I had plenty of good closeups this past week, but decided it was time to take a deep breath and look around, rest the eyes on a bit of space. Sometimes the scenes, not just the details, are beautiful.
A narrow band between the old drift fence and the creek has gravelly soil and a plant community unlike any other on our place. Blooming in the foreground are prairie larkspur and false foxglove; you may be able to see the occasional faded red of a scarlet pea (low-growing.) Ahead on the left are some plants that had baffled me for years.
This plant grows on the gravelly east bank of the creek, upstream of the creek woods. Thanks to the "Mr. Smarty Plants" service at the National Wildflower Research Center, I now know it's Texas Toothleaf (the margins of the narrow leaves are toothed) and its scientific name is Stillingia texana. Those yellowish spikes at the ends of each stem are the floral structures.	Here's a closeup of the weird looking terminal spike. Strange, isn't it? It has both male and female flowers on this thing.
This pool is so peaceful and lovely when it's full of water...I can't resist taking its picture from different angles and in different light conditions.
Looking along the south edge of the dry woods, the gentle slope down to the dry woods swale. Most of this slope seeps if there's enough rainfall. Every shading of color reveals a complexity in the grass types...Texas wintergrass (speargrass), buffalograss, Texas grama, white tridens, burro grass, curly mesquite and a little purple three awn. Plus Eleocharis in the distance, in the low ground. Plus the forbs--antelope horns milkweed, greenthread, coreopsis, Texas star, blue vervain, Texas vervain, praire verbena, stiff-stem prairie flax... Those of you who saw it the first year will remember the bare, trampled mess this was in 2001.
The view out the west end of Fox Pavilion, across a sloping tiny meadow of wildflowers to the brushy edge.	The view to the south from Fox Pavilion. That white stick is a planting marker stick for last year's agarita (still alive) and you can see the leaves of a Hesperaloe just to the right of it. On the left margin is a Texas persimmon; on the right margin is a prairie flameleaf sumac. Also in view are live oaks and Ashe junipers, plus some cactus and various yellow wildflowers.
North from Fox Pavilion, this little trail leads to the north fenceline, and then out of the dry woods at the View Corner. You're seeing live oak, cedar elm, aromatic sumac, elbowbush, cactus, greenthread, skeleton plant flower (barely visible at this size), plus some others I don't know.
Could not resist this gorgeous color. Freshly emerged monarchs are mating as they move north.

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