Spring beauty flowers (Claytonia virginica) on a lawn in TAMU Horticultural Gardens in Texas A and M University. College Station, Texas, January 3, 2009
Spring flowers blooming in Rock Garden in Mercer Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. Humble (Houston area), Texas, March 14, 2009
Various spring flowers in Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site. Washington, Texas, March 25, 2018
Black-eyed susan and spring ladies tresses flowers near equestrian entrance in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, May 18, 2012
Spring beauty flowers (Claytonia virginica) in Wolf Pen Creek Park. College Station, Texas, March 4, 2018
Spring violet (Viola) flower in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, March 26, 2018
White flower spike of spring ladies-tresses (Spiranthes vernalis) in Lake Bryan Park. Bryan, Texas, May 16, 2018
White flowers of spring cress (bulbous bittercress, Cardamine bulbosa) in area of Winters Bayou in Sam Houston National Forest, east from Waverly. Texas, February 23, 2019
White flowers of spring cress (Cardamine bulbosa) in Big Creek Scenic Area of Sam Houston National Forest. Shepherd, Texas, March 10, 2019
Flowers of spring beauty (Claytonia virginica) on Caney Creek Trail (Little Lake Creek Loop Trail) in Sam Houston National Forest near Huntsville. Texas, March 16, 2019
White flowers of spring cress (bulbous bittercress, Cardamine bulbosa) in area of Winters Bayou in Sam Houston National Forest, east from Waverly. Texas, February 23, 2019
Early spring violet (Viola) flower on Little Lake Creek Loop Trail in Sam Houston National Forest. Richards, Texas, December 24, 2019
White flowers of spring cress (Cardamine bulbosa) in Big Creek Scenic Area of Sam Houston National Forest. Shepherd, Texas, January 19, 2020
White flowers of spring cress (bulbous bittercress, Cardamine bulbosa) on Winters Bayou Trail in Sam Houston National Forest. Cleveland, Texas, February 1, 2020
Flowers of spring lady s tresses (Spiranthes vernalis) in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, May 4, 2020
Flowers of spring cress (bulbous bittercress, Cardamine bulbosa) in Big Creek Scenic Area of Sam Houston National Forest. Shepherd, Texas, March 20, 2021
Various spring flowers in Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site. Washington, Texas, March 6, 2022
Flowers of spring beauty (Claytonia virginica) on Caney Creek Trail (Little Lake Creek Loop Trail) in Sam Houston National Forest north from Montgomery. Texas, February 25, 2024
Spring beauty flowers (Claytonia virginica) in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, February 27, 2024
Flowers of spring Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes vernalis) under power lines in Lake Bryan Park. Bryan, Texas, May 9, 2024
Flower spike of spring Ladies Tresses (Spiranthes vernalis) under power lines in Lake Bryan Park. Bryan, Texas, May 9, 2024
A playful piece of garden art utilizing an antique wrought-iron bed frame, creating a literal "flower bed". The dark, heavily rusted metal frame features a classic design with curved corners and vertical iron spindles on both the headboard and footboard. Rather than holding a mattress, the space between the head and foot of the bed is completely filled with densely growing, low-profile green vegetation, pruned flat to mimic the shape and height of a mattress. This living "mattress" blends seamlessly into the surrounding garden landscape, with various other plants, shrubs, and spring-blooming bulbs growing freely around the base of the rusty metal legs and intertwined through the iron bars. Antique Rose Emporium. Independence, Texas, March 5, 2026
On the dry bottom of Flag Pond, the exposed basin was covered with an almost continuous green-and-yellow carpet of cursed buttercup (Ranunculus sceleratus), turning what is usually open water into a bright spring sheet of bloom. The plants spread densely across the dark, uneven mud, with only a few bare patches and scattered taller shoots breaking the surface of the low, fine-textured vegetation.The broad open expanse, distant tree line, and heavy gray clouds make the scene feel both striking and a little surreal, as if the pond has briefly become a flowering meadow. Near Nails Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. Texas, March 14, 2026
Several rust-colored, spiky-bodied ants can be seen navigating the deeply furrowed bark of an oak tree, acting as a miniature logging crew. Some of the ants are carrying entire green, beaded oak catkins--the tree s string-like flower clusters--while one prominently hoists a freshly cut, bright green section of an oak leaf in its jaws. The ants carry these heavy loads hoisted high over their heads, a posture that resembles someone carrying a sunshade. These are Texas leafcutter ants (Atta texana), a highly destructive but fascinating native species also known as the "town ant" or "parasol ant" due to their unique carrying technique. They climb high into the canopies of oaks and other trees to use their powerful, scissor-like mandibles to slice away fresh foliage, preferring new, tender, high-water-content growth like young leaves and spring catkins. Working in massive, organized trails, a large colony can entirely strip the leaves from a small- to medium-sized tree in a single night, and they frequently travel hundreds of feet from their underground nests to find a suitable harvest. Lake Somerville Trailway near Nails Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. Texas, March 14, 2026
Delicate, fuzzy emergence of new oak foliage in early spring, backlit to highlight its soft pink and green hues. Below the newly unfolding, distinctly lobed leaves dangle the tree s string-like catkins--the male flower clusters that release pollen just as the canopy breaks dormancy. Lake Somerville Trailway near Nails Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. Texas, March 29, 2026
