Spring comes to the Capitol Grounds

This Redbud tree is in full bloom. It's one of our early harbingers of spring. I took this last Sunday. Well into spring in Central Texas! The statue in the background is featured here.

Goodbye, Srping

Shot this about the first week of April when we wandered a bit in the neighborhood of North Loop and 53rd Street. Wildflowers are fading now so we are sending the month off with this shot of a vacant lot catering to birds and wild flowers.

Spring, fully sprung

We had a pretty mild winter. Spring came early, almost all at once, instead of slowing unwinding with bulb plants and redbuds, then fruit blossoms and mountain laurels then wild flowers. We finally got some rain and the wildflowers especially loved it. These are actually growing in someone's yard in Old West Austin.

Spring in Texas

Spring arrived a few weeks ago, no matter what the calendar says. The Mountain Laurels were pumping out a grape jelly smell that this bee appreciated greatly. Our friend Jackie took this last Sunday.

It's Spring

First you see some bulbs pop up. But the next harbinger of spring around here are the Red Bud trees. They have come into bloom in the last week or two and now everything is following in bud and bloom. These trees are on the UT Campus.

Spring Flowers

Summer is coming fast so I thought I better post this photo of flowers (and colorful houses) that I took a week ago Saturday before Spring has yielded to our longest Austin season. Took this in Old West Austin.

Wait, wait, is it Spring??

Day before yesterday we were walking around and noticed Redbud Trees blooming. They are a harbinger of Spring. Our usual last freeze danger is three or four weeks away but the plants are going after it. We also saw Mountain Laurel blooming. (See those blossoms here from last year.) The pretty cottages in the background are in Old West Austin.

Fall Flamingos

There's a garden store at Bee Cave (RM 2244) and 360 (aka Cap. of Texas Hwy) that always has a display of pink plastic flamingos. One way you can tell it is fall is that pumpkins are mixed in with them. (Are they plastic, too? I think so, maybe. I took this from the passenger seat of the car so I didn't give it close inspection.) It's definitely October, I guess. Signs of fall here include pumpkins, a hint of cool in the air before it turns brutally hot and, of course, football (the kind with the odd-shaped ball Americans obsess over). The store is called Pots and Plants.

Spring is Full Blown

We are pretty far south and by April spring is pretty full on here. This is a wisteria vine on an arbor at the Hotel San Jose on South Congress taken two weekends ago. The vines bloom according to size or the sun or some schedule in each plant but at the moment almost all are blooming or already have. The Redbuds have pushed away their colorful blossoms and are just adorned with heart-shaped leaves. The live oaks have pushed off old leaves for new and are throwing off their pollen to make green dust on everything. Looking across Lake Austin yesterday there was a green dust cloud on the west side. The pollen gets in my head and throws off my equilibrium but at least I'm not coughing and sneezing.

The thing about spring here is that it doesn't last long. Time to check out the air conditioning against the grueling heat to come.