Mexican Hats –

Mexican Hats –

Mexican hats look just like their name.  The long hat top, then the fan of beautiful orange, yellow, red, and brown colors.  Each one has five petals. The top is where the seed head grows.  The seeds are lined up in perfectly symmetrical rows.

The flower is usually 1-2 inches long, although they can be all different sizes.  They bloom in May and continue all summer.  Not many flowers do that.  They look like yellow coneflowers which are very similar.

Their namesake, the famous sombrero, was a daily need for the Mexican vaqueros (cowboys).  Their hats needed to be huge to protect them from the sun.  But I think they look like little girls dancing in the wind. To me those petals are bright twirling skirts, not hats.

I wonder if there is a cowboy hat flower?  It would have to be gray and have blood stains on it…which probably doesn’t exist.