"Earth laughs in flowers."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882
What are your favorite things? Raindrops on roses? Whiskers on kittens?
Some of my favorite things are books, cool days, my children, chocolate chip cookies and ... flowers.
My all-time favorite season is spring because the earth wakes up from its dormant sleep, puts on a fresh coat of green and comes alive with splashes of color.
Here in Texas, the state plants millions of wildflower seeds along the highways that turn our roadsides into seas of blue, red and yellow in the spring.
Our most famous flower (above) is the state flower, the bluebonnet. In other parts of the country, they may just be called blue lupine, but here in Texas, they go by the common, folksy name of bluebonnets.
The bluebonnet is so popular in Texas that it graces license plates, postcards, T-shirts and trivets. Every spring, it is a Texas tradition to take family photos among the bluebonnets.
The top photo shows a gorgeous field of bluebonnets that we have right across the street in the park by our house. Every spring I have the kids pose for me as I take another picture in the modern Texas tradition. Every year, they look a little older!
These little white star flowers emerged this spring from tiny bulbs in my flowerbed. I love to walk outside when the weather warms in spring and find new and pleasant surprises every day!
These delicate yellow wildflowers bloom throughout fields in the spring. I think these were by my children's school.
This is a dandelion in my back yard. I used to pull dandelions, but now we have pet zebra finches, and they love to eat dandelion leaves. So we let the dandelions take over a patch in our back yard. And they put on pretty yellow flowers in the spring and intricate globes of white as they go to seed.
These wee blossoms grow in little patches in the park by our house. They look a little like teeny-tiny blue irises!
These lovely yellow irises are newcomers to my flowerbeds, transplanted from a friend's yard. Irises really are some of the easiest plants to transplant.
I love all types of flowers, both wild and cultivated. Their beauty always brightens my days.
I hope these photos have brightened yours!
