"Texas Wildflowers"
Tips on touring Texas during wildflower season

In East Texas' humid marshlands, carnivorous pitcher plants trap unwary insects. Far across the state, rare, red Mexican silenes seek the seclusion of cool canyons. On sun-swept Padre Island, along the Gulf Coast, ropy beach morning glories ramble across lonely dunes.

Such is the story of Texas' 5,000 wild flower species -- products of the state's diverse environment.

More gregarious types such as bluebonnets, buttercups and Indian paint brushes roam statewide, draping festive serapes over meadows and highway shoulders each spring.

In the Texas Hill Country, generally from March through June, the landscape is painted with color as bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, black-eyed Susans, Mexican poppies, winecups, Indian blankets, and more bloom along the countryside.

In East Texas, it is rare to see bluebonnets blooming in the forest, but don't let that keep you away during wildflower season, when flowering dogwoods, azaleas, yellow jasmine, wisteria, and a host of other flowers please the eye.

Each of the 7 different regions of Texas has something special to offer visitors during Spring's wildflower season. This is a great time for road trips in Texas, since many wildflowers can be seen along highways, as well as the back roads. Many cities host special events that celebrate the arrival of Spring's blooms. Check out our events calendar for some of those listings.

Other seasons offer their own specialties. The sun-drenched western desert can blithely ignore the calendar. In almost any month, "spring" follows each rate welcome rain; thirst quenched, the yuccas, ocotillos and cacti erupt in a brief frenzy of blooms.

Throughout the year in the lower Rio Grande Valley, towering palms accent bougainvillea-draped boulevards. In winter, giant poinsettias decorate homes to the eaves for the holiday season.

HOW MANY WILDFLOWERS GROW IN TEXAS?

The eight major vegetation zones in Texas provide distinctly contrasting growing environments for plants and give rise to 5,000 different flowering plants. Not all of them are wildflowers.

Most trees, shrubs, cacti and woody vines put forth flowers in spring but hardly qualify as wildflowers.

We think of wildflowers as those hardy little ground-hugging plants that put their energy into producing large, showy blossoms to attract insect pollinators. Of these kinds of plants, there are 370 species or so blessing our prairies, fields and hills each spring.

Related: Texas Wildflowers- 2009 Wildflower Forecast

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For updates on which flowers are blooming in your area, call the Texas Department of Transportation's wildflower hotline at 1-800-452-9292.

Texas Highways Magazine, the Travel Magazine of Texas, has some great articles about the wildflowers of Texas. www.texashighways.com.

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