Wildflowers at Booneville
Wildflower season is in full swing with eye-catching flowers dotting the landscape and heralding spring. I find myself in awe of the beauty of Texas as I botanize travelling along the highway at 60 miles an hour. Some flowers are more distinctive and easier to identify, like the bright red clusters of Indian paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa). Topping a rise in the road, sometimes I find masses of pastel Pink evening primrose (Oenothera speciosa) that remind me of my playful youth. We would call them ‘buttercups’ from the flowers yellow pollen my cousins and I would smear each other’s faces. And of course, I’m always looking out for fields and fields of Texas bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) to complete my experience.
Wildflower Destinations
Texas bluebonnet
Where can you go to see displays of Texas treasures? The Texas Department of Transportation offers a resource as part of their Wildflower Program that includes a brochure with popular wildflower routes, such as an estimated 80-mile loop from Brenham to Burton, Independence, Washington and Chappell Hill. If you are travelling northwest of Houston, travel the 105-mile loop from Brenham along FM 1774 that includes Navasota, Plantersville, Magnolia and Hempstead. Then there are often outstanding displays seen at the foot of the Texas Hill Country. Roads between Marble Falls, Burnet, Lampasas, San Saba, Mason, Llano, Fredericksburg and Johnson City can cover almost 300 miles and should be best enjoyed over several days. You can pick and choose your stops by the true Texas hospitality offered at some of the towns and cities along the route. Research popular tourism destination cities chamber of commerce or convention and visitor bureau to keep an eye on Texas regional flowering and best places to stop along your travels.
Stop and Smell the Wildflowers
While it is convenient to enjoy nature from your steering wheel, I proposed planning a purposeful wildflower destination, finding a natural area or public park to wander and enjoy up close the beauty of Texas flora. There are quite a few natural areas and state parks along these routes to enjoy wildflowers. Local Lick Creek Park in College Station, Lake Somerville State Park just outside Somerville, McKinney Roughs Nature Park or McKinney Falls State Park near Bastrop, seasonal guided hikes through Honey Creek State Natural Area at US 281 near Spring Branch to name a few. While in a natural area, I encourage you to stop and smell the wildflowers. Don’t just breeze through a hike and call it a day: take in the subtle beauty offered at your feet. See if you can identify some of the following wildflowers:
Blue-eyed grass flower
Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sp.) – Not a grass at all and a member of the Iris Plant Family, I will often see blue-eyed grass in clusters of single blue to purplish petals surrounding a golden center. The flowers about ½-inch in diameter and are borne atop 5- to 8-inch-long flower stalks arising from tufted clumps of grass-like leaves.
Goldenwave (Coreopsis tinctoria) – Also called Golden tickseed, this member of the Sunflower Plant Family offers yellow flowers with maroon patches surrounding the center. The flower tops slender stems up to 2-feet tall and appears to beckon you to the pasture as it gracefully bows in the wind.
Winecup & Goldenwave
Winecup (Callirhoe involucrata) – The common name best describes this beauty, offering chalice-shaped 2-inch-wide flowers with deep maroon petals off-set by a whitish spot toward the flower center. Vegetation appears to crawl along the ground up to 3 feet long. Even though the flower is small, it may look familiar to you: this plant is a member of the Hibiscus Plant Family.
Bluebonnets! This is the beauty we would like to bring to the ball, and while we may see prairie pockets of seeded Bluebonnets in Brazos County, you will see more as you travel west along US 290 to the Hill Country, or even in pastures travelling the backroads. I host Garden Success, a call-in live radio show weekly on Thursdays starting at noon on KAMU 90.9 FM. I would love to hear from you and share your travel experiences. Celebrate the beauty of Texas on your travels, my friends, and I look forward to seeing you in the garden.
*All images in this article via Stephen Brueggerhoff
