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Monday, March 31, 2014

AWASH IN BLUEBONNETS

I don't need to drive out into the countryside to see bluebonnets. I have plenty of them right outside my door.


They are in front of the house in the granite parking area and down the side of the house.



I cannot walk down the side of the house without crushing a few. But times are difficult. A dry hot wind and no real rain for weeks on end means their leaves are beginning to shrivel.

Years ago, before we bought the lot, I used to walk through here. The area that I call the upper meadow  was blanketed in bluebonnets in the spring. Our son, his wife and their little pup, Frisco, posed for a photo back in 2002 during a very bluebonnet spring.



After the seeds had matured I collected them to spread throughout the lot with resounding success. I even planted them across the road on my neighbors lot. I had hoped to see a similar blooming up there this year but lack of spring rain on the thin rocky soil has resulted in shriveled plants. But decomposed gravel seems to hold in moisture and the show in granite areas is as splendid as ever.


But I did find a new flower on the upper meadow. The pretty yellow Stemless Evening Primrose, Oenothera triloba. I'm hoping that it may be as prolific as the pink primrose.

22 comments:

  1. Even though you all have suffered from drought, it looks like a good year for your bluebonnets. Gorgeous! I miss those plants.

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  2. Splendid indeed. Watch out or you'll have mothers and babies lining up outside your gate to take their pictures in the bluebonnets. :-)

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  3. You're so lucky to have such a show just outside your door/windows!!. Beautiful photos.

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  4. They are glorious, Jenny! The bluebonnets were putting on quite the show along Highway 71 between Columbus and Bastrop this weekend. The Indian paintbrush were almost as beautiful in some spots!

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  5. Jennifer, than you so much for sharing this. It made my day. I love Texas bluebonnets. The seed won't overwinter this far north, but occasionally, I buy a few plants just to see them.~~Dee

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  6. Gorgeous! I am so glad your moisture hugging gravel keeps these beauties thriving.

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  7. Photos of your bluebonnet carpets are one of the things I look forward to every spring. :)

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  8. What lovely swaths of color. They look so lush in your photos. We saw some on our way to the Houston tour this weekend - there seemed to be more out there on the roadsides than I've seen around here thus far.

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  9. You have a beautiful sea of bluebonnets!

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  10. How fabulous! Hard to believe you have this prolific show without watering. My few shrivelled. Thanks for the musing on decomposed granite. I've longe wondered why some rocky areas loom and some don't. This is enough to make me want to create a decomposed granite area just for wildflowers.

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  11. Nice display, and a stunning if ephemeral look. Maybe it was all the granite that helped everything grow...mineral content, to that blend of drainage with moisture retention?

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  12. Jenny, it was a treat to see your bluebonnets first hand this afternoon. Again, thank you for the tour. '-)
    ~ Sarah

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  13. For those of us lacking in color this time of year, I have to say--Magnificent!

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  14. Thanks Jenny! That is very good to know about the decomposed granite. So far we mostly used it in paths but I'll admit - the plants LOVE to reseed themselves there. They already knew they'd get what they wanted surrounded by granite I suppose. Now I'm looking around my beds and wondering where else the granite would work to advantage!

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  15. They are absolutely lovely! To have those fields of blue must be a feast for the eyes.

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  16. Oh, your Bluebonnet pictures make me want to keep trying....

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  17. Beautiful, especially with the boulder backdrop

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  18. What a gorgeous view! I am sad that they don't grow here in our acid soil.

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  19. How luscious! And how lucky to have that yellow primrose. I've tried before with no luck. I do hope yours is as prolific as the pink!

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  20. How absolutely luscious! And I adore that yellow primrose. I've had no luck with it, but in your spot, I do hope it's as prolific as the pink.

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  21. I love seeing your display of bluebonnets. How wise to take advantage of something that naturally grows there so well anyway! Your yellow primrose is so pretty - I hope it does well for you!

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  22. They look beautiful Jenny! I had to plant my own this year, lol, but I'm hoping they reseed themselves in the new island bed.

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