Fall is Spring Again

I can’t say enough how the seasons in Texas throw me.  When my internal clock says leaves should be changing colors and falling off, and flowers other than asters and goldenrods should be coming to an end, Texas sends out a carpet of new flowers as though Spring has just returned to the land.

 Fields are full of the delicate flowers of Praire Broomweed, a shrubby herb plant from the aster family with those impossibly slender leaves of desert plants and covered with an array of small yellow flowers. Clearly it spreads quickly as fields are full of it, and of course many consider it a weed, but back in the day it was used as a poultice to cure eczema and skin rashes so I am sure some folks appreciated it-teenage Indians maybe. 

Often along the borders of these fields and filling a section of the prairie where our Nature center is located are huge areas of Maximilion Sunflowers that can be anywhere from 3-10’ tall.  I assumed they were called maximillion  because they had so many flowers on each stalk but they are actually named for a Prince Maximilion from Germany who led an expedition out west in the 1830’s.   Either way, they are towering plants that provide a feast for birds, bees and butterflies.  You may have them in your area too for I see they are found in many states throughout the country.  They spread by rhizomes so that must account for why they are found in such large colonies. 

In my own yard the native Black foot daisies and Zexmenia’s that had all taken a break during the heat of summer have come charging back tempting me to not cut the grass in that area and once again providing, perhaps, a haven for chiggers.  We had a few rains that accompanied the cooler weather and it is amazing what water does for a plant, water from above seeming so superior to water from my hose.  Then the Lantanas all bloomed again, and the roses that I had given up for dead resurged.  So fall is spring, or is it summer?  No, I suppose it is just fall, Texas style. And next year, perhaps it won’t come as such a surprise.