Sunday, March 10, 2013

When Bluebonnets Bloom, The 2013 Version; A Sunday Special Edition

Sunday, March 10, 2013

When Bluebonnets Bloom
"My heart found its home long ago in the beauty, mystery, order and disorder of the flowering earth. [T]he bounty of nature is … one of the deep needs of man. The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share. It is not only a mirror of ourselves, but a focusing lens on what we can become."  -  Lady Bird Johnson,  In Her Own Words










We had much more rain last winter than this winter, so by this time last March the wildflowers were already blooming abundantly, especially the Texas Bluebonnet. As I wrote in the title for my March 14, 2012 post: "When bluebonnets bloom, it's Spring in South Texas."

The bluebonnets are just getting started this year and the other wildflowers are slowly beginning to appear. We had a rain last night that brought us close to the average rainfall for this time in March, so hopefully, the wildflowers will soon brighten the South Texas landscape.

We are becoming increasingly aware of the value and importance of nativescaping* and wildscaping* in our urban environment. We need to remember Lady Bird Johnson's words year around, but this time of year we are especially reminded that "[The environment] is not only a mirror of ourselves, but a focusing lens on what we can become."

This set of photos was taken on my walk along the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River on Friday (March 8, 2013).

* "Nativescaping" refers generally to a landscape that is dominated by plants native to the local region. "Wildscaping" more specifically refers to a nativescape that is designed to provide habitat for a variety of native wildlife including, but not limited to, birds and butterflies. 

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