I’ve been busy this month, so doing several posts on the changing elements of spring in May never happened. So now that the month is nearly over, I’ve collected the best pictures out of what I’ve taken over the past few weeks to show the beauties of spring in May.
In May, mornings are often humid with vaporous clouds that melt between 9:00 and 10:00 am.
Sunsets are often brilliant when lingering clouds reflect the dying light of the sun.
The beautiful redbud flowers that bloomed in March have now given way to red-tinted seedpods, which provide an interesting contrast to the lush, green foliage.
My mother’s Little Gem Magnolia is bursting into bloom.
A female grackle perches atop an Eldarica pine. A few years ago, we didn’t have these, but since the city has encroached upon us, we see them more and more. They make a lot of noise and are constantly after the dog food.
A beautiful mockingbird. I much prefer these.
My favorite, of course, is this little guy! I’ve been chasing him around with my camera all spring. He thinks it’s a game.
We get many beautiful wildflowers in May. Unlike the April set, the May wildflowers have a festive mood about them
These are Firewheel and Indian Blanket. At first, it’s very difficult to tell the difference, but here’s a clue that may help you. Indian Blanket is very brilliant with a strong contrast between the red center and the yellow tips; firewheel has a more dusty, faded appearance. Both are in this picture …. can you tell the difference?
Believe it or not, this is not a bee. It’s a fly that looks like a bee. How do I know this? Bees have double sets of wings; flies have only one. And of course, there are more differences.
For sake of comparison, this is a honey bee.
By the middle of May, there is an abudance of icy pink evening primrose.
I don’t know what this beautiful flower is called, but we have hundreds, somtimes thousands, of them, literally.
Even this late, there are a few Indian Paintbrush left. For some reason, the later a paintbrush blooms, the prettier it is. These are far lovelier than the ones I saw earlier in April.
Indian Paintbrush with Milkweed.
We have a lot of milkweed plants in Texas. Sometimes in August we’ll find Monarch butterfly catterpillers on them.
Here you can see the milky-white sap, which is extremely sticky.
This is a lovely yellow flower that I have no idea what it is. It blooms from top to bottom usually, though every once in a while I spot one blooming in the opposite direction.
We call these Mexican hats. Sometimes, the petals are completely yellow, but most of them are dark like this one.
This is Lemon Mint, one of my absolute favorite late spring wildflowers.
I have no idea what kind of flowers these are, but we have a lot of them. There are two kinds; first the yellow variety, then the yellow/brown flowers.
I’m not sure what these technically are called, but we refer to them as daisies, for obvious reasons.
There are a few Bachelor’s Buttons left.
A favorite of bumblebees, this is edible cow vetch.
Little girls love to pick flowers for their mothers. Here is Abigail with Amy Grace Jones.
Little girls also love horses.
Meet the neighbors’ new horse. He’s been here about a month and reminds me distinctly of the horse I used to ride years and years ago as a reckless 12 year old.
Our blackberries are ripening. By June, we’ll be picking buckets full nearly every day.
Our trees now have mature leaves. This particular one is a Bur Oak.
My hand in comparison to a Bur Oak leaf. Most of them are nearly twice as long as my hand. The acorns are larger than golf balls.
The best part of spring is little sisters.
My camera has taken ill and has been sent off to the camera hospital. As soon as it returns home, I hope to take a set of summer shots on the Texas prairie.
