What was blooming (or not) 25 May 2020

Clematis pitcheri (Purple leather flower) (cultivated)

(Posted about a year ago – edited to add the names of the plants), Went out in the yard and beyond today and captured a few items of interest. Didn’t go into the front yard because it was getting close to dinnertime.

Lantana urticoides (Texas Lantana)
Salvia farinacea (Mealy blue sage)(cultivated)
Symphyotrichum oblongifolium (Fall aster or Aromatic aster) (cultivated)
Merremia dissecta. (Alamo vine)(cultivated)(escaped from cultivation)
(Maurandella antirrhiniflora) (Roving sailor or Snapdragon vine) (native, not cultivated)
Tetraneuris linearifolia var. linearifolia (Slenderleaf bitterweed) (native, not cultivated)
(Viguiera stenoloba) Skeleton-leaf Goldeneye (cultivated)
Solanum elaeagnifolium (Silverleaf nightshade) (native, not cultivated)
Conoclinium greggii (Gregg’s mistflower) (cultivated)
Ageratina havanensis (White mistflower, White boneset) (cultivated)
Viguiera stenoloba . (Skeleton-leaf goldeneye) (cultivated)
Callirhoe involucrata (Winecup, Purple Poppy Mallow)(cultivated)
Clematis texensis (Scarlet Clematis, Scarlet Leatherflower, Texas Clematis)(cultivated)
Opuntia sp. (Prickly pear)(cultivated, “spineless varietal)
Luchophxllum frutescems (Cenizo, Purple sage, Trvas sage)(cultivated))
Gaillardia pulchella (Firewheel, Indian Blanket) (natiive, not cultivated)
Oenothera speciosa (Pink Evening Primrose, Pink Ladies) (native, not cultivated)
A variety of native plants (mostly)
Glandularia bipinnatifida (Dakota Mock Vervain, Prairie verbena) (native, not cultivated)
Cirsium texanum (Texas Thistle) (native, not cultivated)
Gaillardia pulchella (Indian Blanket) including recessive gene lacking red pigment, “Sunwheel” (native, not cultivated)
Ratibida columnifera (Prairie Coneflower, Mexican Hat)(native, not cultivated)

Aster oblongifolium hosting fiery nectar feeder

Hylephila phyleus (male) - Fiery Skipper on Fall Aster

Hylephila phyleus (male) – Fiery Skipper on Fall Aster

Here’s a busy little Fiery Skipper blending in with the similarly colored central flower blossoms of the fall aster. I’ve been busy resurrecting a different website and other such things and haven’t updated this site for some time.

Here’s another aster that has volunteered to appear in  my yard and seems to be either a Prairie Fleabane out of season (not unheard of in this year of strangely out of season bloomers.)  It looks to me to be a hierba del marranoAster subulatus possibly  or aster subulaus. The key identifier is the blush of purple … I seem to have noticed elsewhere that “baby’s breath” is another common name…

white flower 10-29-2012

white flower 10-29-2012

Aster subulatus possibly

And from October 29, and a trip to South Austin to the roadway around the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, comes this picture of an  unidentified white flower that  i haven’t been  able to identify using the WFC’s online database. I’ve asked some folks but no one else seems to know either. I will be checking The Weeds OF The West and Toxic Plants Of Texas to see if there’s a match there…and the search for knowledge goes on.

And finally, since we are displaying our ignorance and searching for knowledge, here’s another unidentified flower from the roadside next to the closed on Mondays LBJ WFC – it does appear to be some sort of mallow to me, but so far no luck in figuring out each one. Oh well… tomorrow’s another day, or, based on the time zone in which this is being written, tomorrow is here, but the world is waiting for the sun to rise and I am waiting to sleep, perhaps to dream…

unknown flower at WFC

unknown flower at WFC

Fall Aster – Symphyotrichum oblongifolium

Fall Aster - Symphyotrichum oblongifolium

Fall Aster – Symphyotrichum oblongifolium


Late Spring is an odd time for a Fall Aster to be blooming, but this year has been an odd one for blooming flowers as they adjust to severe drought and a mild winter. Some folks refer to the plants as “confused” but they appear to be opportunistic – blooming and reproducing when the conditions seem favorable, whatever time of year it may be on the calendar.