Wandering along the Bluebonnet Trail

Bluebonnet Carpet

Bluebonnet Pond

One of a Kind

Don't Fence Me In

Springtime Palette

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Enjoy more floral fun at TODAY'S FLOWERS

This was a small slice of MY WORLD

This weekend I had the great pleasure of visiting the town of Ennis, Texas. Enis is the home of the Ennis Bluebonnet Festival and the Bluebonnet Trail. This celebration of the blooming of the State Flower of Texas lasts for the entire month of April and they have been lucky to have a great crop of flowers on hand to start off the month. According to all predictions, the drought we've seen here in north and central Texas was supposed to really put a downer on this year's crop of bluebonnets, but if this weekend is any indication, the season looks to be pretty healthy! On this first weekend of the festival, the crowds were small and the roads that make up the "trail" were well marked. I strongly recommend visiting the website for the festival and getting an up to date map with current conditions and specific areas with the best blooms as these will change throughout the month.  Enjoy my sampling of this weekend's Texas Color. I may well return there nest weekend!

Signs of Spring!

Ahhh.... Spring is truly arriving here in North Texas. I'll allow Mother Nature to share her show with you  - She speaks far more eloquently than I ever can!

White Throated Sparrow

Purple Wing Violas

Dark Eyed Junco

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Enjoy Visions of other places through MY WORLD

A place where images do the talking- WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

More Feathered friends? Try WORLD BIRD WEDNESDAY

Fabulous Floral Fun? TODAY'S FLOWERS

Spring has Sprung! (Finally!)

Yesterday we took my daughter back to college after her spring break and spent almost 8 hours on I-35 between Dallas and Austin, Texas. We were sitting  in the car at 4:22 pm local time when the moment of the Vernal Equinox passed. While the scenery along the interstate was less than inspiring, we did pass by a patch of our beloved state flower, the Texas Bluebonnet which reminded me that there is indeed a lot to look forward to here in Texas come springtime. The expectation for this year's crop of wild bluebonnets is not good as we had a relatively dry autumn, a ridiculously cold winter, and a drought stricken last two months.

In hope that there are good bluebonnet images to be had this spring I am posting these from last year in the hopes that those of you not fortunate enough to bein Texas during the early spring can enjoy a bit of Texas in far away lands!

Bluebonnet Hill

Bluebonnet Sky

Beebonnet

Click in any of the images to view it in the original gallery.

This is a post to the MY WORLD Meme

Pretend you did not read my words above and this qualifies for WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ;-)

If you like more flowers, visit TODAY'S FLOWERS

Busy as Bees!

Today's post was inspired by my friend, Mark Moffett's extraordinary photo spread of exotic pollinating creatures in the March Issue of National Geographic. On  my visit to the Dallas Arboretum for their "Dallas Blooms" event, I was able to spend time with my current favorite flower, the Iceland Poppy (Papaver nudicaule). As this is the weekend of the Vernal Equinox, I wanted to share the recent images of Iceland poppies and their pollination.

Preparing to Pop

Click in any of the images to see them in their original gallery!

Interested in Pollinator? Visit the Pollinator Partnership- They do great work!

Visit Macro Flowers Saturday or Flowers on Saturday for more bloomin' fun!

Also see the fun at TODAY'S FLOWERS & MACRO MONDAY.

A real life "Spring Beauty"

Yesterday I had the fun  of visiting Helen Lee's Daffodil Garden near Gladewater Texas to see and shoot daffodils. One of the great surprises of the day was getting to see a flower I had long overlooked. This is the very small blossom of Virginia Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica). This plant is an early spring bloomer throughout most of North America. It is often one of the earliest signs of spring. I also learned that the coal miners of Appalachia refer to it as "Miner's Lettuce" as it was often used in hand picked salads.

Virginia Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

Click in the image to view it in the original gallery

Virginia Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica)

Click in the image to view it in the original gallery

Enjoy other Macro shots at MACRO MONDAY!
Looking for  more floral images?  Try MACRO FLOWERS SATURDAY.
Feel free to visit TODAY'S FLOWERS as well.

Visions of Spring......

This week's WORDLESS WEDNESDAY post.... click the link to see other wordless offerings....

Click in the image to see it in the original gallery.

TODAY'S FLOWERS has lots of other floral images!
MACRO FLOWERS SATURDAY  & FLOWERS ON SATURDAY are also a great places to get your "floral fix"!
Visit OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY for still more great ourdoorsy pics!
Enjoy MACRO MONDAY for some smallscale fun!