A year ago we made reservations for a hotel in Copperas Cove to see the total solar eclipse as it made its way through Texas. When the 10 day forecast started looking pretty dismal for most of Texas, we scurried to make alternate plans, just in case. In the end we ended up driving to the Lindale area in NE Texas to stay with Chris’ mom and step-dad for two nights after we made a detour to Sabine National Forest for some botanizing. But the hourly forecasts for Lindale were still iffy and so on Sunday night we started looking at possibly driving to the Tx/OK border, or even into southeastern Oklahoma itself. Then Monday came and suddenly the NWS Fort Worth’s cloud cover outlook was looking better for DFW. We’d always had going to my parents in NE Tarrant county as an option, though they were on the far western edge of the eclipse totality. In the end we opted to head to Chris’ mom’s other house in Collin County (Plano area) because we knew we’d have access to a bathroom and a place to chill out for a few hours that wasn’t somewhere on the side of some road. It turned out to be a decent decision until the very last 10 minutes before totality when low level clouds began flowing in. Cue the panic! Would we miss it after all of this?? I didn’t even have my shoes on and the three of us jumped in the car quickly and started driving through the neighborhood, heading west, then north, before turning west on a bigger road. I watched the clock as the minutes ticked by, closer to totality. I had Chris pull over on one little pulloff and we got out but the clouds still sucked, though it was getting dusky. I thought it was happening but it wasn’t…it started happening as Chris flipped the car around as we got back onto the bigger road. I couldn’t believe it—it was so sudden and OMG WE WERE GOING TO MISS IT! I told Chris just pull over, I didn’t care where…I wanted to at least hear the wildlife come out for those few minutes even if we couldn’t see anything. He found a spot in a neighborhood and we got out and OMG THE CLOUDS PARTED SLIGHTLY and WE SAW IT! I’m sad we lost 30 seconds of the event but the remaining time was amazing. I was torn between watching and enjoying and then getting a few photos, plus watching Forest enjoy it, and rinse, wash, repeat for 3 minutes. I mean, the whole event was absolutely bonkers! I had read and heard many people who had observed the 2017 event say that totality is drastically different than even 99% and wow, did we learn that! The one thing I was looking forward to hearing if we’d stayed back at the house were the elementary school kids a few blocks away. We heard them come outside about 20 minutes before and I was really looking forward to hearing their cheers and amazement as totality happened. I’d watched a video of some elementary kids from the 2017 event and it was really touching and when I heard the kids come out that day I knew it would be similar. So, we missed that, but still, seeing all of the people in the neighborhood out and witnessing it with just all the random people…it’s really one of those community events that everyone can enjoy together. I liked how everyone on the street had their lawn chairs out in the hour prior, just waiting and watching. It was disorienting seeing UPS and Amazon out delivering packages. I wanted to say, forget packages, stop and watch this cool event! I’m sure they stopped for totality…who wouldn’t? I think how bright it got right after was so fascinating, too. It was so quick! We drove back to the house and grabbed our stuff and basically turned around and got on the road for our four hour drive (plus who knew what traffic) back to Houston. We got on 75/45 in North Dallas and wouldn’t you know, 20 minutes after the event the skies were so clear?? Ahhh! Traffic was fine until we got to Ennis and tried to stop at a Braum’s for ice cream. The Braum’s had a line in the drive through and nowhere to park so we got back on I-45 and then the traffic was painfully slow the rest of the way until we got off in Madisonville to take our usual backroads to our house. We didn’t even bother stopping at Woody’s in Centerville for snacks and a restroom break after we saw the line of traffic on the access road, too. Oh, and would you know? we could have stayed in Lindale. It turned out fine and Chris’ mom and step-dad ended up having a great view of it there! I think many locations in Texas ended up having a better view of it than expected, especially if you were north of Austin. It’s been a few days now and I’m still reeling from the whole thing. Next time, whether I wait for the next North American one or travel elsewhere (eyeing that one for Iceland and Northern Spain in 2026!) I will just watch it, no photos. Well, maybe one photo! 😉 If you got to see the solar eclipse, I’d love to hear how it went for you!

Iris season is in full force this week. I always forget to go wander the pond shoreline but Chris sent me photos a few days ago of some of the iris and so last night I wandered around the yard getting some dusky garden photos in and stopped by the pond to see so many colors! They are all Louisiana iris cultivars, excepting the first and last two, which are Iris virginica. I have only recently really read enough to understand what defines a “Louisiana iris” thanks to the Society for Louisiana Irises. According to their website: Louisiana irises belong to the subsection Apogon (without beard or beardless), series Hexagonae of the genus Iris. They are derived from five species, most of which are indigenous to a limited area of south Louisiana and the Gulf Coast marsh areas between Texas and Florida.Two species, Iris brevicaulis and I. fulva, extend the range northward up the Mississippi Valley. Iris hexagona inhabits the southern Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, but by far, the greatest concentration is in the state of Louisiana, hence the name Louisiana Irises. I had always thought Iris virginica fell into that category but they do not. The Wild Louisiana Iris Project lists six species they keep track of on iNaturalist. Those species are: Leafy Blue Flag, Iris brevicaulis Copper Iris, Iris fulva Giant Blue Iris, Iris giganticaerulea Prairie Iris, Iris hexagona Prairie Iris, Iris savannarum Abbeville iris, Iris × nelsonii It looks like I. savannarum used to be classified as a variety under hexagona, which clarifies the discrepancy. Back in March 2012 I wrote a post here called The Ditch Iris, which at the time I was fairly certain was Iris fulva. It was across the street from our rental house and I hadn’t been back by there at the same time of year it bloomed since we moved, despite being in that area often, so I stopped by last week on my way to get a haircut and sure enough, the plants are still thriving in the ditch. I didn’t stop to get photos but may try to go back next week and see if they are still blooming and try then. It’s still the only place I’ve seen them growing “wild”. This is also a useful post to understand how to ID a Louisiana iris versus I. virginica: How to ID Louisiana Irises from Southern Blue Flag

Well, March zoomed by and between being gone for over a week plus recuperating from travel the week after, its been a lot to take in and even keep up with everything going on around the yard. Here’s a sampling of what was blooming this month: The mulberry tree started putting on fruit so those should be ripening within the next month to six weeks! Forest loves to grab what he can from lower limbs but we’re always competing with birds and squirrels. Spider lilies are particularly stunning right now and in wetlands throughout east Texas. Iris virginica are looking fantastic down by the pond. Chris has done a lot of work on the shoreline in the last few months, including burning the shoreline, which has allowed the plants to thrive closer to the shoreline. Dreamy, dreamy parsley hawthorn! We came home to two of our trees on the fade and the one by the house was still blooming so I snapped photos while I had the chance. Texas ragwort isn’t as thick as in previous years but if I had my way I’d let it take over most of the yard in the spring, as it so deserves. It’s beautiful! The two-wing silverbell (Halesia diptera) managed to pull through the drought last year and bloomed. It really struggled last year so I wasn’t sure if it would make it through to this year and I’m glad it did. Last year I grew calendula by seed but I ended up buying plants from the local nursery this year instead. Lovely colorations on these! Anticipatory blackberries for June… Forest’s snapdragon An early tomato. I also bought plants in mid-February and opted not to start seed this year. Various pitcher plant blooms out in the bog garden. I didn’t look at the tags so I don’t know the names/cultivars of these. I think Drosera filiformis, also in the bog garden, with the Venus flytraps below. More pitcher plants, species unknown because I’m lazy with looking at tags *chomp* The Texas trailing phlox is looking fantastic right now! It’s doing really well in its large container, over flowering and cascading down the side of the pot. And fleabane in my native bed. I need to weed/thin it out when it is done blooming here in a few weeks because it got a little thick this year but I couldn’t bear to thin it out when it was such an early bloomer for insects. That’s it for March. I need to be better about sharing garden posts here again. For so many years I wrote and shared about the garden but have struggled with sharing in the last few years.