Strange flower day

It was such a perfect day that I hated not being able to work more hours. I gave it my best though.  I know the stucco tank is worn out and will always leak, but I still patch it every year hoping that'll help it hold water a little longer than if I didn't patch it.

Saw my first dragonfly for the year, a Flame Skimmer.

Getting the Tree Tobacco plants used to the elements. I think they'll survive now.

I was really surprised to see this poppy blooming on the ground near the seed feeder. It's not native and, as far as I know, hasn't been documented in Brewster County before. It's the only plant that has grown here that isn't native, or planted by me, so it was strange. Got it ID'd online as a Red Horned Poppy (Glaucium corniculatum). That's a European plant. Maybe a bird brought the seed, or maybe it came in with the birdseed.

I read up on the poppy online and found this about it on a Facebook page. Yikes! And it's so pretty!

Red horned-poppy, Glaucium corniculatum... is an introduced, cool season annual...  a native of Europe. In 1987-1988, this single plant caused 4 million dollars in losses in wheat production just in Collingsworth County (TX) where the plants blocked up and jammed the combines. Since then it has spread southward to Kerr County and is a major problem in graze-out wheat at Brady. The plant is poisonous and causes photosensitization and pulmonary emphysema in cattle grazing wheat. Red horned-poppy grows along the plow field edges at Childress, disturbed farmlands at San Saba and was commonly found on roadsides leading to and from cotton gins and wheat seed processing in several counties in the panhandle. The plant is usually not found in grasslands or pasturelands. The long thin seed pods have over 600 seed per pod. The flowers are pretty with red petals and a black dot near the base of each petal. This is not a wildflower but a very negative plant for Texas Agriculture.

Another strange plant today was Palmer's Broomrape (Orobanche palmeri). It's parasitic, feeding off other nearby plants. But there were no plants nearby. And they were growing all along the water line at my sister's house. Seems strange.

I've been really frustrated trying to sort out my Beeblossom species. There are four species that grow in Brewster County, and I think I may have all four. But I can't find enough photos of the leaves and info online to sort out what I have and don't. I'm almost positive I have 3 of the 4 species, but that's about it. Dr. Powell's book doesn't have photos of those species, nor does it have a description of the leaves. I think these two photos are both Oenothera boquillensis, but what do I know!