Why was spring 2015 so glorious?

With the explosion of growth in gardens this spring, it seems like everyone wanted to know, why is this such a great year for… irises, roses, redbuds, wildflowers…you name it! Everyone’s plants are bigger, beefier, taller, and more beautiful than they’ve been in years.

And, as you might have guessed, the answer comes down to weather. Our plants have struggled for years with extreme heat and drought, and the occasional hard winter as well.

No, the drought isn’t over, but we did have a relatively brief period of glorious rainfall and mild temperatures, which gave our landscapes just the environment they needed to rebound and come roaring back to life.

When times are tough, plants hunker down and conserve resources, producing less growth; smaller and fewer flowers, or even none at all; and very few, if any, fruit. Our good, soaking rains of late summer and early fall last year, continued all the way through winter, exactly when our wildflowers sprout and grow in preparation for flowering and producing the next generation of seeds.

And with the lack of good conditions for the past several years, our wildflower seed bank quietly waited, and slowly built up, exploding onto the scene and taking full advantage of the situation when the climate improved.

In our gardens, there was a similar pattern. Plants that have struggled for years, conserving resources and hoping for the climate to improve, finally got exactly what they needed to put on a little extra growth, or a lot, actually, and produce flowers, too!

After a relatively mild, wet and cloudy winter, we had some early spring warmth and sunshine. Often, our early spring warm-ups are followed by late spring frosts or freezes, which kill off newly-formed growth and flower buds, but not this year. Spring arrived early, and stayed, giving us one of our best floral displays in years.

Among the many viewer pictures we received was this from Lance and Dawn Ware, ofthe gorgeous bluebonnets near park road 4 in Burnet. They celebrate their anniversary each April by taking a trip to see the bluebonnets. Dawn said that the hills and castle remind her of Germany, where she and Lance met and married while in the military.

Winter Ghaly sent usher gorgeous ‘Judy Garland’ rose andpurple and white bearded iris.

We loveMJ’s gorgeous redbud tree picture!

And, would it be spring in Texas without photos ofchildren amongst the bluebonnets?Check out these from Mitzi Van Sant.