you want your horses to graze then you don't want solid wildflowers.


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## corkyb

NogDog said:


> Only flowers I've seen in my yard so far are a pair of rather sorry-looking crocuses, and one lonely dandelion. However, both my dogwoods look like the flower buds could open any day now. Unfortunately, parts of my lawn are starting to grow, and I may have to get the mower out for the first time soon (though probably will only need to do about half the yard the first time).


Nogdog, don't you live in New Jersey? Man, not a drop of green here in upstate NY. Like I said I did see a crocus, but that is it. Mow my lawn? Hahahahahaha. Probably not til May at least.


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## corkyb

I would love to see those fields of wildflowers.  My family in Dallas talks about fields of wildflowers in the SPring and I think there are a lot more in South Texas.  
Paula


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## BrassMan

corkyb said:


> I would love to see those fields of wildflowers. My family in Dallas talks about fields of wildflowers in the SPring and I think there are a lot more in South Texas.
> Paula


In South Texas we're getting ready for the second shift of late-blooming wildflowers: the wine cups, galardias, Mexican hats, and so forth. Pics in due time. I'm thinking the first shift ought to be popping out in Central Texas and the hill country about now. Ask Jeff Hepple. He lives up there. That's a shorter drive from Dallas (and a good place to go anyway).


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## Cindy416

It just occurred to me that we actually have wildflowers in fairly large areas along our interstates and often between the fence rows and the roads on gravel and blacktops. Although the flowers along the interstate are sometimes really pretty, they don't hold a candle to the photos that you posted, Al.


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## BrassMan

Cindy416 said:


> It just occurred to me that we actually have wildflowers in fairly large areas along our interstates and often between the fence rows and the roads on gravel and blacktops. Although the flowers along the interstate are sometimes really pretty, they don't hold a candle to the photos that you posted, Al.


It's funny, but I find I remember where the good flowers are year after year. Even in the winter, when I drive by some spot, I find myself thinking Oh, that's solid primroses in the spring, or whatever. My wife just tipped me to a couple places in the county I haven't seen yet. I'll try to drive out there Friday. If there's anything terrific, you'll see it here!

Postscript on my methodology. I have great wildflower pictures from previous years, but I won't post them here. This is for NOW; these shots are current and righteous! Hallelujah!


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## telracs

BrassMan said:


> It's funny, but I find I remember where the good flowers are year after year. Even in the winter, when I drive by some spot, I find myself thinking Oh, that's solid primroses in the spring, or whatever. My wife just tipped me to a couple places in the county I haven't seen yet. I'll try to drive out there Friday. If there's anything terrific, you'll see it here!
> 
> Postscript on my methodology. I have great wildflower pictures from previous years, but I won't post them here. This is for NOW; these shots are current and righteous! Hallelujah!


Well, post the old ones on the flower a day thread. The only rules there are that you have to be the one who took them!


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## NogDog

corkyb said:


> Nogdog, don't you live in New Jersey? Man, not a drop of green here in upstate NY. Like I said I did see a crocus, but that is it. Mow my lawn? Hahahahahaha. Probably not til May at least.


Yep, "South Jersey" though, so I guess it's the warmer part.  The forecast for the next 4 days is sunny with temps in the mid to upper 70's, so I'm guessing we're going to start getting more color pretty soon.


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## BrassMan

scarlet said:


> Well, post the old ones on the flower a day thread. The only rules there are that you have to be the one who took them!


I did a week's worth there! The strain was killing me, man! One was a rose, a veritable portrait. I find the informality and genial messiness of wildflowers suit my character better, I'm afraid. That's tough to admit because of what it suggests about me, but there it is....


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## telracs

BrassMan said:


> I did a week's worth there! The strain was killing me, man! One was a rose, a veritable portrait. I find the informality and genial messiness of wildflowers suit my character better, I'm afraid. That's tough to admit because of what it suggests about me, but there it is....


Strain? Me confused....


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## BrassMan

scarlet said:


> Strain? Me confused....


Yeah, trying to keep up with all you upscale photographers...gotta get a better camera. Gotta get a tripod....


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## telracs

BrassMan said:


> Yeah, trying to keep up with all you upscale photographers...gotta get a better camera. Gotta get a tripod....


Upscale? Me? I use a Nikon cool pix handheld...


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## BrassMan

OK, OK, I just posted a picture there. Wildflower. Edible. Or so they say.


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## telracs

BrassMan said:


> OK, OK, I just posted a picture there. Wildflower. Edible. Or so they say.


thanks. i know i'm a major slavedriver.


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## BrassMan

Here's that century plant bloom again, on day 6. (See post #22 for day 1.)










The wildflowers continue to get thicker:


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## BrassMan

Here are some fresh spring pictures--took 'em yesterday or the day before. I wish you could smell them (unless you have allergies, of course)!


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## NogDog

Spring has arrived with a vengeance here in South Jersey: we're expected to exceed 90F today. My dogwoods are now fully in bloom:


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## BrassMan

Sweet!

Help! A friend sent this picture from Brooklyn, but she wasn't sure what kind of tree it was. Does anyone know? (Slighly larger detail inset.)


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## Susan in VA

It looks like a tulip tree, related to magnolias (and unrelated to tulips).


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## BrassMan

Susan in VA said:


> It looks like a tulip tree, related to magnolias (and unrelated to tulips).


She thought it was a magnolia, but I was pretty sure it wasn't. Magnolias have flowers nearly the size of a basketball.

Thanks!


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## telracs

BrassMan said:


> Sweet!
> 
> Help! A friend sent this picture from Brooklyn, but she wasn't sure what kind of tree it was. Does anyone know? (Slighly larger detail inset.)


A tree grows in Brooklyn?


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## BrassMan

scarlet said:


> A tree grows in Brooklyn?


Quite a few, evidently.


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## telracs

Yes dear, I know


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## Susan in VA

BrassMan said:


> She thought it was a magnolia, but I was pretty sure it wasn't. Magnolias have flowers nearly the size of a basketball.
> 
> Thanks!


You're welcome. Someone else might actually know the botanical name; I'm afraid I don't.

And magnolias (mine, at least) have green leaves year-round, and the giant flowers are off-white, not pink.


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## ValeriGail

That is a form of Magnolia..  I have one here near the park, and the first time I saw it I was astonished at its beauty!! I had never seen anything like it before.  So, I went to my gardening expert.. my mother in law.  She drove by it cause my "description" really didn't do it justice.  Called on her tree expert.. and its in the Magnolia family.  I just can't for the life of me right now remember what its exact name is.  I'll ask her in the morning and post back.

BrassMan, what part of South Texas are you in?  Our wildflowers here in the Livingston area have been few and far between this year.  I'm just now noticing bigger clumps of blue bonnets along the freeway and in some designated wildflower areas.  Open fields are empty! I was thinking maybe it was because everything is still so very very wet.. but I'm far from smart when it comes to flowers so I'm probably wrong on that! HAHA  I did find out today that the beautiful white flowered trees in my backyard are dogwood!! I had no idea what they were when I noticed their blooms yesterday.  My yard is full of them and Magnolias (the normal everyday magnolia).  I'm on 10 acres, most of which are magnolias, and I can't wait till they start blooming!  This is the first spring I've been here.  

I'm feeling inspired to go take some pictures.  sounds like a wonderful way to spend the next two days.


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## BrassMan

Thanks for that information, ValeriGail. I'll pass that along to my friend. She promises to actually look at the sign on her next visit--it's in the Brooklyn Botannical Garden, for Pete's sake.

I live midway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi, out in the sticks. Geographically, it's where the brush country meets the coastal plains, with low, rolling hills. It used to be good agricultural country, but now that it's semi-arid, agriculture is fading. Cattle and livestock are holding on and wild game, like deer, seem to be the coming thing. When it rains, just as in the desert, the place goes crazy--and it rained, all winter, after a three year-long drouth.

Livingston is north of Houston. I should think with all that moisture, you'd have wholesale wildflowers. Maybe it's too early?

Taking pictures is a great way to spend time! Just ask scarlet!

Here are some red rain lilies. Normally, white ones come up after a rain. The red ones must be more delicate--they pop out along the drip line under the roof.


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## telracs

Did I see my name?


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## BrassMan

scarlet said:


> Did I see my name?


Indeed. You travel everywhere and it seems you take pictures everywhere. You get my vote for the person mostly likely to max out a 4 gig memory chip. Most of my pictures are taken within a mile or two of my house. I'm a hermit, you see. The opposite of you, apparently. You go, sista!


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## telracs

BrassMan said:


> Indeed. You travel everywhere and it seems you take pictures everywhere. You get my vote for the person mostly likely to max out a 4 gig memory chip. Most of my pictures are taken within a mile or two of my house. I'm a hermit, you see. The opposite of you, apparently. You go, sista!


I have an 8 gig card in the camera, truth be told....

Hey, one of the reasons I'm going to the DC kindle meet up is to take pictures of the monuments...


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## telracs

oh, and according to the brooklyn botanical garden website, they are magnolias..

http://www.bbg.org/exp/stroll/magnolia_gallery.html

and i've got to get there for more pictures for the flower a day thread...


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## ValeriGail

Preaching to the choir here about taking pictures.  Not only do I also have the 8 gig card in my camera... I didn't have enough room on my hard drive for the last "round" I tried to upload the other day (easter and San Antonio vacation), so they all had to go straight onto the external terabyte drive I use for back up.  I take a gazillion pictures.  Some are good, most are tollerable, and quite a few are just bad bad bad  LOL.  Probably 3/4 of them are my kids, though.  I'm a digital scrapbooker.  LOVE scrapping with my pics (though since getting my kindle, its taken a backseat except to design a custom skin! HAHA).  Last year, I scrapped so much we had to buy the terabyte drive just for my files! 

But, to be honest, this winter really killed my desire to be creative at all.  I totally stopped taking pictures for a few months, except at christmas.  Everything was just so darn drappy and gray that I felt all swallowed up in the depression of it!  But, seeing everything starting to bloom, and the pictures in this thread is making me want to go drive around tomorrow just to find something to take a picture of!  Shouldnt be too hard since I live in a lake town, LOL.  Hopefully I can find some flowers to add to this thread... OH The dogwood!! I'll take some pics tomorrow if the Rain tonight didn't make the yard unwalkable.  

Valeri


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## Sunnie

spring along the 241 toll road in South Orange County, CA!


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## BrassMan

Gwennie said:


> spring along the 241 toll road in South Orange County, CA!


Are those poppies? Glorious! I'm trying to get a friend in El Paso to drive to the other side of the mountain and shoot the poppies there. If they'd only look anything like these....


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## Sunnie

Actually, they aren't poppies.  They are some kind of weed.  And actually, this picture was taken the spring (two years ago) after a horrendous autumn fire in the area.  It was a miracle.  In the long run, nature provides for itself, even if we mere mortals don't always understand the reason why.


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## NogDog

Gwennie said:


> Actually, they aren't poppies. They are some kind of weed. And actually, this picture was taken the spring (two years ago) after a horrendous autumn fire in the area. It was a miracle. In the long run, nature provides for itself, even if we mere mortals don't always understand the reason why.


As my high school biology teacher told us: there are no such things as a weeds, just under-appreciated flowers.


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## NogDog

Here's the white dogwood on the opposite side of my back yard from the pink one, with leaves just starting to sprout:


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## BrassMan

NogDog said:


> Here's the white dogwood on the opposite side of my back yard from the pink one, with leaves just starting to sprout:


Wow. Spectacular. We have what is locally called a wild olive (non-bearing) that's fixing to bloom white flowers. It won't be as gorgeous as that, but if it's close I'll snap it anyway.


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## Sunnie

spectacular!


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## Susan in VA

NogDog said:


> As my high school biology teacher told us: there are no such things as a weeds, just under-appreciated flowers.


It's nice to know I have a lot of under-appreciated flowers in my back yard.


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## loonlover

scarlet said:


> oh, and according to the brooklyn botanical garden website, they are magnolias..


The name given to them in Arkansas is tulip magnolias. We pass several of them as we leave our little town heading toward Little Rock.


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## ValeriGail

So you know.... one must actually LOOK to see spring. That was my lesson today! When I went outside to take pictures of the dogwoods (which are nothing compared to NogDog's posted earlier), I was surprised to see that my yard is FULL of all kinds of wildflowers I had never noticed before. I just wasn't looking, I guess. Had winter blinders on! LOL

My Favorite are these red button type, which I think are Crimson Clovers.



















One of my dogwoods.. I am gonna try to get a better pic of another one further out on the acreage tomorrow.


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## ValeriGail

And then there is the "under appreciated flower" that I was captivated by today. I know that I probably shouldn't want this weed in my yard.. but I think its totally gorgeous!! I don't know what it is. I've looked on a few sites today trying to find some info on it, but havent had any luck. Do any of you know what it is?

I have several... ok so several probably doesn't even come close! (in fairness, I live on 10 acres surrounded by my landlords 300+ acres... soooo there's lots of room! LOL) All different stages of growth too. One of them is as tall as my youngest child, but its lost all its purple color.... if it had any color, I hadn't noticed it out there which is crazy since its huge. I seriously had my winter blinders on, no joke!

I call it the Weird Thorn Weed


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## Susan in VA

^^^ A thistle of some kind...  don't know the names for the different ones, though.


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## Jeff

ValeriGail said:


> And then there is the "under appreciated flower" that I was captivated by today. I know that I probably shouldn't want this weed in my yard.. but I think its totally gorgeous!! I don't know what it is. I've looked on a few sites today trying to find some info on it, but havent had any luck. Do any of you know what it is?


Seymour?


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## ValeriGail

Maybe!  We had a huge mushroom last fall that looked like Marvin the Marshin's head!  I keep telling my husband we have aliens in the yard, LOL


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## BrassMan

I'll try to run that thistle down for you later today, ValeriGail. My wife has six Texas wildflower books.

Here's what I thought was a thistle, but she found it in one of the books. It's a "prickly poppy."










And now, for those following the progress of the century plant bloom (message #47) here it is on day 17, about 12 feet tall. It's been growing nearly a foot a day.


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## BrassMan

South Texas is now in the second phase of spring, with the late bloomers coming on. Here you can see some firewheels and wine cups. The Mexican hats and day flowers can't be far behind.










The densely-packed early blooming huisache daisies are now losing their shimmer and setting seed:


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## telracs

I'd been wondering about the century plant...


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## ValeriGail

Primrose in the park today, not many as they came and mowed it down... but I found this patch that was beyond the mow boundary in the trees.



















As for My thistle, Seymore Jr... Sadly over the weekend, he found an unfortunate end with a tractor mower. I forgot to inform my landlord that he was under my protection (being an alien and all) and to steer clear of him. I grieved my thorny friend and then moved on! HAHA. Still want to know what he was though because I thought, weed or not, he was gorgeous.


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## BrassMan

ValeriGail said:


> As for My thistle, Seymore Jr... Sadly over the weekend, he found an unfortunate end with a tractor mower. I forgot to inform my landlord that he was under my protection (being an alien and all) and to steer clear of him. I grieved my thorny friend and then moved on! HAHA. Still want to know what he was though because I thought, weed or not, he was gorgeous.


I looked through my wife's Texas wildflower books but didn't find anything like Seymore Jr. I'll give her a go at it, though.

I did shoot some Texas thistle for you today. That's an attractive weed.


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## ValeriGail

Beautiful feild of wildflowers!  I wish I could drive further south and see all that color!  

I saw a couple spots around town today that have bloomed over the week, second wave of wildflowers here too I think.  Most of the blue bonnets only had a short run this year around here.  The Azaleas around town are Gorgeous though!!!  I'm gonna try to get a few shots around the court house tomorrow.

I looked and looked and looked online for seymore jr.  My mom kept sending me emails saying "oh its a purple thislte" or "Dad says its a devil's plant"  and so on... but it doesn't match anything.  I had a thistle here off the porch that was almost ready to bloom.. but it too succumbed to the day of yard work.. this time by my twins who were going around digging up all the weeds trying to help dad out.  I couldn't bring myself to tell them to stop.  Ah well!


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## maryannaevans

My roses are going great guns--

Two antique tea roses--the buff-yellow rose in front is Safrano. The lemon-yellow ones in the background are Isabella Sprunt.









A blurry image of a china rose called Ducher. My books say it's always the first to bloom, but my tea roses were ahead of it by a couple of weeks.









Another tea rose, Duchesse du Brabant. You can see some of the Isabella Sprunt and Safrano blooms behind it. I just couldn't get a photo that showed how heavily all these bushes are blooming. The whole front yard smells like roses.









And I replanted my herb garden, because frosts killed everything but the chives and parsley. New herbs include dill, basil, culantro, thyme, and oregano. I also had some onion sets left over from planting my garden, so I just stuck them in there with my herbs.


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## BrassMan

ValeriGail said:


> Beautiful feild of wildflowers! I wish I could drive further south and see all that color!
> 
> I looked and looked and looked online for seymore jr. My mom kept sending me emails saying "oh its a purple thislte" or "Dad says its a devil's plant" and so on... but it doesn't match anything.


I just showed your devilish thistle to my wife, and she thumbed through her books like I had but didn't find it. She agrees it's a marvelous plant, though.

Sunday or Monday it's supposed to be sunny. If so I'll shoot more wildflowers around here. You don't have to drive south!


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## ValeriGail

BrassMan said:


> I just showed your devilish thistle to my wife, and she thumbed through her books like I had but didn't find it. She agrees it's a marvelous plant, though.
> 
> Sunday or Monday it's supposed to be sunny. If so I'll shoot more wildflowers around here. You don't have to drive south!


see, it must be an alien! HAHA.

Could it possibly be in the cactus family? it was awfully thorny.. or as my mother in law said Barbed. She didn't know what it was either.


----------



## BrassMan

ValeriGail said:


> see, it must be an alien! HAHA.
> 
> Could it possibly be in the cactus family? it was awfully thorny.. or as my mother in law said Barbed. She didn't know what it was either.


Somewhere in my vast collection of south Texas wildflowers I think I have something like that. I'll try to check tomorrow. It's pretty obviously a thistle, I should think...or an alien (alien to Texas??)!


----------



## BrassMan

This is what I remembered (from 10 years ago), ValeriGail. It's called bull thistle. It's close to Seymore, but I don't think it is Seymore.










While on the subject of odd plants, here is dodder, a parasitic vine. It does bloom, but this one has none at the moment.


----------



## Jeff




----------



## ValeriGail

That is very very close to seymor!!!  He didn't have as many flowers coming off of him, and had more barbed greenery...but its the closest I've seen yet!  I'm gonna look further into it tomorrow!  Thanks for trying to figure this one out with me.


----------



## BrassMan

ValeriGail said:


> That is very very close to seymor!!! He didn't have as many flowers coming off of him, and had more barbed greenery...but its the closest I've seen yet! I'm gonna look further into it tomorrow! Thanks for trying to figure this one out with me.


Hmmm. Consider this: perhaps Seymore is but a lad, and Methuselah, just above, is a a hoary elder.

I photographed that particular bull nettle thirty or forty miles north of where I live, to the best of my memory. They don't seem to exist around here, and I've been paying attention to wildflowers for twenty years, at least. I doubt I'll run across a Seymore nearby.

I noodled around in Google and Wikipedia briefly but had no luck. "Cnidoscolus is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae . Species include: Cnidoscolus ... Cnidoscolus texanus, Cnidoscolus urens ... " etc.

The answer does exist somewhere; I'm sure of that. Have you tried showiing that picture to an agent from the Texas A&M Agricultural Experiment Station?


----------



## NogDog

NogDog said:


> Spring has arrived with a vengeance here in South Jersey: we're expected to exceed 90F today. My dogwoods are now fully in bloom:


My pink dogwood is in full bloom now with the leaves starting to come in:


----------



## ValeriGail

Beautiful, Nogdog!!!

I spent some time in my Mother in laws garden this morning and afternoon... (was a muggy morning, afternoon brightened up though!!) Her roses are gorgeous right now (have some pictures in the 10,000 words thread, and will post in the flower one too in just a bit). But, her front garden is so lovely, I had to snap a couple pics to share.



















Moonflower. I gave her the original parent to this plant for mother's day over 10 years ago. It moved with her from the houston area to here, and has replanted itself (or whatever you call it) every spring since. I didn't get to stay long enough to see the bloom open tonight, but hoping there will be one ready to open tomorrow too! 









some little purple flowers she has.. I'm not all that great on flower names, I just now I like them! HAHA


----------



## kindle zen

pink shower tree








don't know what kind of flowers these are but they look pretty nice.


----------



## ValeriGail

I got more pictures of the moonflower yesterday!!!










And opened!! It was barely opening. If I had gone back this morning it would have been even bigger, but I slept in like a lazy person! HAHA


----------



## BrassMan

Beautiful, springy pictures!

Here are a couple works in progress. More as these plants develop.










The original century plant bloom is at bottom left. On day 20 it's about 18 feet tall. This is going to be some flower! Note there's a second one, extreme upper left. There's a third, too, out of the picture, behind the camera. Extremely unusual; no doubt due to El Niño's copious rains.


----------



## EKBrowne

I'm a little late with these and haven't had an opportunity to take photos of the flowers after they bloomed.. but I did go out a couple of weeks ago in search of some "evidence" that Spring is on the way!


----------



## Andra

ValeriGail said:


> And then there is the "under appreciated flower" that I was captivated by today. I know that I probably shouldn't want this weed in my yard.. but I think its totally gorgeous!! I don't know what it is. I've looked on a few sites today trying to find some info on it, but havent had any luck. Do any of you know what it is?
> 
> I have several... ok so several probably doesn't even come close! (in fairness, I live on 10 acres surrounded by my landlords 300+ acres... soooo there's lots of room! LOL) All different stages of growth too. One of them is as tall as my youngest child, but its lost all its purple color.... if it had any color, I hadn't noticed it out there which is crazy since its huge. I seriously had my winter blinders on, no joke!
> 
> I call it the Weird Thorn Weed


According to one of our plant specialists:
I think that this is Cirsium horridulum, which is called yellow thistle on the Wildflower Center's Native Plant Information Network. As you can see on link http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CIHO2, some of the plants have yellow flowers. Bull thistle is Cirsium vulgare (at least according to Google photos). Note that the spines on the flower head are individual while in yellow thistle, the flower head is encased by slender leaflike bracts that have spines along the edge. Musk thistle, Carduus nutans, has large spine-tipped bracts on the flower head. Yellow thistle is truly the most horrible one as it is so spiny. However, it's native. They can't all be bluebonnets.


----------



## ValeriGail

Andra said:


> According to one of our plant specialists:
> I think that this is Cirsium horridulum, which is called yellow thistle on the Wildflower Center's Native Plant Information Network. As you can see on link http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CIHO2, some of the plants have yellow flowers. Bull thistle is Cirsium vulgare (at least according to Google photos). Note that the spines on the flower head are individual while in yellow thistle, the flower head is encased by slender leaflike bracts that have spines along the edge. Musk thistle, Carduus nutans, has large spine-tipped bracts on the flower head. Yellow thistle is truly the most horrible one as it is so spiny. However, it's native. They can't all be bluebonnets.


AWESOME!!!! Thank you so much!!

I did have a yellow one that was over 4 feet tall... but it was UGLY! HAHA. Seimore, on the other hand, was simply gorgeous. I should have taken a picture of the bigger one, and had planned to go back out and have a kid stand next to it for comparison... but my lovely landlord chopped him down the same day he ran over poor Seimore!

Really cool to read the info about it. I would never have thought to click on yellow thistle!!


----------



## Andra

Well, I just happen to work down the hall from a bunch of people who are specialists in all kinds of things (plants, snakes, birds, fish and other critters)- and they love figuring things out.
Glad one of them knew the answer.  Now if you weren't in Texas, it might have been more difficult for them


----------



## loca

Ah, the most beatiful season.


----------



## BrassMan

Andra said:


> Well, I just happen to work down the hall from a bunch of people who are specialists in all kinds of things (plants, snakes, birds, fish and other critters)- and they love figuring things out.
> Glad one of them knew the answer. Now if you weren't in Texas, it might have been more difficult for them


Way to go Andra! Way to go KBoards! If you see Cecilia down the hall, tell her Al says hi. I've never met her, but I hear her nearly every day.


----------



## BrassMan

Prickly pear flower: harder to approach than thistles, sometimes, but lovely blossoms. Godawful plants, though. I gotta do something about ours.


----------



## kory

Tulip farm just north of Seattle


----------



## BrassMan

Wow! Colorful! Stunning! Nature + nurture, huh?


----------



## ValeriGail

Oh my gosh!!!!! That tulip farm is Stunning!!!!!  I so want to see that in person.. Gorgeous Gorgeous Gorgeous!!!


----------



## ValeriGail

BrassMan said:


> Prickly pear flower: harder to approach than thistles, sometimes, but lovely blossoms. Godawful plants, though. I gotta do something about ours.


Love Prickly Pear!! You know, its so funny actually. When we lived down in McAllen, Texas.. my mom worked hard at keeping them out of our yard. The minute she'd see one, it was uprooted and tossed into the cow pasture behind us or burned (or sprayed with the god awful poison you could spray in the 80's). Today, both her and my sister stop every time they are south and cut a piece off of one to root in their garden!! Cracks me up!! Before Hurricane Ike destroyed my sister's garden, she had a very lovely one in her front garden. She hasn't been south yet to replace it, and every time I see the garden it looks empty, even though she's planted a hoard of other things!


----------



## kory

Thank you. We had great time there last weekend. 
For everybody who want to see it in person  , you have until the end of this month.


----------



## BrassMan

ValeriGail said:


> Love Prickly Pear!!


I'm sorry, but that's a little weird in my book. It's not the big spines I mind, not even the little ones you can't see that you can feel in your skin for days--it's the way ranchers run over them with bush hogs, chop 'em in a million pieces, and a half million of them take root. Everything around here sticks, stinks, or stings, but prickly pear are very nearly the worst.

Attractive flowers, I admit.


----------



## ValeriGail

BrassMan said:


> I'm sorry, but that's a little weird in my book. It's not the big spines I mind, not even the little ones you can't see that you can feel in your skin for days--it's the way ranchers run over them with bush hogs, chop 'em in a million pieces, and a half million of them take root. Everything around here sticks, stinks, or stings, but prickly pear are very nearly the worst.
> 
> Attractive flowers, I admit.


I fully admit that its weird!  Its a strangeness that comes from being born North (St Louis) and moving south (McAllen) only to move North again (Chicago) before returning almost as south (Houston). First there was the newness of all the crazy plants, but then nostalgia and appreciation of the natural beauty of our climates. Of course, that's just how I explain it to myself. 

Then there is also my love of overly thorny, crazy looking plants. When we were down in San Antonio last month... I took over a hundred pictures of just cactus. Seriously!


----------



## BrassMan

I like cactus in the abstract. There's a .pps show of cactus blossoms going around the net that's beautiful. It's different when it's in a big pasture with cattle, though, along with thorny huisache and fire ants and chiggers and mesquite and black brush and grass burrs and goat heads and chaparral and ticks and wild hogs and catclaw and on and on. The beauty wears thin.


----------



## Jeff

I took a few pictures today but it will take me a while to resize and upload them so I'll post them here as they're completed.


----------



## Jeff




----------



## leslieray

Kory, your pictures are beautiful!


----------



## Jeff

If anybody wants me to stop, just say so.


----------



## Jeff




----------



## Jeff




----------



## Jeff

I know, I know. I'm hogging the thread but they all seem worth sharing and I can't stop.


----------



## Jeff




----------



## Jeff

That's about a third of them. I'll quit for a while to let everybody else post.


----------



## telracs

Remember, you can spread them out by posting in the flower a day thread or the pictures worth 10,000 words thread.


----------



## Jeff

scarlet said:


> Remember, you can spread them out by posting in the flower a day thread or the pictures worth 10,000 words thread.


But, but - they're spring pictures...


----------



## telracs

Jeff said:


> But, but - they're spring pictures...


They are also jut pictures and they are also flowers.... spread the love my friend...


----------



## Jeff

Fugetaboutit.


----------



## ValeriGail

Howudoin'? *said with lift of head*

LOL

I'm loving all the pics!


----------



## Susan in VA

Jeff said:


>


Oooo! This one! I want this one! Can I please have this one for a jigsaw puzzle? I'm getting some made from some of Al's photos, and this would be a great one to add.


----------



## telracs

what is it with you and jigsaw puzzles?


----------



## Susan in VA

I like 'em.  So does my mom.  So does my daughter.  We have...  er, way too many already, between us...  but it's kind of like books... always room for one more...


----------



## ValeriGail

Where do you get your puzzles printed?  I've been considering doing it with my pics and selling at a local craft show.


----------



## Jeff

I just ordered one from PortraitPuzzles.com.

The PDF file for the Indian Paintbrush cluster is here:

http://www.jhepple.com/FreePictures/flowers/2010_04_19/Puzzle.pdf

There's also a 26X20 JPEG here:

http://www.jhepple.com/FreePictures/flowers/2010_04_19/Puzzle.jpg


----------



## Jeff




----------



## Susan in VA

ValeriGail said:


> Where do you get your puzzles printed? I've been considering doing it with my pics and selling at a local craft show.


The ones I recently ordered were the first ones in years, so I don't have any current experience with one company over another. That's why I figured I'd try out more than one... I can let you know when they arrive what the differences are.


----------



## ValeriGail

Jeff said:


>


This is my fav... and this one



>


----------



## ValeriGail

Susan in VA said:


> The ones I recently ordered were the first ones in years, so I don't have any current experience with one company over another. That's why I figured I'd try out more than one... I can let you know when they arrive what the differences are.


Thanks! I'd appreciate it. I've been considering it for a bit now, but haven't actually moved passed the "thinking" part! HAHA


----------



## Jeff




----------



## Susan in VA




----------



## Jeff




----------



## MAGreen

These are some of the "weeds" in out front yard.


----------



## Andra

Jeff, love the paintbrush!
I took some when I was at Brownwood - I'll get them up soon - I have some downy paintbrush (pink and fluffy instead of the normal flowers)


----------



## BrassMan

Catching up a bit. Here's that century plant bloom on day 33. My best estimate is it's now 20 feet tall. The second shift, of late blooming wildflowers, has happened. They're not as lush as the first shift, but still colorful. The firewheel, or galardia, is a good example. Finally, red yucca is not common around here--maybe it is elsewhere. We have this one in a pot.


----------



## Jeff




----------



## ValeriGail

First honeysuckle!! We were walking through the park, and I got a big wiff of it, and stopped dead in my tracks. I LOVE honeysuckle. We had it growing all over our fence line in Missouri when I was growing up. Its a comfort smell for me, reminds me of home before we moved away.










My kiddos with their very first taste of honeysuckle. At first, my daughter wouldn't try it.. put a what in my mouth But, after seeing the boys go back for more and more, she decided it was worth a try. Now, I'm answering a thousand honeysuckle questions a day!


----------



## BrassMan

ValeriGail said:


> Its a comfort smell for me, reminds me of home before we moved away.
> 
> My kiddos with their very first taste of honeysuckle. At first, my daughter wouldn't try it.. put a what in my mouth But, after seeing the boys go back for more and more, she decided it was worth a try. Now, I'm answering a thousand honeysuckle questions a day!


You triggered memories for me too--love that stuff! I even saw some lightning bugs the other evening, but you better not expect a photo.


----------



## corkyb

BrassMan said:


> Catching up a bit. Here's that century plant bloom on day 33. My best estimate is it's now 20 feet tall. The second shift, of late blooming wildflowers, has happened. They're not as lush as the first shift, but still colorful. The firewheel, or galardia, is a good example. Finally, red yucca is not common around here--maybe it is elsewhere. We have this one in a pot.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Brassman,
> I think you might have cleared something up for me. I think I have century plant in my yard rather than yucca. It gets one stalk that looks exactly like that, as do the burly clumps of plants. It doesn't get 20 feet tall,but it does get about 10 feet tall I'd say. And sometimes it is biennial (is that every two years or is that bi annual?). Anyway, sometimes it skips a year. I only get one stalk, no matter how many clumps I have. It gets gorgeous white leaves on it.
> Paula ny


----------



## BrassMan

> Brassman,
> I think you might have cleared something up for me. I think I have century plant in my yard rather than yucca. It gets one stalk that looks exactly like that, as do the burly clumps of plants. It doesn't get 20 feet tall,but it does get about 10 feet tall I'd say. And sometimes it is biennial (is that every two years or is that bi annual?). Anyway, sometimes it skips a year. I only get one stalk, no matter how many clumps I have. It gets gorgeous white leaves on it.
> Paula ny


It doesn't sound like quite the same plant. Do you live in NY, as it seems? I can't believe an agave, or maguey, could exist there, but what do I know. There's probably a whole bunch of related species of agave, as there are with yuccas. There are lots of plant experts here on the Boards. Can you post a picture of yours?

I admit our agaves send up exceptionally tall flowers, but that may be this semi-arid climate (which was quite wet the past six months). Agaves further west in Texas are not usually as tall, but they're often over ten feet.

Ours is not through growing. It won't bloom until it reaches its maximum height, which I'm guessing will be almost 30 feet. Afterwards, the plant dies. That's another fact that argues against your biennial being an agave.

Take a look at the neat website of Patalarga, also a KBoard member: http://mexicocooks.typepad.com/mexico_cooks/. Her April 26 post is a fine piece about agaves. There are recipes and food pictures too!


----------



## ValeriGail

Loved reading the blog post you linked today!  I never knew!!!  Awesome what one learns on any given day.  When I lived in McAllen, My house was 7 miles from the border.  I could walk down my street for 7 miles and be in Mexico.  About half way down there was a little store, and they sold bottles full of this creamy yellow thick liquid.  There was always a running joke, and dare, to buy some of that.  None of us ever did though.  Shy reserved white kids that didn't get to live down there long enough, HAHA.  Anyway, looking back now and after reading that blog post... I wonder if it was Pulque?


----------



## BrassMan

ValeriGail said:


> McAllen...a little store, and they sold bottles full of this creamy yellow thick liquid. ... I wonder if it was Pulque?


I bet it was. I grew up at the opposite end of the Texas border, in El Paso, 1000 miles upstream from McAllen, and I'm ashamed to say I never tasted pulque either. Some day I'll remedy that. I have, however, tasted tequila (no big surprise) and mescal, both of which are made from the same agave.


----------



## BrassMan

I think this is a black-eyed susan, but don't anyone sue me if it's not. My wife's the flower expert in the family. It's one of the late spring flowers here.


----------



## Cindy416

ValeriGail said:


> First honeysuckle!! We were walking through the park, and I got a big wiff of it, and stopped dead in my tracks. I LOVE honeysuckle. We had it growing all over our fence line in Missouri when I was growing up. Its a comfort smell for me, reminds me of home before we moved away.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My kiddos with their very first taste of honeysuckle. At first, my daughter wouldn't try it.. put a what in my mouth But, after seeing the boys go back for more and more, she decided it was worth a try. Now, I'm answering a thousand honeysuckle questions a day!


Valerie, what part of Missouri did you grow up in? I've lived in northwest MO all of my life.


----------



## BrassMan

Let's check in with the blooming century plant/agave on day 41. It's now 21 feet tall and starting to turn into a flower. I'm telling you, this is the flower from hell. It's just beginning to get weird.


----------



## NogDog

BrassMan said:


> Let's check in with the blooming century plant/agave on day 41. It's now 21 feet tall and starting to turn into a flower. I'm telling you, this is the flower from hell. It's just beginning to get weird.


Sort of looks like the world's largest asparagus.


----------



## BrassMan

NogDog said:


> Sort of looks like the world's largest asparagus.


I wish!

I'm trying to remember that sci-fi book I read as a kid..._Day of the Triffids_, or something like that. Carnivorous plants walking around offing people, as I recall. This thing doesn't do that, but it does something else nearly as bad. Stay tuned. It's coming....


----------



## telracs




----------



## Jeff

Do triffids smell bad?


----------



## BrassMan

Jeff said:


> Do triffids smell bad?


They must! Just look at that guy!


----------



## ValeriGail

Cindy416 said:


> Valerie, what part of Missouri did you grow up in? I've lived in northwest MO all of my life.


St Louis. Ferguson/Florissant to be exact. My family moved away when I was 8, but most of my mother and father's families are still in the area. Well, not Ferguson, but in St Louis and the surrounding areas. I always said I would move back one day, but I don't think its gonna happen. I like living in my small little lake town in Texas. But man do I miss the Trees in Missouri! I remember the first time I took my son to visit family. He just stood there staring at the trees like they were giant aliens or something. We don't have trees that big in Texas, nor are they as beautiful in the fall.

Brassman.. that does seriously look like it came right out of that book! Beats my Seimore any day! HAHA. Can't wait to see it bloom though!


----------



## BrassMan

I might be overdoing the awful aspects of the century plant bloom. Yes, it's very strange to watch, especially in slow motion, but it's also quite miraculous. If it were in a state park, or out in someone else's pasture, it would be noteworthy and even beautiful and that would be that. The difference with this one is it's in our little garden patio, among other plants, and leaning out over our "yard," which is in quotes because it's basically unimproved, but mowed, former pasture. This one will have peculiar consequences for the area and for me personally. I won't give those away just yet. I'll let the suspense build.

I agree with you about trees, ValeriGail. I remember visiting a friend in East Texas, and sitting in her parents' back yard. It was a small space, but they had pine trees, serious trees, several feet thick, that rose up out of sight as they mixed with other trees around them. For a brush country Texan it was awesome. We sat and talked and sipped until an odd sensation overtook me and I realized...it was raining. I had had no idea, no warning. We gathered up our stuff and hastened inside.

That would never happen where I live. We can see the weather approaching from thirty or more miles away. We can time the cold fronts, we can guess which direction thunderstorms are moving, and we can sweep the leaves away from the drain, if we need to, or fold up the lawn furniture, in plenty time to avoid problems. We can see spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

We don't have enough trees, but we do have trees, beautiful trees, most especially the massive, compact, and hardy live oaks. There might be a dozen in our "yard," some over 300 years old. Here are some over the road leading to our place, two big old oaks below our house, and a shot toward the back of the place, showing a number of oaks, but also lots of open ground and sky.


----------



## Cindy416

My sister-in-law and her husband live in St. Louis, as did my daughter. I don't get there often, but I can certainly see why you'd miss the trees. I've grown up with trees everywhere (lots of them), and just take them for granted.

Yep, Al. The agave plant does, indeed, look like the world's largest stalk of asparagus AND I can see where it would remind you of _The Day of the Triffids_. I've never read the book, but the movie was one that I saw when I was a kid. When I started dating my husband, I was reminded of the movie every time I visited his mom and dad's house because his mother had a built-in planter box that was about 3 ft. x 8 ft. in the living room. The planter had large fiddle-leaf fig trees growing in it, and the couch sat right in front of it. Whenever I sat on the couch, I had the feeling the the fig trees might turn evil and start wrapping their leaves and branches around me. (I had a traumatic childhood, can you tell? My brother was/is a herpetologist and was always trying to scare me to death.)


----------



## ValeriGail

BrassMan said:


> II agree with you about trees, ValeriGail. I remember visiting a friend in East Texas, and sitting in her parents' back yard. It was a small space, but they had pine trees, serious trees, several feet thick, that rose up out of sight as they mixed with other trees around them. For a brush country Texan it was awesome. We sat and talked and sipped until an odd sensation overtook me and I realized...it was raining. I had had no idea, no warning. We gathered up our stuff and hastened inside.


Where I am at now, there are trees. I think it is the main reason I gravitated here. I tried to move here over 10 years ago, and seriously looked at property, but we ended up north in Fort Worth where the trees are small and they knock down everything to build. My inlaws moved here about 6 years ago, and we came to visit as much as we could. I picked up the kids and relocated last august. I LOVE it here. Currently I am on 10 acres (rented), that mostly is undeveloped and covered in large pine and Magnolias. Some oak too. But, the most important thing, they are taller than 10 feet! HAHA!! I'm actually just east of the Sam Houston National Forest. I remember the first time we visited the area, to camp at a State park... I was in awe and fell in love almost immediately. Best of both worlds, a nice compromise I think. Beautifully large trees, yet still in texas and near family.


----------



## Jeff




----------



## BrassMan

Galardias! Firewheels! It's fun to see them still going. Ours are plumb dried up, down here.


----------



## Jeff

BrassMan said:


> Galardias! Firewheels! It's fun to see them still going. Ours are plumb dried up, down here.


Come on up. I took these this morning on the way to the post office and drove past acres of Mexican hat, black-eye Susan and poppies.


----------



## BrassMan

Jeff said:


> Come on up. I took these this morning on the way to the post office and drove past acres of Mexican hat, black-eye Susan and poppies.


It would save a tank of gas if you'd shoot the Mexican hats, etc., yourself! I stopped and got out to shoot this one:


----------



## BrassMan

This is day 51 of the century plant flower blooming. (Shots from day 1 on are posted earlier in this thread.) It seems to have reached its full height, about 28 feet, and the florettes are beginning to form. The stalk (the trunk?) is five or six inches in diameter, and full of water. It's heavy--probably weighs 200-300 pounds or more.


----------



## NavyGirl Leigh

Wow that is crazy Al!  Not only do you have strange insects and snakes, but flowers and plants! hehehe

I am excited to see the end result

it's still too early up here for flowers except for what I have planted. And my husband like I told wasn't too up on the watering of my plants while I was gone...  

I'll see what I can come up with for you soon...

Shana Leigh
Is HOME! and has her land legs back!


----------



## Jeff




----------



## BrassMan

Coreopsis (Late spring)


----------



## BrassMan

Here, for those of you further north, is what you may be looking forward to. Our daughter near Detroit has yet to plant hers.


----------



## BrassMan

Century plant flower update, day 54.

It's now at full height, 28-29 feet, and fully branched. The florettes are starting to set buds. This is where the problem will arise later.


----------



## NavyGirl Leigh

All the pictures are beautiful!  Al amazing how big that thing is getting so fast!  Looking forward to the bloom!


----------



## jleer




----------



## jleer




----------



## Cindy416

This is the reason that my petunia hanging basket hasn't been looking too great. I took it down to water it, and found a robin's nest. Yesterday, there was still an egg in the nest, but it has now hatched. I'm not crazy about the bird building a nest in my basket, given the fact that I live in the boondocks on a farm with hundreds of trees available, but this does beat the time that the house finch built a nest in the wreath on my FRONT DOOR! I opened the door and the mother bird flew into the house.


----------



## BrassMan

Here are some very late spring (third shift) Texas wildflowers: wine cups, day flowers (a heavenly blue), and some spindly pink flowers I can't remember the name of--maybe when my wife comes home. I hate to mow these down, so I left a few clumps here and there. Gotta mow, or snakes can sneak up to the house.

These late flowers aren't as dense and spectacular as the early ones, but they make a nice color combination.


----------



## BrassMan

Century plant progress report: it's still 30 feet tall, but fully budded and soon to bloom; pretty majestic on day 77.


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## MAGreen

How cool is that? I am really amazed by this thing. I have heard of them and even looked them up on google and read a little about them. I can almost imagine it coming to life...although I can't decide if it would be a wise and gentle thing or a ravaging beast waking to devour everything around it. Thanks for sharing it with us Al!


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## BrassMan

MAGreen said:


> How cool is that? I am really amazed by this thing. I have heard of them and even looked them up on google and read a little about them. I can almost imagine it coming to life...although I can't decide if it would be a wise and gentle thing or a ravaging beast waking to devour everything around it. Thanks for sharing it with us Al!


Everyone likes to share their troubles. At least this trouble is fairly scenic and spectacular.

I'm going to give you a little preview of those troubles. You see all those little fingers on the bloom, above? I reckon there are about a hundred on that one finger. The whole plant must have at least a thousand or more. Every one of those


Spoiler



damn


 things is a potential century plant. They drop off, or the wind blows them off, and they try to take root: on the roof, on the back deck, in the garden, and here, like this one from three years ago, between a brick walkway and a wall. I cleared all I could find, back then, but I missed this one. If I don't dig it up, it'll push the bricks and possibly the wall aside and become as big as a


Spoiler



damn


 house.

And we now have THREE century plants blooming!


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## BrassMan

OK; here we go. Day 81 and it's not quite in full bloom, but it's well started. Remember, each of these little things is a potential century plant.


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## MAGreen

That is just sooo cool. What kind of camera do you have, AL? The zoom keeps really great clarity.


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## BrassMan

MAGreen said:


> That is just sooo cool. What kind of camera do you have, AL? The zoom keeps really great clarity.


It's a Canon SX-20. BlueEyedMum made me get it. Talk about an enabler!


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## NavyGirl Leigh

Hi Al!   Miss chatting with you!

I have to say that TREE., er uh... plant er huh., flower is looking mighty large and cool !


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## BrassMan

Bad news, I'm afraid, bad news for followers of the giant, slow-motion flower in bloom. It had been leaning lately, and we do have brisk winds off the coast, and yesterday this was the scene. I've never seen this happen before.

The good news, such as it is, is that we still have two similar plants in good condition. One is leaning. This coming week I shall try to find a way to stake it, short of hiring a crane. The other two are perhaps ten days younger than this unfortunate one. (Still, we have hopes of drying it and making a nice Christmas tree.)










Hi, NavyGirl! Send me a PM!


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## MAGreen

Oh my! Well, it was fun while it lasted, and look at this way, now it can't spread all those seeds and take over the world...


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## telracs

MAGreen said:


> Oh my! Well, it was fun while it lasted, and look at this way, now it can't spread all those seeds and take over the world...


That's what I was thinking. One less Triffid to destroy us all!


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## BrassMan

scarlet said:


> That's what I was thinking. One less Triffid to destroy us all!


That was a funny thing about triffids, I seem to remember: they were prolific and hard to kill. Regarding our crashed century plant, by our house, here's a look east from it and a look west. Uh-oh! Two more!

East:










West:


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## BrassMan

My wife really, really wants a dried Christmas tree. Soooo...this is the latest development:










It may last, or it may not. Right now we're watching to see if Hurricane Alex comes this way. If it does, all bets are off.


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## MAGreen

Oh wow! I hope for your wife's sake that it survives for her.


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## BrassMan

We're well out of spring, alas, but these dayflowers are (1) rare, and (2) among my favorite wildflowers, being late spring and summer flowers, and usually trying to bloom after folks have lost patience with dried up flowers and started mowing everything in sight. I leave a few patches of these, just to be sure they endure. They help with that: they fold up during the heat of the day and open up again the next morning. They'll last through August if they don't get cut down.

They're a lovely, sky blue, but small. Here's a sampling in increasing closeup:


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## Susan in VA

Those blue ones are pretty!  What's the status of your pet Triffid?


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## BrassMan

Susan in VA said:


> Those blue ones are pretty! What's the status of your pet Triffid?


The staked one is still staked, despite two tropical depressions. The fallen one, on the sawhorses, continues to try out, dropping blooms by the hundreds. The third one is still leaning. Time moves on.

Here's a bromeliad, another slow-blooming flower, not nearly as triffid-like but still prickly.


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## telracs

Pretty blue!


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