This spring has been a parade of bloomers lasting for about two months. First came the bluebonnets, not great coverage as we are not quite in the epicenter of bluebonnet growth. Then a shift to the more common yellow with fields filled with hymenoxys, tetranauris acaulis, the little flower, but plenty of them to cover the fields in yellow. This flower is also known by its common name of Angelita Daisy. These are small flowers so when the distant field shows all yellow, you know there are countless numbers of these neat blooms. Right on the heels of the hymenoxys came the gaillardia, gaillardia x grandiflora, also known as the blanket flower. Commonly, one will hear the name of Indian Blanket as well.
Not to be outdone, the fields then filled with black-eyed susan flowers. This plant is commonly known as Glorioso Daisy and has the Latin name of rudbeckia hirta. With the showing of the black-eyed susans, it appears that the parade of spring flowers is about to end.
If you didn't look closely at these fields of yellow, you might think that this showing of color for two months was due to one flower, but no, there were three.
Not a large showing, but it would be amiss to not mention the prickly pear cactus. Best year in many for the blooms of the pear. Looking closely at the blooms finds that the bees just wallow in the nectar of the yellow bloom. Nothing can disturb them as they are in seventh heaven with these nectar producers. It will be a good year to make tuna jelly.
Some observations from previous years are missing. Here are some we have not seen this year. Most notable is the junkyard dog of the bird world, the mockingbird. This bird disappeared with the big freeze of a few years ago and has not returned. We miss the mocker because it was a good sentinel for any snakes that were wandering through the area.
The purple martins turned up their beaks at the new colony house I built for them this year. The same goes for the barn swallows that checked out their usual nesting place in the breezeway only to find some better place to raise their brood.
The other mystery is the disappearance of the phoebe. For years we had a resident phoebe that stayed throughout the year, but again, with the big freeze, it disappeared never to return.
Nature keeps doing its thing. I wonder when the huisache will make another run to move northward. You may recall how the big freeze of a few years ago drove it all back south, well below San Antonio
