Sept 6, 2023
Our fearless leader, bassist and front man Alex Dormont is at it again, having written a dozen new tunes to lay down at his perennial choice recording studio, The Zone in Dripping Springs. We're recording at the end of the month, and fingers crossed this new album wins Alex some more Western Swing awards and accolades. Hot Texas always have a blast playing together, and we look forward to laying down more swinging grooves...for posterity!
JUNE 27, 2023
Southern Purple Mint Moth (Pyrausta laticlavia) Very little, very cute, in Dripping Springs.
Sept 2, 2023
Here's a sweet autumn clematis in Cedar Park that knows what time it is, even if it's still over 100 degrees outside...
May 1, 2023
This gorgeous tree cholla (Cylindropuntia imbricata) in east Austin made me stop my Sentra. Chollas are commonly sold and planted in Austin, and they're SW US natives. I've never seen one this large, though, I've never seen one actually grow into a tree, and I've hardly seen them bloom here. In Colorado, however, I saw them growing galore, blooming their bright pink and yellow cactus flowers during the summer, spread all over the mountainous desert. They still weren't as big as trees though, even in Colorado!
Speaking of CO--chollas are impressively cold tolerant; this attribute makes them desirable and dependable in cactus gardens growing in chillier zones. I watched Austin's cylindropuntias fare the 11 degree spell in early 2011 just fine, and now here's one that has obviously survived many winters before and after that one--including February of '21, when temps fell to 7 degrees in Austin.
Whereas their thorniness is on a hellacious level, their upright, angular structure and gray-blue-green flesh covered in those conspicuous spines lend to truly compelling, attractive specimens. They generally grow to a bushy 4' by 4', but get them a happy place, coach them, clean them--when necessary--and they just may grow to twelve feet tall with furrowed bark and a shadow!
