I'm About to Rapture

“I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree” ~ this is the opening line in Joyce Kilmer’s (American poet 1886-1918) beautiful poem about a tree. It has always filled me with pride and been a motivating factor in my own near obsession with planting trees here on Selah. The recent rains have encouraged an explosion of flowering trees and shrubs, so much so, that I haven’t been able to visit, smell and observe them all. A walk on the trails this week revealed how many I had missed, but the sweet odors and the hum of bees and the skipping around of butterflies was surely rapturous!

Golden Ball Lead Tree (Leucaena retusa)

This attractive small tree or shrub is usually less than 15 feet tall. It is without spines or thorns, which are found on most of the Pea family members that live in dry areas. Cattle and deer find it very palatable which may account for the fact that it is not abundant over most of its range, which is Central and West Texas.

Photograph taken by Steven Fulton.

The leaves are twice compound. The fragrant flowers, which appear in the spring, are clustered, bright yellow rounded heads usually about ¾ inch in diameter. The fruit is a brown, narrow, flattened bean pod 4 to 10 inches long.

Photograph taken by Steven Fulton.

The Golden Ball Lead Tree is very attractive, easy to start from seed, and can be used in landscaping dry sites.

Rough Leaf Dogwood (Cornus drummondii)

Cornaceae (Dogwood) Family

The Rough Leaf Dogwood is a small to medium sized shrubby tree with simple opposite leaves which are very rough to the touch. It prefers moist soil and is often found under the canopy of larger trees along waterways. It is often found in thickets as in damp deep soils. It tends to spread from rhizomes.

Photograph taken by Steven Fulton.

Though not nearly as showy as the Flowering Dogwood, a beautiful relative found in east Texas, it provides cover for wildlife and is a durable plant. The flower inflorescence of the Rough Leaf Dogwood lacks the showy white bracts of its cousin, but the flowers themselves are very similar.

Photograph taken by Steven Fulton.

The name “dogwood” comes from the fact that a medicine was made in England from the wood of a variety of Cornus to treat mangy dogs.

The fruit is known to be eaten by a variety of birds, including quail and turkey. I consider it a desirable tree.

Red Yucca (Hesperaloe paviflora)

This plant is not really a yucca, it is a member of the Agave Family. It is found in dry brush conditions in Texas and New Mexico. The sword like leaves stay green all year-round. Blooms occur from spring through fall with pink or coral colored flowers that cluster along the pink stalk.

It is somewhat uncommon in native conditions, but is a popular plant around roadside parks and in landscapes. If you plant it close to a building it will lean out for sunlight as it wants sunlight from all four directions.

The red flowers distinguish it from true yuccas. Hummingbirds enjoy the nectar and I’m sure enjoy the long blooming period. You can plant it in most any soil and climate.

Photograph taken by Steven Fulton.

Shrubby Blue Sage (Salvia Ballotaeflora)

In Texas this woody shrub in the Mint family, also known as Mejorana, can grow up to six feet tall. It is found growing in rocky limestone soils on the southern edge of the Hill Country, but a few specimens grow as far north as Blanco and Hays counties. Most members of the Salvia genus are ot woody, and many are common “wildflowers”, such as Blue Sage, Topical Sage, Mealy Blue Sage, Cedar Sage, and Engleman’s Salvia.

Photograph taken by Steven Fulton.

In this picture, you can see a Red Yucca behind the Shrubby Blue Sage.

Leaves are wider at the base than the tip and have wrinkled surface. The small, light blue flowers are ½ inch across, and have a flattened, funnel like shape. It blooms from April to June. The previous year’s flowering stems persist as dead twigs and give the shrub a scraggly appearance.

Photograph taken by Steven Fulton.

I have introduced this plant as one that could be native to Selah but that has not been found here. It was given to me by the San Antonio Botanical Center in 2001.

Critters, Flowers, and Seeds

This past week was very busy and very rewarding.

While out taking pictures of flowers, I mananaged to catch a few nice photographs of critters that were out visiting flowers for their nectar.

This Purple Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) with exceptionally deep color lavender blooms was being visited by a number of bees. They were moving fast, and I had a hard time catching up with them, focusing and shooting a picture before they were off and away.

Shrubby Blue Sage (Salvia ballotoeflora) is blooming by Madrone Lake. It has small blue flowers that were attracting several bumble bees. Note the orange pollen on his right leg.

Queen butterflies were going nuts over the Blue Mist (Eupatorium coelestinum) flowers. It was magical to see them all fluttering around the patch of flowers.

I was focusing my camera on an unusually handsome Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) when a little female Black Chinned Hummingbird few into my view.

There are some new blooms out as a result of the two inches of rain that fell as Dolly made her way into Texas, and the 1/4 inch this past week due to the tropical depression.

I think this is a Bush Sunflower. There is a huge number of yellow sunflower type plants, and I don't know them all, but the description in Marshall Enquist's book "Wildflowers of the Texas Hill Country" sounded like the one I was looking at. If you are a botonist and see that I have misidentifed a plant please let me know.

These are the leaves of the plant in the photo above this one. They feel rough, and so does the stem.

This is a plant that was probably planted outside the window of our workroom. It looks like a color variety of the Gregg Salvia (Salvia greggii). I've seen them white, pink, and red, but not pink and white on the same flower.

These are the flowers of Shrubby Blue-sage (Salvia ballotoeflora). I've seen this lovely plant growing wild on the West Nueces River. We have had a specimen here next to the trail going down to the patio at Madrone Lake for years and it has done very well. Check out the image enlarged and see the fuzzy tops of the flowers.

Silver-Leaf Nightshade (Solanum eleagnifolium) is a common wildflower here at the ranch. I like it, and look forward to seeing the combination of purple-blue flowers and silver leaves in thick patches.

This is one of the Wild Petunias. I'm pretty sure that it is Low Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis). It certainly has pubescence on its leaves which is mentioned in most descriptions of it.

I have been trying to note and document the progression from flower to seeds, and have a few pictures of some outstanding ones.

When Milkweeds go to seed they can be quite dramatic. You can see the seeds still holding onto their fuzzy parachutes.

Queen's Delight (Stillingia texana) has yellowish-green male and female flowers on a spike that don't look much like flowers. The spike dries up and the fruit are green smooth pods with 3 lobes that appear at the base of the spike. In the photo above you can see 2 green fruits, and 3 remains of fruit.

There are rumors that we'll get some rain tomorrow, and today (Monday, August 11) is cloudy. We need rain, so I'm going outside to do a rain dance!

J David and I are going to West Texas for a little vacation. We leave tomorrow and will be gone a week. The gentleman that was at Big Bend and took our reservations, said that they have had rain and there are lots of wildflowers. Goody!