In North Texas, the best of bluebonnets is yet to come

Bluebonnets are popping up along highways across North Texas, but the best show of color is yet to come.

In places like Ennis, home to the state’s official bluebonnet trail, the peak viewing season is still a couple of weeks away.

“We really think the third week of April,” said Sandy Anderson, chair of the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails. “We do not have fields of blue just yet.”

For now, Ennis officials are encouraging visitors to hold off for a few more days before making the drive to Ellis County. But when the wildflowers do bloom, the cool, wet weather should produce a banner year.

“We haven’t had this kind of rain during the bluebonnet season in a long time so it should be spectacular in a few weeks,” said Gina Rokas, tourism director for the Ennis Convention and Visitors Bureau.

In Tarrant County, there are patches of bluebonnets popping up along roadsides, from Texas 121 in Bedford to Interstate 30 in Fort Worth. In many places, the wildflowers are competing with grasses and weeds that threaten to block out the color.

That can also be blamed on the wet winter.

“Other grasses like rye grass that grow in winter are benefiting from the rains — you do get some competition,” said Brett Pemberton, Texas A&M regents fellow and professor of ornamental horticulture and plant physiology.

But Steve Chaney, a Tarrant County extension agent for home horticulture, is encouraged by what he’s seen so far.

“I’ve seen quite a few actually,” Chaney said. “It looks like it may be a good season. We’ve had enough rain and cool temperatures that I think it’s going to turn out pretty well. I think in maybe another seven to 10 days we’ll see it peaking around here.”

Across the state, there have been plenty of wildflowers this year, including in Big Bend National Park, where a glance at the park’s Facebook page shows a variety of wildflowers in bloom.

The wet winter may also produce a different mix of wildflowers this spring around the DFW area and Austin, said Minnette Marr, a plant conservationist with the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center.

“Fort Worth, Dallas and Austin are kind of on the edge,” Marr said. “If we have a wet spring, we may have a different suite of flowers. We may see more of the wildflowers typical to East Texas. If we have a dry spring, we tend to see more of the wildflower associated with West Texas. The rainfall really influences what you see.”

In some areas, the heavier rainfall this winter may have washed wildflower seeds away from pastures and into culverts and creek beds.

But Marr said some areas in the southern half of the state are having great years, which is noted on the Texas Bluebonnet Sightings Facebook page.

“I live south of Austin and it's spectacular,” Marr said. “And some areas in the Hill Country are having a great year after years of drought. The rain actually allowed the ground to get saturated for the first time in a long time.”

That’s especially good news for many parts of the state that have suffered through drought in recent springs.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had a good year,” said Robin Nichols, co-owner of the Knot in the Loop Saloon about 11 miles northeast of Fredericksburg.

The popular bar is located along the 13-mile Willow City Loop, which is one of the more famous bluebonnet trails in the state. The trail is famous for bluebonnets cascading down hills and rocky creek beds. On some spring weekends, it can be bumper-to-bumper with cars and motorcycles.

“They’re beautiful,” Nichols said. “It definitely came late this year but they’re coming up everywhere. It’s spectacular.”

This story was originally published April 6, 2015 at 4:14 PM with the headline "In North Texas, the best of bluebonnets is yet to come."