Monday, May 16, 2011

More Plants Blooming Now

Indian blanket, Mexican hat and Purple horsemint in the Willowbrook Reach prairie

The native wildflowers are in full swing this year, aided no doubt by the extra irrigation that we're giving everything as part of the Phase I restoration project.

Mexican hat stands tall in the Willowbrook Reach prairie
We had the pleasure of hosting a field trip this past Saturday for the Native Plant Society of Texas - Austin Chapter. It was so great to have such an esteemed group of native plant lovers walking through our greenbelt. Many thanks to Matt Turner and his friends for the great conversation and helping us to identify many previously unknown plants. Here are few below (all native to Central Texas!!):

Cainagre dock

Texas vervain

Silver bluestem

Dayflower

American germander

Coma

Coma

Poverty weed or false willow

Prairie verbena

Hierba de Zizotes or Longhorn milkweed

American basketflower

Purple horsemint

Remember: Nature is all around us and all we have to do is stand still for a bit and watch it unfold before us!

Recommended reading:

Remarkable Plants of Texas: Uncommon Accounts of Our Common Natives. Matt Turner. UT Press.
Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country. Marshall Enquist.