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I did one of my annual Wildflower road trips this past weekend. I started out in the Dallas area and hit the road at 6AM and headed south. The flowers are a week or two from peak here in North Texas so I usually head down to S. Texas. Like last year, I headed down I-45 towards Madisonville where I got off the main highway and headed towards Brenham. I-45 was quite nice between Buffalo and Madisonville. Lots of Bluebonnets, Paintbrush and a yellow flower I believe to be Bitterweed. My main goal was to make good time and get to a small town called Industry TX, which is west of Bellville, this based on a report by Murry Grigsby. On my way down from Madisonville I saw a few spots of flowers here and there, but nothing of note. I then hit Hwy 6 from Navasota to Hempstead. Hwy 6 had a nice showing and was encouraging. As a photographer these types of areas aren’t too noteworthy but really was pretty.
I then made my way south of Hempstead on a small FM road towards Industry TX. This area is just a beautiful area, lots of farms etc. I eventually made it to Bellville, which is a nice little town, found my way to TX 159 and headed west to Industry. All along the way there was a few “gardens” of wildflowers, but nothing like last year. The interesting thing about this part of Texas is the variety of flowers and colors. Lots of Phlox, red and pink, Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush, Evening Primrose and various yellow flowers. Upon my arrival into Industry I was so taken back by the field there as you enter town from Bellville. There are so many colors and the sweet fragrance is awesome. The disappointing thing though is this field is the exception to the rule. I don’t want to discourage anyone from traveling the countryside and finding these jewels, but you will have to look a little harder this year to find those sweet spots. I traveled 1200 miles covering South Texas, Industry, Cuero, Yoakum, Round Top, Gonzales, La Grange, Sequin, Smiley, Yorktown, Schulenburg, San Antonio, Blanco, Johnson City, Llano, Burnet, and Lampasas.
My thoughts about this years wildflowers: From friends like Rich Olivieri and my own observations I think we may have had a nice rain or two in August, then a very dry September. The seedlings sprout then suffer because the lack of established roots and wither. The plants that did survive are going to be smaller and less vibrant. In some areas record rains may have drown the small seedlings further hurting this years crop. On top of that, I think it is just too dry right now for the plants to thrive. I observed lots of areas of Bluebonnets that had withered leaves. This spring we have had some rain but it has been weeks in between showers. Also the humidity has been very low for this time of year causing the soil to dry out rather quickly making for somewhat hostile growing conditions. Another thing I observed was the side of the road closest to the pavement had flowers but not further away. This tells me the plants closest to the road benefited from the rains we did get and helped those plants survive the tough times. I am chalking this year as a poor year.
Now before everyone gets depressed, don’t. Just get out there and explore! You WILL find some nice spots. Two, I am thinking Ennis and North Texas might be the sweet spots this year. We may have had better conditions here in North Texas. It is not quite peak here, but from what I see, things look very good. So if you live in South Texas head to Ennis! I will be there!
As an aside, if you haven’t been by the Bald Eagles near Llano, stop by out there, the Eaglets are about to fly! For an excellent photo chronology of the building of the next to the hatching of the eaglets to them beginning to fly. Go to Cottonwood Photography, Jess has done a beautiful job!! To get there from Llano go east about 10 miles and you will see a spot where there will be cars parked along the highway, you cant miss it! Here is the link
http://www.cottonwoodphotography.com/Fall 2004 Eagle Nest History.htm
Please visit my site for photographs of my travels! http://www.pbase.com/ethanbird/texas_wildflowers_2005
Visit all of my pictures at.
http://www.ethantweedie.com/
God Bless Texas,
Ethan Tweedie
Ethan Tweedie
http://www.ethantweedie.com/
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