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Wildflowers are looking good!! Started by FlowerPower at 03-18-2007 6:46 AM. Topic has 10 replies. WildflowerHaven... » Texas Wildflowe... » East Texas » Wildflowers are looking good!! Hunting Texas Wildflowers - New Book!

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03-18-2007, 6:46 AM FlowerPower Joined on 03-08-2005 The Woodlands, Texas Posts 137 Wildflowers are looking good!! March 17, 2007 wildflower trip This was my first big outing this year and I wasn’t disappointed. Here is a link: http://grigsbys.smugmug.com/gallery/2595319 More photos will be up later. Spots 30-50% covered and already good for viewing and photos: 1) US 290 at the Welcome to Washington County sign and surrounding hill side. 2) Although the old out building is gone Independence is covered with bluebonnets. 3) Old Baylor is covered with bluebonnets and wild onion. 4) The hillsides along highway 71 and its feeder roads near highway 77 are covered with bluebonnets. 5) There is a nice field of bluebonnets just off of highway 237 on highway 159 near the sign that advertises show pigs. 6) A quaint house with a white picket fence just off the Fayetteville square has a yard full off bluebonnets. 7) A 10-15 acre field just outside of Industry (bounded by 159, Ritcher Rd and Hofheinz Rd) is bursting with bluebonnets and has rolls of hay. Spots to avoid: 1) Highway 390 from Old Baylor to highway 36 is under construction and the road sides have been graded down to dirt (reported earlier by Bill). 2) FM 2754 from highway 159 to highway 36 is under construction and the road sides have been graded down to dirt. 3) The reliable full field of sand bluebonnets at Mistletoe Lane just outside of Bellville off of 159 is gone and replaced by some industrial metal buildings. My internal guess-to-meter thinks that prime time will be in two weeks for Washington, Fayette and Austin Counties but the hot spots mentioned above may be in decline by then? It looked very promising along FM 1155 with nice patches of bluebonnets, Indian paint brush and phlox. Some very nice patches of pink and scarlet phlox are along highway 159 on both sides of Bellville. “The Field” at Main and 159 in Industry has been mowed and will not be as nice as the past few years. Also the old house at Main and Schramm has been sold and the wildflowers looked to be in decline compared to previous years. But all in all I’m very encouraged by what I saw and photographed for the 2007 season in this area! Flowers will brighten your day whether mild or wild, Murry!    Report

03-18-2007, 7:39 AM RichO Joined on 02-15-2005 San Antonio, TX Posts 637 Re: Wildflowers are looking good!! Murry, Thanks for a very excellent report. Very nicely done on the photos too! I am seeing similar results in the San Antonio area. It seems the recent rainfall is triggering a "desert" bloom. I have even seen some firewheels here and there. Did you get a chance to stop and inspect the ground? I am seeing a mixture of plants in early to full bloom and seedlings that are a week from maturing.   RichO Hunting Texas Wildflowers    Report

03-18-2007, 1:52 PM FlowerPower Joined on 03-08-2005 The Woodlands, Texas Posts 137 Re: Wildflowers are looking good!! Rich, Since I'm always looking for a good photo more than examing the conditions like a naturalist, I don't do a very good job on the scientific side of things. It seemed that the hot spots I mentioned were all thick with mature plants. Other spots along my tour were fairly typical of early wildflowers and the plants were all pretty small with a ways to go. The area around Industry still looked rather dry to me but I can't imagine they missed that last wonderful rain?? If we get the rain they are predicting for this week then the displays should be grand indeed. Flowers will brighten your day whether mild or wild, Murry!    Report

03-19-2007, 9:39 AM Bill Purcell Joined on 06-29-2005 Posts 45 Re: Wildflowers are looking good!! Here's an addendum to Murry's findings over the weekend: Peak viewing for the Brenham/Bellville area is about two weeks away, and will be quite good within 7-10 days. The first of April will be a good target date.  Many fields showed significant progress over the past week after the rain, with paintbrush beginning to show in numbers.  Some fields that appeared bare a week ago now have impressive coverage of orange.  As was the case last year, the most consistent and dense converage can be found roughly in a diamond-shaped area just south of Brenham - bounded by FM 389, FM 2502, FM 2754, and Hwy. 36. Here are some "new" fields of flowers I found yesterday: -- Austin County, Phillipsburg Church Rd.  Take this road north out of Kenney, and there are several fields with moderate to heavy coverage.  They'll be amazing by 4/1. -- Washington County, Adamek Road.  This road runs between FM 389 and FM 332 just southwest of Brenham, and has several fields with emerging color. -- Austin County, FM 2502 between FM 109 and Bleiblerville. I saw several fields here as well with moderate to heavy coverage. -- Industry.  It was near dark when I passed through, and things still look sparse.  However, there are two nice patches of phlox that appeared near Main and Industry roads.  I've seen relatively little color thus far along Hwy. 159 and points south. Once again, the field on FM 2679 is going to be unbelievable.  Several acres literally turned orange this past week, and the blue will be soon to follow.  I've added a few images from yesterday's travels to my gallery:  http://imageevent.com/mpurcell Take care, Bill.    Report

03-19-2007, 9:59 AM RichO Joined on 02-15-2005 San Antonio, TX Posts 637 Thanks Bill! Thanks Bill for the great addendum to Murry's report. You two are keeping the rest of us on our seats and deep into our plans - Bill, did you happen to notice any bluebonnets in the field that is near the intersection of 2502 and 109? Did you notice if there were lots of smaller bluebonnet seedlings mixed in with the mature rosettes? In the spots I have investigated here in San Antonio, I have seen lots of smaller seedlings mixed with more mature rosettes and blooming plants.     RichO Hunting Texas Wildflowers    Report

03-19-2007, 11:43 AM Bill Purcell Joined on 06-29-2005 Posts 45 Re: Thanks Bill! The field on the northeast side of the intersection (with the hillside that leads down toward the Lutheran church) is full of bluebonnets.  As you travel east on 2502, more fields on either side of the road are showing good coverage.  I don't believe there's much to see on the immediate west side of 109.   However, if you continue a couple miles back toward Wesley (2502/332), you'll see better coverage there. As far as the seedlings go, I think it can be said for the entire Brenham area that there is a mix of mature and still-developing seedlings out there.  I think what we'll find a month from now is an outstanding wildflower display on a localized scale (central Washington County and the northern fringes of Austin County), but a mediocre season on a regional scale (including Hempstead, Bellville, Anderson, La Grange, Cuero, etc.). Nonetheless, I do hope to get out to some of the less-traveled areas at least by mid-April (northern Colorado, southern Fayette and northern Lavaca Counties).  Any reports from those areas as well as Cuero, Gonzales and so forth are much appreciated! - Bill.        Report

03-24-2007, 8:17 PM kenw Joined on 02-16-2007 Posts 2 Re: Wildflowers are looking good!! Found a field along Zilbilski Rd east of FM2679 with a solid spread, many acres' worth. One of the best solid fields I've seen in years. Thanx Bill for the tips, we used them extensively today. Pics posted over here: http://www.texasphotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=401198#top  Ken Whitehead      Report

03-27-2007, 12:27 PM Twereliu Joined on 03-27-2007 Posts 1 Wildflowers in April Sounds like you guys are really going to have some good op's this year. A friend and I already planned to come into Austin (from Seattle) on April 12th, shoot 13,14,15th, sounds like we are going to miss the peak by almost 1 week, figures, everywhere I go lately it's either early or late no matter how well I plan and research. What do you think the condition of the flowers will be in around then?  I have no idea of the "Shelf Life" of the blooms are after reaching the height of a season. Thanks Todd    Report

03-30-2007, 1:14 PM RichO Joined on 02-15-2005 San Antonio, TX Posts 637 Re: Wildflowers in April Todd, Parts of the Hill Country will still be good to visit. With the rain the bloom period usually lengthens. Usually the bluebonnet fields in Mason County and Llano County are the last to peak in April. The only problems might be grass overtaking the bluebonnets in some locations and low lying areas that do not drain well. We have had so much rain. Any plant can be damaged by too much water.  I got a phone call today and the person said their mealy sage was drowning in water. There will also be other displays of mealy blue sage, firewheels and coreopsis beginning in the Llano and Mason County areas. Verbena (vervain) is doing very well this year and it usually will bloom through the spring and summer. In 2004, the Mason County area was still in peak bluebonnet bloom by April 15th when I took this photo Larger size: http://www.pbase.com/richo/image/28122970 RichO Hunting Texas Wildflowers    Report

03-30-2007, 1:36 PM Twereliu Joined on 03-27-2007 Posts 1 Re: Wildflowers in April Nice photo, like the windmill especially. We were going to stay in Brenham, based on what you know now where do you think a good base of operations would be to explore the best opportunities? Bought your book by the way, now if I can just figure out where my wife "Organized it too..." very few web sites will offer the level of detail you provide and I applaud you on this. If I hadnt found your site I probably would never have attempted a self guided tour. Thanks for the info, I will keep watching! I will be GPS'ing and marking line of site for any ops we find, dont know if the sites are the same from year to year, I suspect some are (with nice backdrops) but most are not, if you would like me to pass these on to you be glad to do so. Part of a larger project I am working on for myself.   Todd    Report

03-30-2007, 3:07 PM RichO Joined on 02-15-2005 San Antonio, TX Posts 637 Re: Wildflowers in April Todd, There are several members here who have been at this longer than I have, so hopefully they will add their suggestions too. The areas that tend to peak later than Brenham are the Hill Country and Ennis (southeast of Dallas). The problem with pinpointing when an area will peak is that the bluebonnets do react to climate and even micro-climates. However, generally the Brenham area is beyond peak bloom by April 15th. There will still be spots in the Brenham area that are still in full bloom, but more of the plants will be showing seed pods. If I were planning a trip to Texas around April 15th then I would stay in Austin. You can make day trips east down US 71 to La Grange to Fayetteville to Industry to Brenham and back to Austin via US 290. You can then make a day trip west on US 71 to US 281 either continue to Llano or north on US 281 to Marble Falls and Burnet. If you go to Llano you can come down SH-16 to Willow City Loop then to Fredericksburg and take US 290 east back to Austin.       RichO Hunting Texas Wildflowers    Report

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