Gary Regner Photography has an April 27, 2014 – Prairie Hill wildflower Update
Made a trip to the Prairie Hill area east of Waco. Heavy traffic on IH 35 left me little time to explore the area before sunset, but I did get a few pictures with a thunderstorm in the background. Bluebonnets in this area are still looking good.
US 84 east of Bellmeade to Prairie Hill – scattered fields of paintbrush and bluebonnets [Rating 2]
FM 339 north of Prairie Hill – several fields of bluebonnets along this road with light to moderate coverage [Rating 2-3]
FM 73 east of Prairie Hill – just east of Prairie Hill are some large fields of bluebonnets with moderate to heavy coverage [Rating 3-4]
See older reports at: Texas Wildflower and Bluebonnet Sightings Report : Texas Wildflower Hot Spots and Pictures by Gary Regner Photography.
WildflowerHaven has also added a post for Prairie Hills
On the way back from Dallas, I toured the Prairie Hill area in Limestone county. I traveled down SH-171 to Coolidge then FM-73 to Prairie Hill.
Summary: Best overall variety of landscape views of bluebonnets this season. Most of the really large (30+ acres) fields were 50-60% covered with varying density from a dusting to very dense strips. Smaller fields were 60-80% covered with fairly dense blooms. I found several 1-3 acres fields that were 90-100% covered with dense blooms. The scenes varied from large rolling hills and valleys to hill tops and sloping sides. Blooms looked pre-peak with cone tops easy to find and no seedpods evident.
Best routes:
FM-73: Just before Prairie Hill there are a few very large fields and a couple smaller areas.
FM-339: Few smaller fields
FM-939 (connects from SH-31 to US 84): One very dense field with water feature and some patches of paintbrush mixed with bluebonnets. The scent from this field was so strong it was making me a little light headed. This is actually two fields adjoining with one containing a water tank and mesquite trees.
US-84: Couple of fields just east of Prairie Hill. One of these is near intersection with CR-146. You might miss it if traveling east on US 84, because most of it slopes away from the road or faces east.
SH-31: West of Mt Calm there are some large stretches along the shoulders and at least one field mixed with mesquite.
I spent about 4 hours in the Prairie Hill area and I could have spent a day or two. From what I saw there are likely more fields along some of the country roads. I was pleasantly surprised at the enormity of some of the expanses in this area. I felt for a moment that I was back in the 1800s on the open prairies of Texas when the bison would roam in the millions.
See photos at: Prairie Hill – Hills of Bluebonnets – Ennis and DFW.
Natural History Wanderings 
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