One sign that spring has arrived is the blooming of the Texas wildflowers. The brilliant colors are mesmerizing as you see it blooming at the roadsides. It is amazing that such pretty flowers are wildflowers and grow along stretches of highway.

Bluebonnet is the state flower for Texas. Ennis, Texas has been legislated as the “Official Texas Bluebonnet Trail” and the “Official Bluebonnet City of Texas”.  Its roadsides and trails are lined with bluebonnets and other wildflowers and has been a popular destination for wildflower watching.   

Central Texas, near Austin, is also a popular area for wildflowers. Lush patches of blue, yellow, and red line the roadsides and distant fields. At the peak of blooming season, it is not uncommon to find parked vehicles at roadsides and people posing for photographs. A dangerous practice considering the volume of fast moving vehicles passing by. It also makes me wonder if there is a safe place, a lush field, where people can stop and admire the wildflowers.

A search of the internet yields a list of popular places where there are big patches of wildflowers blooming. The locations are far from where I live and there are things to consider when planning to go to these places.

One, the timing of the visit. Wildflowers bloom in spring and die out when the weather gets warmer. On impulse, one past weekend, we did a road trip to central Texas. We reached LBJ state park and learned that wildflowers filled the fields at springtime. We came at the wrong time and found a field filled with grass and nothing else.

Second, the accessibility to the location. Most fields are private property and trespassing is not an ideal situation. Most publicly accessible places are available and the presence of large crowds can be a challenge.

Third, the coming of the bloom itself. Several locations rank consistently in the top ten best places to witness the Texas wildflower bloom. The quality of their blooms though vary yearly depending on weather and amount of rainfall.

I didn’t like the idea of having to drive far and compete with a crowd just to appreciate the Texas wildflowers. My frustration made me search locally around my community. Surprisingly, I found several locations and a visit to these fields yielded the same kind of satisfaction. Wildflowers are closer to my backyard after all.