Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A Plethora Of Village Creek Wildflowers Thinking About Skagit Valley Tulips

Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area's Wildflower Area today was blooming a lot more wildflowers than what it was blooming just two days ago.

And so it seems, wildflower season has finally arrived in North Texas.

Yesterday, whilst walking in my neighborhood I came upon a flower growing wild that I thought was a wildflower, but I was later informed this particular flower is known as a very common Iris.

I don't know why a very common Iris can not also be a wildflower.

Currently my old home location, that being the Skagit Valley in the State of Washington, is in the midst of the annual Skagit Tulip Festival, running from April 1 through April 30.

Over a million visitors come to the Skagit Valley each year to look at the tulips and other flowers blooming on the valley floor.

Until 1985 I lived in West Mount Vernon, on the west side of the Skagit River. This meant every weekend during the Tulip Festival I had myself a really fine time dealing with the worst traffic jams I've ever experienced anywhere.

The traffic problems have improved over the years, with mass transit hauling some of the visitors in buses. And better control of the traffic flow.

Looking at the Skagit Tulip Festival website I see a mission statement...

The Mission of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is to coordinate and promote a countywide Spring celebration of the tulip bloom, in commemoration of the valley’s annual tulip harvest, and to be an advocate for Skagit Valley agriculture.

Reading the above had me wondering if Tarrant County has a countywide celebration advocating anything. Skagit County has countywide public transit. Tarrant County does not have countywide public transit.

Does Tarrant County have countywide anything? I'm drawing a blank.

Well, there is the Tarrant Regional Water District, that covers more than Tarrant County,  but I don't know of the Tarrant Regional Water District celebrating advocating anything other than conserving water, except for the water the Tarrant Regional Water District sells to gas drillers, who mix the water with chemicals and shoot it underground, turning it into water the Tarrant Regional Water District does not worry about conserving....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I believe that flower is an evening primrose,and it is a wildflower. That photo you took of it is absolutely lovely -- the lighting and contrast and composition.
The evening primrose reseeds itself all over the place, while the iris such as you photographed earlier might multiply in place, from its roots. I don't think the iris typically qualifies as a wildflower. It is found around here in many older yards, where someone has intentionally planted it. And a wildflower is a flower that grows normally in fields or in the countryside without anyone planting it