Cold A Comin'

Sat - 70 heading to 83, no wind, a few clouds
Sun - more humid, overcast, winds pickingup, 70 heading to 83, then a cold front blows in overnight- no rain, hardly any clouds - just cold and windy

This is my first fall here, so I'm interested in seeing the BLeaves of BL.  In October, it was the poison ivy with brilliant yellows then reds.  Then the nandina with deep reds.  Then the shouting yellow of chinaberry- most leaves/branches of which are gone now in early November. (There was also the ugly turning of redbuds and ash - a sad yellow with brown decaying spots.)

Next up, in late October, the nut trees - buckeyes, pecans and walnuts.  Dusty yellows and reds, changing from the interior out that remind me of fireworks.

This trip, the evergreen sumac fruits had turned from green to red.  Here's the sequence of flowers to red berries from early October to early November.

Though keep in mind that on any day in Oct/Nov I see bushes in all three stages.

One of my favorite plants to discover in Texas - Turk's cap.  Here is the flower in October and the fruit in November.

What I see is that the flower is red, then the fruit first grows green, then develops the red again as it matures.  It's red the 2 times it needs the attention of others - flowers ready to polinate and fruits ready to eat and spread the seeds around.

I find the more I know - the more I can name, at least, the more I dismiss what I already know the name of - "Yeah, yeah, more Lindheimer's silk tassle.  Silk tassle.  Silk tassle.  Tassle. tassle. tassle.  Geez, it's everywhere."  But I see it everywhere, precisely because I know what it looks like, and I can name it.

Saturday, we were told it was the time to see orchids, and we all looked, but we didn't see any.  Most likely because we didn't know what to look for.  On Sunday, Bill pointed out the Ladies Tresses Orchid right by the path. (Sorry for the unfocused shot)

And then, just a few yards up the path, I saw another one.  It was easy- I knew what to look for.
Our brains are fantastic pattern-recognition machines!