Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

Many of you know I spend part of the year in Austin to be near Bernie and Pai.  Well, stay with me here,  Bernie has a friend Willow who's Mom, Paula, also from California, comes to Austin to spend extended time with her two grandsons. How cool is that?  We hit it off and have been doing some fun outings together.

Recently,  just before the wildflowers really burst here in the Hill Country, Paula and I spend a morning exploring the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Continuing with the Mother and Daughter theme, a mom and baby turtle greeted us in the lily pond.

Several Spider Lilies were growing in the same pond.  I've never seen one of these in the wild.  Probably because I'm not going into the swampy areas where they grow!

The main entry was covered in a blanket of (what I think is) Trumpet Vine.

The springs in Texas are AMAZING.  A lovely example has been created in the center of the courtyard.

An army of happy volunteers keep the Wildflower Center humming.  The employees are clearly loving their jobs too.  Who wouldn't, working here AND driving a flower power truck!

Each day a couple blossoms are displayed of each of the currently blooming wildflowers.  It's a big help in identifing new flowers!

OK, it's true, I probably won't be riding a horse in the desert anytime soon,  Still, I was glad to learn about this scary cactus.

Bluebonnets are among the early bloomers in the Hill Country.  They are abit ahead of the native grasses and that results in the gorgeous fields of bright blue.

Every year I intend to visit the Wildflower Center more often.  Maybe I'll go out next week to see who the late bloomers are in this part of the country.