Natural History Wanderings

Gary Regner Photography has a South Texas Wildflower update for April 17, 2015

Although bluebonnets are largely gone, there are plenty of other wildflowers now in bloom. The second half of spring usually brings a wide variety of colors to the landscape and this year is no disappointment. I viewed dozens of species in bloom, several of which I’m still trying to identify. I wasn’t able to get many pictures on Friday due to heavy thunderstorms along my route. I was actually forced to pull over three times the rain was so heavy. The roadsides were either flooded or had deep mud, so I couldn’t stop for fear of getting stuck. This is also the heart of the Eagle Ford oil boom. Oil industry traffic is very heavy, mainly large, impatient speeding trucks, so extreme caution is warranted in this area. Roads are also in poor condition from overuse, so they are rough and riddled with potholes.

> TX 46 between New Braunfels and Seguin – Mostly farmland, but also several large, heavily covered fields of evening primrose. Rating: 3-4

> Alt 90 between Seguin and Belmont – Lots of different wildflowers in bloom, mainly roadsides, but also some fields with moderate coverage: paintbrush, Engelmann daisies, prickly poppies, bull nettle, bluebonnets and herbertia. Rating: 2-4

> IH 37 between Corpus Christi and Three Rivers – Tons of wildflowers mostly along the highway: Engelmann daisies, Texas thistle, firewheels, winecups, paintbrush, beebalm, prickly pear cacti, coreopsis, greenthread, fleabane, flax, prickly poppies, sunflowers, skeleton weed, verbena and clasping-leaf coneflowers. Rating: 3-4

> TX 72 between Three Rivers and Tilden – tons of Texas thistle and sunflowers, many large heavily covered fields. Rating: 3-5

> TX 97 between TX 72 and FM 1582 – This area is heavily covered with Texas thistle and gumweed. In areas coverage extends as far as you can see. Rating: 4-5

> FM 1582 between TX 72 and TX 85 – Acres and acres are carpeted with dyssodia, gumweed and small white flowers (possibly fleabane or lazy daisies), also abundant Texas thistle and Engelmann daisies. Rating: 3-5

> FM 1582 between TX 85 and Pearsall – Acres and acres are carpeted with wildflowers including: gumweed, dyssodia, fleabane, firewheels, Texas thistle, winecups and many more. Unfortunately there is no paved shoulder and the sides of the road are deep mud right now, so there is no place to pull over. Rating: 4-5

> IH 35 between Pearsall and Devine, and Devine area – Many wildflowers in bloom along the road and fields including: Engelmann daisies, firewheels, Texas thistle, basketflower, greenthread, pincushion daisies, fleabane, lazy daisies, sunflowers, prickly poppies, phlox and beebalm. Paintbrush and bluebonnets are hanging on in some areas, but well past peak. Rating: 3-5

see photo links and older reports at  Texas Wildflower and Bluebonnet Sightings Report : Texas Wildflower Hot Spots and Pictures by Gary Regner Photography.