Bluebonnets & Indian Paintbrushes ~ Then comes the Texas heat!

Thank you Belinda Spillman for hosting the challenge Show Us Your Summer Blooms and Crops…

It’s fun seeing all the green thumbs that have posted their gorgeous flowers and gardens in this contest. Growing up we maintained a very large garden in upstate New York and I can’t tell you how many hours I spent shelling peas, picking corn, lettuce, beans, asparagus, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, water melon….you name it!

I loved the little purple violets, tulips, crocus, daffodils, iris, daises and forsythia bushes that popped out at the first sign of spring. Closely followed we enjoyed the gorgeous peony bushes, tiger lilies, lilac trees, azaleas and rhododendron bushes with their large purple corsage size blooms!

I’ve lived in different parts of the country but moved to Austin in 1981. I soon learned the flowers and visual spring medley of blooms I grew up with were not grown in our hot temperatures and the soil was definitely not conducive!

No more bouquets of peonies until my Geno discovered where he could buy a bouquet for me. No more gardens as I love the Farmers Markets we have year round. I don’t have the time or inclination in our climate to try and replicate what our local farmers do so well.

Thanks to Lady Bird Johnson, spring means our highways and hills are lined and covered with Blue Bonnets and Indian Paint Brushes! Then comes the Texas heat!!

Our neighborhood HOA has created lovely entrances into each section with plants that do well in our climate with minimal water. I learned to appreciate and enjoy the blooming plants native to Austin. There is beauty everywhere you look …you just have to view with a different perception!