Spring

Even the calendar says that it is Spring. The days and nights are of equal length and the spring trees are in bloom. The pink trees like those in front of King’s Hardware are Red Buds and are often the first trees we see in bloom. The white ones are either Pear trees or Mexican Plum. Both of them are currently blooming around town.

In my backyard the Red Buckeye is blooming. I am so glad it made it through the winter storm. Some of the limbs have died back, but the understory shrub has some lovely red flowers.

You may have noticed a yellow wildflower about one foot tall blooming along the side of the road in partial shade. This is Groundsel. There are two species of Groundsel found in the Hill Country. The Golden Groundsel (Senecio obovatus) likes our calcareous soils and the Texas Groundsel (Senecio ampullaceus) prefers sandy soils. The Golden Groundsel is most common around here with few leaves up the stem, but each leaf going up the stem is deeply pinnately lobed. The Texas Groundsel leaves going up the stem are more whole (not deeply lobed) or toothed. At the top of the stem the leaves of Texas Groundsel clasp the stem at their base. Our Golden Groundsel can form colonies that the deer do not bother. Groundsels are one of our native wildflower harbingers of spring along with the Wind-Flowers I mentioned last month.

Another native wildflower I currently have blooming in my backyard (deer do eat this one) is the red and yellow columbine (Aquilega canadensis). If the flowers are allowed to form seed pods (you don’t pick the flowers) they will self seed readily in a semi shaded location. The Bluebonnets, Stachys, Four Nerve Daisy, Engelmann Daisy and the Purple Verbena have started to bloom. Our native wildflowers never fail us even if the temperatures go down to zero degrees Fahrenheit!

Written by Jackie Mattice, Hays County Master Naturalist