Two Spring Seasons

I used to think of spring as the only season where plants pull out of dormancy and start to grow and blossom, sprouting leaves and new branches. However, watching my yard over the years, I've come to see that Central Texas has two seasons where this happens.

Of course, the obvious one is spring, March-May. The trees leaf out, and many plants come up. Sunflowers are a spring/summer plant and come up at this time of year, as well as many other wildflowers and grasses. Plants that died back in a winter killing freeze put up new growth, like lantana and passionflower.

Some plants, however, are winter plants, and their season of new growth is in the fall - like a second spring, if you know where to look. Among these plants are bluebonnets, larkspur, winter grasses, and cleavers. Sometimes my yard is at its greenest in the fall and early winter.

September - November is not as showy as March - May. Nothing much will be blooming. One of the reason that March - May is so full of flowers is because the winter plants are finally flowering, and the spring flowers overlap. In the fall, the trees may be dropping their leaves, but numerous sprouts abound on the ground below.

As my yard had grown more natural, I've been privileged to see waves of plants grow, not just those in the spring, but almost all year long.