Giant Plants

I don't know if it's just me but plants seem to grow much, much bigger than their supposed size.

Take these for example:

The bushes in the foreground are one of the savories... winter or summer savory, I can't remember which. The tag on these lovely little bushes said "grows 1 1/2 - 2 feet high". Those bushes now stand 5 feet tall and growing.

Antelope Horns

Yesterday I noticed that this guy popped up in our back 40:

I believe this is some variety of Antelope Horns (Asclepias asperula), a Texas wild flower which I've only ever seen at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. I'm pretty excited that it's here.

In a good (not an insanely dry year) our volunteer wild flowers include Gauras, Black-eyed Susans, Coreopsis, Herbertia, Wild Onions, Rainlily, Passion Flower, White Snake Root, Toadflax, Anemone, Goldenrod, Lantana, Primrose, Aster, Silver Leaf Nightshade, and Blue Eyed Grass. Whew! Now that I list them, that's a lot of biodiversity! That doesn't even include all the trees, shrubs, and grasses that grow here. This year, because it's so dry I've only seen about half of those.

Molt

Someone decided it was too damn hot...

 ... and that molting had to come early this year.

Notice the resemblance to a porcupine.