130 miles south of here it sure looks like spring has arrived.  On Sat. we drove to Austin where Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes were blooming in great abundance along the roadsides.  The state highway department seeded heavily in the Austin area.  The consistently warm weather and some rains in that area has provided green trees and some flowers.

As we stepped out of the parking lot at Mayfield Park, a patch of Bluebonnets greeted us.

The high pitched “Help Me, Help Me” of the peacocks can be heard throughout the park.  They have free roam and don’t even seem to notice all the people walking around.

I wondered if this peacock and the squirrel would react to one another, but they just kept to their own business.   Obviously, their meeting was old hat to them.  Ho, hum, boring.

Beside the parking lot was this small Redbud tree.  They are seeded by birds and spring up just about anywhere.

These native Giant Spiderworts (Tradescantia gigantea) are so pretty.  Last year I planted one but it didn’t bloom; maybe it will this year.

Mine was planted in full sun.  These are partly shaded.

First, we walked through the nature area with many different kinds of native trees.  This bunch of plants with the tiny white flowers was eye catching.

It’s probably a plant that only grows in shade.  And that, I don’t have.

Many of the trees leaned with crooked and twisted shapes.

This lavender clusters of flowers were growing on a small tree.

Could it be a fruit producing plant?  Loved the butterfly.

Growing on the edge of a drop off, this bush or small tree was covered with blooms.

I think this is a Rusty Blackhaw (Viburnum rufidulum) which usually grows as an understory tree but can grow in full sun.

This unusual tree had the oddest leaves at the end of the branches.

Looking up, I wondered if those were the leaves or if it was a fungus that had killed the real leaves.

Another mystery.

This tree looks like it’s growing out of a rock, but it must be connected to the tree on the left.

This city park was a residence at one time.  The whole neighborhood is on the edge of Lake Austin.  This property seems to back up to an inlet of the lake.

Coming out of the wooded area, this stand of yuccas are in full bloom.  The ones further north are not even close to blooming yet.  What a difference a few degrees of latitude make.

A big area of native wildflowers beside the yuccas.

A bed next to the parking lot that also contains native plants.

On my next post, I’ll show the area inside the yard of the house area.

“Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art.”  Eleanor Roosevelt