Wildflowers

Wildflowers in the median on one of the roads in my city.

The bluebonnet, Texas' state flower, is the most popular wildflower in Texas. There are towns that actually have bluebonnet trails for your viewing pleasure. We have taken the trail drives for two years to the official Texas bluebonnet city, Ennis, Texas. The Ennis Garden Club's sponsored Bluebonnet Trail runs from April 1st through April 30th. There is a map that you follow, and along the way you see fields full of bluebonnets. People will drive the route and stop to take pictures of the flowers, and many take photos of their children sitting or laying in the fields of bluebonnets. There is a road in Allen, Texas near where we live that has a median that is covered in bluebonnets in April. People will stop on the road, in many cases in unsafe spots, get out and take pictures in the flowers. I have seen people bring chairs for their kids and have a photographer there to take the photos. Texans are crazy about bluebonnets.

The bluebonnets of Ennis, Texas

Bluebonnets up close and personal

I did learn that not all bluebonnets are blue. On our first trip to Ennis we saw fields of bluebonnets that had red and white flowers mixed in. I looked up the flowers on the internet to see what they were and they are also bluebonnets. Back in the late 1990s there were horticulturists that through manipulations of the seeds developed white and red bluebonnets. I am not sure if that is still done, but there are still red and white flowers out there, so they may now be growing naturally.

Bluebonnets in red and blue

As we were driving to the Talimena National Scenic Byway in April we were driving through country roads in Oklahoma and Arkansas and I kept seeing these beautiful fields and road sides covered in crimson. I made my husband stop so I could get pictures of these beautiful fields. The flowers were everywhere, so I searched to see if I could figure out what they were. From my research I found that they are called Crimson Clover. And we kept seeing them over and over, sorry couldn't resist. For you readers that do not recognize the lyrics from Tommy James and the Shondells' 1969 number one hit "Crimson and Clover", check it out.

Field of Crimson Clover on the roadside in Oklahoma.

Crimson Clover up close

On our drive to the Hill Country in Texas we saw wildflowers everywhere in the fields and on the roadsides. We went on a trip to see the Texas White House and found that former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, was a fan of the Hill Country's wildflowers. There is a botanical garden in Austin called the Lady Bird Wildflower Center. The Lyndon B Johnson National Historical Park is the location of the home lived in by the President and First Lady (The Texas White House)  and it has fields that are covered in wildflowers.

Littlehead Gumweed, got its name from early people chewing on it like gum.

Pink Evening Primrose

The White Prickly Poppy gets it name from its prickly stem and leaves. It is so prickly that even during droughts cattle will not eat the plant.

Fields of Indian Blanket/Firewheel flowers in The Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park

Close up of the Indian Blanket or Firewheel

Mountain Pink grows in the Hill Country right out of the rock hills. The early pioneers called it quinine weed and would dry the plants and use them to reduce fevers.

Wildflowers are not the first thing you think of when you think of the Texas landscape. But, although the trees, bushes and grasses are different than the north and Midwest states, they are just as beautiful in their own way. Add to the landscape the beautiful wildflowers and the Texas landscape is softened and takes on a beautiful country feel.