For those of us who were skeptical about the prospect of wildflowers this year, we are happily having to eat our words.  The variety isn’t as wide as some years, but the beauty is terrific.

Even before the Bluebonnets start to fade, all kinds of yellow daisies and asters appear in large swatches.

The differences in their flowers are subtle and require close inspection and knowledge to identify them.

Usually mixed in among the groups of yellow flowers are other wildflowers and weeds.  In the above picture Sweet William or Wild Verbena add some purple.

The next wildflower in succession is the Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella).

In an undisturbed field, they can cover acres providing brilliant color.

Sometimes it’s called a Firewheel.

Like most Texas wildflowers, they are hardy.  I personally think that God provides this spring show to encourage us as we face the unbearable summer temperatures.

This is a Buffalo Gourd or Stinking Gourd (Cucurbita foetidissima) vine.  They grow in pastures and produce a small round gourd that is light yellow when ripe.

The Evening Primrose or Showy Primrose (Oenothera speciosa) starts blooming in late March.  They often grow in massive groups along the roadsides.

Their toughness and ability to grow in many types of soils and conditions seems incongruent with their delicate looks.

Because their petals form a cup shape, they are also known as buttercups.  Aren’t they a sweet flower that looks like it should be in a wedding bouquet?

It has been a good year for a kaleidscope of color in the fields and bar ditches of central Texas.  What a pleasure.

“She attended the Nation’s great needs,
Was admired by Persians and Medes,
But acquired, sad to say,
Somewhere on the way
An unhealthy attachment to weeds.”

Harry Middleton toasting Lady Bird Johnson