The
temps are warm enough here that it’s time to put the fancy boots away.
I
didn’t wear my boots on our excursion. They came along as a prop.
The
goal was a photo where it looked like someone took off their boots
to run thru the flowers.
to run thru the flowers.
But
I wouldn’t recommend doing such a thing.
Those
pretty flowers actually harbor some not-nice critters like snakes and Fire
ants.
Technically, we didn’t have much of a winter. And the some
of the wildflowers, like the Bluebonnets, are early in Texas this year. After
living here almost 17 years, we finally went out to Brenham for a photography
session before they’re gone for another year. There are wildflowers blooming
next to roadways here in the Houston area, but they aren’t good locations for such
an activity. Besides, there is nothing like seeing large, multi-colored swaths
of flowers in the open fields.
Taking photos of the Bluebonnets is a Texas Spring
rite. If you live in a major city like we do, you don’t necessarily have to
travel hours away to find the fields of flowers. Thanks to the Grand Parkway,
we can now get to the Brenham area in less than an hour, as long as traffic on
Hwy. 290 isn’t too heavy. On a nice sunny day, like we had this past weekend,
plenty of people were leaving the city for posy peeping and stopping on 290’s
shoulders. (Especially by mid-afternoon when we were on our way home.) It was a
little too crowded for our taste, and I never pass up an opportunity to visit
the Antique Rose Emporium. It’s located several miles slightly NE of Brenham on
Hwy 50, just south of the historic town of Independence. The ARE wasn’t open
for at least 20 minutes when we got there, giving us an excuse to finally visit
Independence.
I did most of my wildflower photography there. We
found the old school house, which had a circular drive and a small parking area
in front of the historical marker signs. Karl entertained himself reading the
signs while I walked around the lot and some of the town taking photos. He
learned Sam Houston lived in the big white house across the street and Baylor
University was originally founded in Independence. Other than some motorists
passing thru, and folks who were attending church, we mostly had the place to
ourselves. It was a nice spot for me to take pictures, especially close-ups of
various flowers. There was a nice variety of different species, and it was far
more relaxing than taking pictures where there were large crowds.
We arrived at the rose nursery about 40 minutes after
it opened. A few people had already arrived. By the time we left an hour and a
half later, it was getting busier. Go on a week day if you want the place to
yourself. However, we still enjoyed our time there. When breezes blew from the
right direction, the scent of roses filled the air. Lots of the plants in their
display gardens are blooming their heads off right now. Since I usually prefer
to plant my roses in the fall, I actually didn’t plan to buy anything on this
trip, and had just finished taking my last photo of the day. The subject was a
yellow beauty, in a planter, named “Julia Child”. Perhaps it was her sunny,
buttery color. Or her strong licorice scent. Either way, she’s a wicked
enchantress. I came home with one of her clones. Early this morning, I needed
to get my butt outside to plant her in the rose bed. Stormy weather has been
rumbling thru Texas the last couple of days. Today, it’s our turn. Skies were
darkening with a distant rumbling of thunder before I finished some other
chores I wanted to squeeze in. Hopefully, we won’t have anything too wild here.
However, there is nothing like a good Spring rain to water a new transplant.
The Project Queen
