San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Wild about wildflowers? What to know
Wildflowers are as iconic to Texas as boots and a Stetson. The bluebonnet, our state flower, even has its own legend and song: A Comanche girl gave up her doll with blue feathers to bring rain to her tribe’s land. The next day, the ground was blanketed in bluebonnets.
Thanks to the Texas Department of Transportation and Lady Bird Johnson, who supported the state wildflower program, today the state sows 30,000 pounds of wildflower seeds along 800,000 miles of highway.
With recent rains, the season is early this year, according to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. So it’s time for the annual trek to see the roadside blooms and photograph the kids, the fiancé or the dog against a flower-filled backdrop.
Here’s a guide to Texas wildflowers:
Bluebonnet
Bluebonnet stems are topped by clusters of deep blue flowers. When the showy white tips turn red or magenta, the pollen is no longer fertile and bees know to look elsewhere. Lupinus texensis, a foot-tall winter-hardy annual, is the most widespread of the six native bluebonnet species. The Texas Legislature has declared all varieties the state flower. Blooms March-May.
Indian paintbrush
The red-orange bracts of this wide-ranging wildflower remind us of a Texas sunset; they nearly hide the plant’s tiny flowers. A member of the snapdragon family, the paintbrush is 8 to 16 inches tall and has slender, hairy leaves. It’s often a bluebonnet companion. Blooms March-May.
Buttercup
The showy evening primrose has several common names, but the favorite in Texas is buttercup. The four-petal, cupped blooms go from pretty pink to white in the center, where they hold the buttery pollen that will turn your nose yellow when you smell the sweet blooms. This perennial sprawls along roadsides and in fields in the Houston area and in most of Texas. The flowers tend to close during the heat of the day. Blooms March-June.
Winecup
Five delicate petals form the burgundy chalicelike bloom of this perennial mallow. Each cup is balanced on a long hairy stem of a sprawling plant. There are several winecup species throughout Texas. Native Americans used the plants for medicinal purposes. Blooms March-June.
Missouri primrose
One of many primroses native to Texas, this compact perennial has lemon-yellow buttercups with four petals. Blooms MarchSeptember.
Indian blanket
Also known as firewheel, this showy roadside attraction has 2inch daisylike blooms. The yellow-tipped red rays surround a red or dark purple center. The familiar blooms on this 1- to 2foot annual can be found across the state. Blooms April-August.
Red corn poppy
Native to Europe, the 2-foot corn poppy has naturalized across the country. Each 2- to 4inch bloom of this hardy annual has six fire engine-red crinkled petals that set wide open spaces ablaze. Blooms March-June.
Texas prickly poppy
This prickly native plant produces 4- to 6-inch blooms with delicate, crinkled white petals centered by bold yellow stamens. The 1- to 4-foot plants are dressed in blue-green, thistlelike leaves and inhabit fields, roadsides and railroad tracks across the state. Blooms MarchJune.
Lanceleaf coreopsis
The brilliant yellow blooms of this perennial open the coreopsis season in the eastern half of the state. The cheery rays enclose a distinctive yellow disk. Blooms March-June.
Plains coreopsis
These blooms have eight yellow rays with contrasting brownish-red spots at the base. The showy flowers accessorize slender, multibranched annual plants. Blooms March-June.
Crimson clover
Although not a native, this brilliant red bloomer draws considerable attention. Thanks to TxDOT’s seeding, it blankets shoulders and medians around the state. You’ll also find it on the embankments in Memorial Park. Blooms March-May.
Wild phlox
The deep red, flat blooms of this easygoing annual saturate roadsides, fields and home gardens. The species is also called Drummond phlox, named for Thomas Drummond, who sent seeds from Texas to England in 1835. Blooms March-June.
Mexican hat
This long-headed coneflower extends the wildflower season through summer in much of the state. The cone-shaped heads are surrounded by drooping red rays edged in yellow and sway atop 3-foot perennial plants. Blooms April-October.
Blackfoot daisy
Plains Blackfoot or Blackfoot daisy is a low, bushy, mounded perennial, about 12 inches tall and twice as wide. It has narrow leaves and white, daisylike flowers surrounding yellow discs. These honey-scented flowers grow on slender stalks. Blooms March-June.
Prairie verbena
This pretty native is found in most of the state, its soft 6- to 12inch mounds covered with clusters of 1⁄2-inch purple flowers. Blooms March-October.
Lemon beebalm
The square stem is an immediate clue this lemony beebalm is in the aromatic mint family; it’s also known as horsemint The distinctive blooms of this 1to 3-foot species consist of whorls of two-lipped white or pink flowers supported by purple-tinged bracts. Blooms MayJune.
Texas bluebells
Bluebells, or showy prairie gentians, are short-lived perennials or annuals that produce tulip-shaped blue blooms in the spring and summer. The foliage on the 1- to 2-foot natives often has a whitish coating.