the littles in the yard

Back when we bought this place in 2007, the big backyard was a thick lush carpet of grass all the way to the back of the property and then a year or so before Harvey in 2017, it started dying; one patch here, another patch there, whatever was killing it moved around until most of the grass was dead or dying and then Harvey flood came and filled it with weed and hay grass seeds. Not all the grass died and we made no effort to save it, it struggles but it will never regain its former glory mainly because we don't waste water or chemicals on grass and so it looks like it does now...unmowed and unkempt. 

It looks this way because it is unmowed and unkempt. Oh, it will get mowed and trimmed but not 'til after the spring wildflowers have all gone by. Standing at the edge of the yard looking back at the house it looks like an ignored field but if you stroll through it and look down you will see that it's full of flowers besides the cleaver, chickweed, plantain, hay grass, clover, and other weeds.

woodland violets

baby blue eyes

yellow wood sorrel

pink oxylis

henbit

dandelion

wild onion

purple vetch

wild ranunculus

10 petal anemone in all its variations of color

the first of the evening primrose

the woodland lilies (not wild or a native but invasive)

fleabane

and even a stray bluebonnet

The anemones, henbit, and violets are about done; the baby blue eyes, evening primrose, ranunculus, and fleabane just starting up; the clasping leaved coneflower are growing but not blooming yet.

The reason we don't mow during spring is because bees and other pollinators depend on these small wild flowers, their earliest sources of food, until the tamer varieties of flowers start to bloom.