A Bloomin' South Texas Winter

Thursday, February 7, 2013

One of the things I found very interesting, but not at all surprising, on my walk at Eisenhower Park yesterday (Wednesday, February 6, 2013) was the number of flowers that are beginning to bloom. We have had a very mild, if all too dry, winter so far this year in South Texas.

Temperatures have been running seven to ten degrees (F) above normal. A heavy rain fell south and east of Bexar County early yesterday morning, but we missed it completely here. The last significant rainfall in the county was about a month ago. Of course, this being South Texas, the weather could change drastically in a heartbeat. Our average last freeze is March 1st and the record latest freeze is April 3 set in 1987. It's not time to pack up the jackets and plant freeze sensitive plants just yet.

Most, if not all, of these flowers are blooming right on schedule, or just a bit early. However, I think the mild weather has perhaps increased their abundance a bit:

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• Photos 1 and 2 are a little bit of a challenge to identify. The little white and little yellow asters are to flower identification what sparrows (the little brown birds) are to bird identification. I am reasonably certain these two flowers are Fleabane in the Genus Erigeron, but they could be any of several of the numerous species in that genus. I made the mistake of not including their leaves in the photos. Leaves can be critical in differentiating species. I probably should stop while I'm ahead, but I'm going to venture on and say these are probably Spreading Fleabane (Erigeron divergens Torr. & Gray), primarily because this species is one of the earliest to bloom. If I am wrong, I am certain one of my friends who knows much more about plant taxonomy than I do will correct me.
• Photos 3, 4, 5 and 6 are much easier to identify. I had come around a bend in the trail and saw the Redbud branch sticking out from among the ashe juniper and was stopped in my tracks by the unanticipated beauty. I probably even uttered an audible, "Wow!" This Redbud tree is just beginning to flower. It is a bit early, but not by much. In addition to the flower buds, another definitive identifier for this tree are the seed pods still on the branches that can be seen in the sixth photo. There are two varieties of Redbud that grow in this area, the Eastern and the Texas, but without the leaves, I can't tell which this one is.
• Photos 7, 8 and 9 have to be Catclaw Acacia. That is the only plant I have ever seen with this type of thorns. The young blossoms are also typical of an acacia.
• Photo 10 is a Golden-eye Phlox. This plant with a single flower was blooming all by its lonesome, even though this is typically a flower that blooms in abundance in the late winter and into spring. Sometimes they even hang around into the early fall.
• Photos 11 through 17 are Wind-flower (Anemone berlandieri Pritz.). This is another common winter blooming wildflower in Bexar County. As can be seen in the photos, they range in color from white through red to deep purple.
• Photo 18 is Agarita (Mahonia trifoliolata (Maric.) Fedde). These winter blossoms will mature through the spring and produce red-orange berries in the summer that make delicious jelly. Of course, harvesting the berries from this shrub with very sharp prickly leaves can be a challenge, but well worth the effort.