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Seedling Report: Brenham-Bellville area Started by RichO at 03-01-2007 2:30 PM. Topic has 9 replies. WildflowerHaven... » Texas Wildflowe... » East Texas » Seedling Report: Brenham-Bellville area Hunting Texas Wildflowers - New Book!

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03-01-2007, 2:30 PM RichO Joined on 02-15-2005 San Antonio, TX Posts 695 Seedling Report: Brenham-Bellville area I'm cross posting this from http://community.wildflowerhaven.com/forums/1716/ShowPost.aspx  Bill Purcell wrote: I had been out the past couple of weekends doing some birdwatching on the Katy Prairie, checking out the geese, ducks, egrets, ibises, etc.   I explored more of the area today but didn't  discover anything new avian-wise, so I decided to use the rest of the afternoon to visit some of my favorite haunts in the Brenham/Bellville area to check out the seedling status.  Several locations look very, very encouraging - a few others appear to be pretty sparse.  Here are some details: -- Austin County, New Wehdem Rd. and FM 2754.   This field was full of bluebonnets, primrose and mixed flowers last year, and it's looking good again.  There are large areas where bluebonnet rosettes completely cover the ground.  This field should be one of the season's best again this year. -- Austin County, old cemetery @ Sempronius and Phillipsburg Church.  I saw quite a few bluebonnet seedlings, but the coverage is spotty.  This location is typically a hot spot for phlox, and there are already a handful of pink blooms showing. -- Brenham area, Mount Vernon Rd.  The field in front of the old abandoned (?) house has many, many rosettes, and should look its best since '04 ... quite a few are right by the fence, so depth-of-field shots will be nice in this location. -- "The field", FM 2679 and FM 390 (Longpoint).  It never ceases to amaze, and the field is once again teeming with seedlings, with concentrations near the fence here as well.  I took a few minutes to scan the field with binoculars, and saw 3-4 paintbrush in early bloom - then, to my surprise, a bluebonnet bloom!   Even better, the open field just across the highway appears to have been heavily seeded, and the bluebonnet clover is absolutely thick over there.  This will definitely be one of the best locations this year, providing good camera angles for both sunrise and sunset images. -- Mayfair Ln.  Next to the massive Victorian house on the hill, I saw very few seedlings, and this spot might disappoint this year. -- Sun Oil Rd.  Lots of seedlings here ... should be great viewing. -- Old Baylor Park.  Overall coverage isn't as dense as usual, but I actually saw four blooms already!  However, in this location as well, the field immediately to the west is covered in BB clover, and will be spectacular in a month. - William Penn / FM 1936 / Bluff Rd.  Overall coverage is sparse, but near FM 1936 and Kettler Rd., the steep roadside embankments are full of rosettes. -- Navasota / Whitehall (Grimes County).  I didn't see much here.  You can see evidence in the rainfall maps that Rich provided that on a couple occasions, mesoscale bands of heavy rainfall affected this area, and I think many seedlings were probably drowned by excessive precipitation.  I would expect that only the steeper slopes and higher elevations will be blue this year. If I remember the rainfall maps correctly, there was less precip out toward Burton, Round Top and Industry this winter (as opposed to Brenham / Bellville).  Although I haven't checked out those areas yet, my gut tells me they will probably be mediocre this year.  I think 2002 was the last year with lots of color near Burton. That's it for now.  I'll hopefully get a chance to look at Industry, Chappell Hill, Washington, and a few other locations over the next couple of weekends. Take care, Bill. RichO Hunting Texas Wildflowers    Report

03-09-2007, 8:21 AM xseption Joined on 03-02-2006 Richardson, TX (DFW) Posts 206 Re: Seedling Report: Brenham-Bellville area Thanks, Bill, for the Great news! When would be a great time to view these areas in full bloom? ~ edd two cents and then some ...    Report

03-09-2007, 9:08 AM RichO Joined on 02-15-2005 San Antonio, TX Posts 695 Re: Seedling Report: Brenham-Bellville area Edd, April 4th was when I made my first visit to the Brenham/Industry area last year and April 10th was my second visit. I would say that between April 1st and April 15th would be the best times to visit with April 5th-10th being the peak time. This could vary based on temperatures and rainfall. Lower temperatures will slow growth and lack of rainfall will reduce the bloom period. Good news...looks like there is a good chance of rain for that area this weekend. RichO Hunting Texas Wildflowers    Report

03-09-2007, 9:41 AM xseption Joined on 03-02-2006 Richardson, TX (DFW) Posts 206 Re: Seedling Report: Brenham-Bellville area Great! I will probably go visit April 7 & 8 ... thank for the info! ~ edd two cents and then some ...    Report

03-09-2007, 12:23 PM RichO Joined on 02-15-2005 San Antonio, TX Posts 695 Re: You are welcome... Edd, You are most welcome...it is my pleasure to provide the information. I only wish there was more good news to report. If the area gets a good rainfall this weekend then I am fairly certain the Brenham/Industry area will again be the area to visit. I am also hoping the Ennis and Cedar Hill State Park area will do well.   RichO Hunting Texas Wildflowers    Report

03-09-2007, 2:52 PM Kymothy Joined on 03-09-2007 Posts 0 Re: Help, please Hey everybody! We need some information, please. We want to come see the bluebonnets this year, (we've missed them the last two years). We live in Nashville, TN, although, my husband is from Lone Star, TX. We will be traveling to LA to pick up his parents, they've never seen them, then, traveling to TX. I know it's impossible to pin point the exact time when the flowers will be at their peak, but we need to plan our trip, (we are singers and need to schedule some concerts down there during the trip), but any idea if the peak will be early or late? Any idea which week may be the best? We usually go to the Fredericksburg area, although, would be willing to travel through another area, too, if y'all think that would better. We appreciate any information you could give us. Tim & Kym    Report

03-12-2007, 9:45 AM Bill Purcell Joined on 06-29-2005 Posts 50 Re: Seedling Report: Brenham-Bellville area Brenham/Bellville update, 3/12: I checked up on things over the weekend, and found only slow progress over the past two weeks.  I was hoping to find some early-season displays of phlox, but came up empty in locations where I've seen them in years past.  I'm expecting the wildflower show to be well underway by the weekend of the 24th-25th, though.  The good:  Locations previously scouted still look healthy, and the current rainfall will solidify those locations as good producers this spring.  Baylor Park is already well-covered in blooms, and bluebonnets are just beginning to show along US 290, and also at the intersection of TX 105 and FM 50.  This rain is absolutely critical for the Hill County, by the way - particularly for the late-April and May flowers (gaillardias, coreopsis, etc.).  It's still early enough to give the bluebonnets a boost, but overall coverage will be more dependent upon the total number of healthy seedlings surviving the winter. The bad:  Overall coverage looks meager, but it's still very early in the season.  Late-bloomers in the fields are always invisible at this point, and difficult to predict.  The Hempstead area looked very poor this weekend, and Industry was only slightly better - but I'm hoping the rainfall will help.  To my dismay, it appears the field on Sun Oil Road (Washington County) with the Texas-flag-barn had been plowed or "dragged" sometime over the past two weeks;  I saw many seedlings out there on my last visit, but the topsoil has been overturned, and I would no longer expect to see many bluebonnets there this season.  Also, for those accustomed to "casual" viewing of roadside flowers along FM 390 - there is road "improvement" underway, and the ditches have been bulldozed basically from Longpoint all the way to Independence.  You'll need to vernture off on the back roads to see better displays. Summary:  As of now, here's where you will be able to find fields of flowers ... - Washington County, FM 2679 near FM 390.  The field(s) will be amazing yet again this year. - Austin County, New Wehdem Rd. at FM 2754. - Washington County, Sauney Chapel Rd.  On this road a few miles southeast of Chappell Hill, there is a large hill absolutely covered with bluebonnet seedlings. There will surely be more, and as of now, I've checked mostly spots which have been known to produce well in the past.  I'll be able to post a very detailed, comprehensive report in a couple of weeks after I've been able to fully explore the region. For now, you can check out some early-season images here:  http://imageevent.com/mpurcell I'll be updating the gallery throughout the year.   Take care, Bill.      Report

03-12-2007, 10:11 AM RichO Joined on 02-15-2005 San Antonio, TX Posts 695 Thanks Bill... <P>Bill,</P> <P>Thanks for the update. </P> <P>You mentioned that Old Baylor is already covered in blooms. Are these bluebonnets or other wildflowers? If they are bluebonnets then that would be problem as this is still too early for the Brenham area...although not abnormal.</P> <P>As to the Hill Country...You are absolutely correct about the critical nature of rain right now. One thing I have noticed during my trip to Willow City Loop on Saturday was what was absent...none of the perennials are doing well at all. I saw one or two tiny paintbrushes, a few phlox (very tiny plants), and one or two vervain (verbena). My theory is that perennials need the February rains more than the annuals and without the rain they just will not grow or bloom. </P> <P>The good news is that we might be getting back into a wet period for the rest of March and April (well the climate models seem to think so).</P> <P>Thanks again for your report!</P> RichO Hunting Texas Wildflowers    Report

03-12-2007, 12:23 PM Bill Purcell Joined on 06-29-2005 Posts 50 Re: Thanks Bill... Rich, Yes, Baylor Park is already showing many bluebonnets - about "mid-bloom," I'd say.  Sorry I wasn't more specific in my post.  There are also tons of wild onions out there.  The field just to the west of the park is just beginning to show bluebonnets, and will need a couple weeks to mature. I copied the post above to the lone-star.net sightings page (with a couple alterations upon recalling some additional info).  I also ran across some nice patches of purple phacelia and scattered buttercups on Saturday.  - Bill.      Report

03-12-2007, 12:43 PM RichO Joined on 02-15-2005 San Antonio, TX Posts 695 Re: Hmmm... If Baylor Park is already in mid-bloom that is a bit worrisome. It means we will either have a split season or a very early and short season. There have been split seasons in the Brenham area before...where some of the locations bloomed early and others bloomed much later.   RichO Hunting Texas Wildflowers    Report

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