Texas Hill Country Wildflower Season

Thanks to the rain this past winter, the Texas Hill Country was blessed with a spectacular wildflower season. The Bluebonnets were an ocean of blue!

Folks come from all over to see the show. I sent many notes to friends and family about the impending display so I was blessed with lots of company. I think I enjoyed the company even more than I enjoyed the wildflowers!

The blue flowers are Bluebonnets . . . the Texas state flower. The red flowers in front are Indian Paintbrush. This year there were swatches of solid red along the roads as we drove through the Hill Country.

Fredericksburg is a fun day trip from San Antonio. And the Willow City Loop (about 15 minutes NE of Fredericksburg) provides magnificent views of the hill country and wildflowers. But a word of caution . . . the Loop is a very narrow road and is crowded and congested on the weekends during wildflower season.

There are lots of great food choices in Fredericksburg, especially German restaurants. But I want to mention a couple of other choices that are not on Main Street. If you're craving Mexican, try El Maguey Mexican restaurant on North Crockett Street one block off Main Street. If only Italian can whet your appetite, visit Pasta Bella on South Llano Street.

And no trip to the Hill Country would be complete without a visit to the Wild Seed Farm (located about 7 miles east of Fredericksburg). The flowers, gift shops (with wildflower seed mixes for every part of the country), and the live butterfly exhibit  are the main attractions. The peach ice cream is pretty good reason to go also! This is a picture of the red poppy field with Mutabilis roses along the fence row.

As the bluebonnets faded the road sides turned yellow and golden with Tickseed, Plains Coreopsis, Indian Blankets, and Cosmos. And with the purple Lemon Mint flowers, Phlox, and White Poppy thrown in here and there it's been quite a show.

Just after we moved into our house in 2008, I sowed a large bag of the Texas Oklahoma wildflower mix in the greenbelt. I'll leave you with a look at our patch of bluebonnets . . .