Solanum elaeagnifolium - Silverleaf Nightshade fruit - click image for detail
Amongst the bastard cabbage (invasive non-native) out in the field at the planned Blackland Heritage County Park were plenty of Silverleaf Nightshade remnants, adding a bright yellow accent to the green of the grass. Their distinctive blue to purple flowers won’t show up until April and should last through September or thereabouts.
Sonchus sp. - Sow Thistle - click image for detail
Sow-Thistle grows from 1/2 to 2 ft. high. Originally introduced from Europe.
Photo taken at the future Blackland Heritage County Park site in Williamson County. This weed blossoms throughout the year, and is an annual rather than a perennial
Opuntia engelmannii – Prickly Pear (click for detail)
Here are the yellow spines of the prickly pear jutting out along the edge of the pads.
Lamium amplexicaule (click image for detail)
A closer look at the previous weed posting.
I rarely use an actual “weed” as a photo subject, since one of my slogans is “May all your weeds be wildflowers” and I don’t want to encourage the “wrong sort” of flowers. But it is raining and I have an excuse for not doing any hand weeding, so I took a picture of what is commonly known as Henbit. It’s a member of the mint family and is rather more attractive than St. Augustine or Bermuda grass, but that won’t help it escape being considered a noxious weed among the turf grasses. Oh well…
Lamium amplexicaule - Henbit (Click for detail)
Although most of the Turks Cap have lost their greenery, this twig next to the house seems to find it still warm enough to be sending out the solitary bud, which is slowly but surely opening. Will try to track its progress from bud to bloom.
Malvaviscus Arboreus - Turks Cap (click for detail)
Salvia greggii - Autumn Sage (click for detail)
Recent rains and mild temperatures have coaxed the Autumn sage into winter blooms in apparent profusion, posing here for a group photo.
Here’s a Liatris (Gayfeather) after the bloom is gone. This is in the front yard – sometime this Winter it will get cut back to the ground so it can come back in the Spring, but for now it provides an austere reminder of the seasonal changes.
Liatris mucronata - Gayfeather (Click for detail)
Silverleaf Nightshade fruit (click for detail)
These little fruits are still hanging in there. Took a walk in the greenbelt behind the house and didn’t find much – nothing in bloom. These fruits are toxic, by the way. But they are more photogenic than deer scat.
Salvia regla - Mountain Sage (click for larger image)
These long tubular flowers attract hummingbirds. Normally they bloom from July through October, but this was photographed here in December. It’s been an extreme year weather-wise, and a number of native plants are blooming out of season now that we’ve gotten over four inches of rain in December.
bob's brain: living well with a movement disorder and other comorbidities 