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Hill Country Report (Lampasas, Llano & San Saba counties) – In all the twenty or so years I have been visiting the Hill Country, I have never seen such a profusion of wildflowers at this time of the year. Firewheels are the most abundant, followed by greenthread and Engelmann daisies. Many roads are lined in red or yellow, and in many areas there are fields of red as far as you can see. Also in bloom are mealy sage, milfoil, bluebonnets, basket flowers, Texas thistle, prickly poppy, winecups, yellow primrose, prairie larkspur, phlox, prickly pear cactus, blackfoot daisies, antelope horns, lazy daisies, sleepy daisies, lantana, stonecrop, skeleton plant, Texas plume, Texas parsley, bitterweed (mostly in decline), bishop's weed, verbena, coreopsis (most of the plants I saw had not yet bloomed), brown-eyed Susans, and purple horsemint.
The most impressive route I traveled was Hwy 16 between Llano and San Saba; there are miles and miles of fields of firewheels often mixed with white lazy daisies and purple horsemint. Other recommended routes include: Hwy 190 between Lampasas and San Saba, FM 45 north of Richland Springs to FM 500, FM 500 from FM 45 to Hwy 16, Hwy 16 from Llano south to the Gillespie county line, FM 501 from Cherokee to Pontotoc, and Hwy 71 from Llano to Brady.
If you happen to pass through Llano, give Coopers BBQ a try. They have incredible brisket and pork chops.
For a few images from my excursion this weekend visit:
http://www.texaswildflowerpictures.com/update.htm
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