Neighborhood Wildflower Walk

Lately my husband and I have been skipping the gym in favor of our new exercise program. We're calling it the "Walk N Weed".  Two miles around our neighborhood, followed by 1 hour in the yard weeding or doing other needed garden tasks.

Tonight on our walk I noticed the wildflowers looked particularly spectacular, so I made a quick dash home for my camera.  When I look at scenes like these, I wish I could paint.  

This field looks like it is predominately Indian Paintbrush until you look closer and see the Wine Cup, Pink Evening Primrose, and Spiderwort.

At home, I'm forever pulling out Wild Onions. The white flowers are pretty, but the plants pop up everywhere driving me crazy.  Here in this curbside setting, they work with these Bluebonnets and Spiderwort.

Here's an interesting tidbit about Bluebonnets that you may not know.  Bluebonnets that have not been pollinated have a white center.  After pollination the center turns red signally bees to move on to a different flower.  See if you can pick out the red and white centers in the closeups below.

There are so many beautiful wildflowers, but here's one of my top 10.  I've always known it by the common name, False Indigo, Baptisia bracteata var. leucophaea.  I've also heard it called Ground Wisteria, which is probably due to the clusters of flowers which hang on the plant pulling it downward.  Most of these plants have finished blooming, but I found a few stragglers to share with you.

Cream False Indigo is a member of the pea family.  The plants are well-rounded and bushy, measuring about 1-2 feet tall.  The bumble bees love them and I do too.

Hey Bud!

At the end of winter, when the buds swell, I start watching for signs that the trees and other plants are breaking dormancy.  As each successive plant buds out, it's hard not to get excited and spring fever takes hold of my brain.

I live in an area of Texas called the Post Oak Savannah.  My 2 acre home site is generously covered with Black Jack Oak, Cedar Elm, and of course, Post Oak.  I think this particular Post Oak has flower envy.

This is a Shumard Red Oak in the early stages of leafing out.  Known for their fall foliage, the spring foliage isn’t shabby either.

I added two Forest Pansy Redbud trees to my landscape last year.  The delicate pinkish, purple flowers are followed by the heart-shaped purple leaves that make this tree very striking. 

My Mountain Laurel is absolutely dripping with flowers this year.  The flowers feel like silk and have a wonderful fragrance that floats in the air.  

Chinese Wisteria is an aggressive vine that should be grown with care.  My best advice is to keep it pruned and provide a strong support.  I'll have more pictures of this plant in the next couple of weeks as it fills my arbor with massive quantities of flowers.  The picture below is of a smaller plant that I'm growing in a pot as I attempt to train it into a topiary form.

This Blue Ajuga was just planted last summer, but it's already putting out plenty of those great sapphire blue flowers that I love. 

Rainbow Ajuga doesn't have fancy flowers, but it's attractive foliage provides interest all year long.  

This Spring Bouquet Viburnum is a new addition to my garden.  In fact, this guy is still in it's pot.  I wanted to be sure I got the right plant this time.  Years ago I accidentally picked up a misnamed pretender that never bloomed.  Well, the non-bloomer is on it's way out and this beauty is moving in.  

This foxy lady is called Hot Lips Salvia.  Hmmm... I wonder why?

Another new additional to my garden is this orange Globe Mallow.  I first read about this plant on a fellow bloggers site and knew I had to have one.  The color combination of the silvery gray with the bright orange flowers is brilliant.

It wouldn't be Spring without rose buds.  I gave most of my roses a very hard pruning just weeks ago.  While they're putting out new growth for a late Spring show, I'll enjoy this lovely Knockout Rose.