The Guyton Ranchette

Susie Guyton (nee Dolman) is Ron's sister, and Ron is my father-in-law. Susie and her husband Paul live in Austin, and Paul's bought a nice little handful of acreage about 45 minutes from town. This past January Uncle Paul, as he's known around these parts (which is funny since I already have an Uncle Paul; he's enjoying life back east, in Virginia), invited me out to what he calls the Ranchette. I suppose he calls it that because it's not large enough to be a Ranch proper.

January was the "winter" around here, and that meant putting on a jacket and some boots and hiking around a cool little property. The trees were plentiful but without leaves, and a perimeter walk was pleasant but quicker than I would have guessed when we drove up to and passed through the property's gate. Uncle Paul showed me around, we talked about projects that he had on his mind, I mentioned that I'd be willing to do things, and he mentioned he'd be willing to let Corrie and I visit on our own from time to time.

A few months later, and all of a sudden I notice that I have two days off in a row (which, now, has turned into a regularity). I asked Paul if we could spend the Tuesday night out at the Ranchette, do any chores that needed being done, you know, just get away from town for an evening. He said sure, and if I wanted, there was a trench that he'd started in the attempt to unearth a pipe. I eventually got to the pipe (machetes are my kinda tool).

The Ranchette in the warm days of March is significantly different from the cold days of January. The trees were green and lush, the perimeter walk was shady and satisfying, life was pulsating everywhere. We even spotted a few turtles in the pond. Wildflowers were blooming, but not quite fully.

Their colorful beauty and abundance prompted a conversation between Corrie and I about wildflowers. We tried to figure out if they're pretty weeds, or something else. The "national" flower of Texas is the Blue Bonnet, which is a pretty blue wildflower that grows all over the place out here, mostly thanks to Lady Bird and her seeding efforts.

Here, in the hill country in central Texas, Blue Bonnets, Indian Paintbrushes, little star-shapes in solid blue, white, or purple, and these crazy red suckers are the really common wildflowers. Pink clovers also seem to be all over, but they're usually termed a pretty weed, at best.

So, I looked up some stuff about wildflowers. It seems like some horticulturists don't like even the term "wildflower", preferring the more accurate, when appropriate, "native specie", "introduced specie", or "invasive specie". It does seem like they mostly agree that the notion of a "wildflower" is that it grows wild, is not intentionally seeded, would grow wild anyway, is not cultivated or hybridized. It turns out that even when a wildflower is invasive, calling it a "weed" is inaccurate, due to the roots and relative delicateness of the flower structure. California Poppies and the Texan Blue Bonnet are two of the more famous wildflowers.

Here are some pictures from the Ranchette. I've included some of the flowered views, but my old camera is, well, old, and sometimes the contrasting beauty gets lost. When you see a hill of color floating on top of greenery from a distance, it really hits you in the chest.



I'm trying to photograph some blue bonnets and those crazy red blooms. You might need to click on the picture and blow it up.




I like the tree that was felled in a winter wind storm that is still alive, and sprouting green, left of center.



Corrie's in the foreground in this one, but a wave of the red wildflowers are off on the left side of the frame.