Texas Wildflowers
March 29, 2009
Steve and I coming back from Colorado at the end of Spring Break noticed the wildflowers were blooming along the sides and center of Highway 6 but couldn't stop then with the kids, dogs and a fullly loaded car. So Sunday, March 29th grabbed cameras and I hopped on my Vespa GTS 250 while Steve took our Suzuki Bergman 400 for the day. We left Houston and headed west to Pettison, TX. Then over to Bellville, up to Industry, Brenham, Independence and Navasota before taking Highway 6 back into Houston. The basic route was published over on UnitedScooterRiders.com before we left in case anyone from there wished to join us. We did add Independence to the route after we stopped in Bellville for breakfast and another group of riders told us they had seen nice displays earlier in the week around Independence.
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This was the first large field we saw and we believe it is clover this was north of Pattison, TX heading towards Bellville..
Foreground Showy Primrose (also called Evening Primrose) and clover behing the fence.
A better view of the roadside Showy Primrose with a field of clover in the background.
This is a closer view of the Showy Primrose bordering the road with field of clover behind.
You can tell it was early morning since most of the Showy Primrose was dew covered and not yet open.
The first of the Indian Paintbrush starting to appear among the Showy Primrose.
Mostly closed Showy Primrose.
Still a bit early for the Showy (Evening) Primrose but Bluebonnets are starting to appear.
The first bank of Bluebonnets mixed with a few Indian Paintbrush just sourth of Bellville.
These Bluebonnets were just under a foot tall.
Bluebonnets & Indian Paintbrush marching up the road bank.
Another view of the same field.
Notice the rock pillars on this fence, they leaned every which direction.
It was a very big patch of Bluebonnets.
And dense as well.
This was the first real field of Bluebonnets as opposed to the large road side bank we had been looking at.
While it can be hard to get size from a photograh the house in the background was at least a half mile from the road.
Who would have thought some Bluebonnets would have white tips?
After Bellville we found some cattle grazing just past a patch of Blueboonets. The yellow flowers you see are Buttercups.
That's Steve standing in a field of Bluebonnets & Indian Paintbrush taking photos.
This was the first field with a lot of Indian Paintbrush mixed in with the Bluebonnets.
Not all of the Bluebonnet fields are close to the roadside (some of which are helped along by the highway department seeding) and you get the occasional glimpse of distant fields full of Bluebonnets and other wild flowers.
I wanted to pull over and get a closer view here of the Bluebonnets surrounding he windmill in the distance. Horses were grazing around it and under trees but traffic didn't permit. This was between Industry and Brenham.
bluebonnets with some Indian Paintbursh roadside giving way to Indian Paintbrush alone on the other side of the fence.
After a short stop in Independence, TX we came across this homestead. Off to the left out of frame was a woman with a tripod set up to capture the barn among the Bluebonnets. Wonder if she is entering the Brenham wildflower photography contest? Steve captured this one of me taking a photo.
Okay, nothing to do with wildflowers but a new planned community going in and I couldn't resist the horses near Washington on the Brazos.
This field, barely visible through the trees along the road was easy to locate due to the large number of cars pulled over and parked along the roadside. Walking through the tractor entrance we saw this.
A few cows for perspective.
While the field appears at first glance to be all Bluebonnets there were some Buttercups scattered in it.
Coming back from Navasota on Highway 6 we found the same field that inspired us to go for our two wheel ride when we passed it in the car the weekend before.
I said it was a big field with lots of people taking pictures.
A mile or so down the road we saw more cattle among the Bluebonnets.
Part of median planting.
Roadside along Highway 6
Even the center meridian was full of flowers on Highway 6.
Bluebell Gential found in the large field of Bluebonnets on Highway 6.
Buttercup among the Bluebonnets
We believe this is a Colorado 4 o'clock - how did that find its way to Texas?
Indian Paintbrush
Partially open dew covered Showy Primrose
Bluebonnets framing Indian Paintbrush
Another angle of a Bluebonnet framed Paintbrush.
We saw several of these in clumps along the road just south of Bellville coming from Pettison. Not one we could identify but they wer pretty and about 2' tall.
My suess is some sort of lilly.
Indian Paintbrush
We aren't sure what the light flower is.
After looking at the University of Texas Wildlife Center we think it might be Yellow Paintbursh but aren't sure.
More Bluebells
Indian Blanket, we saw very, very few of these.
Mixture of Bluebonnets, Buttercups and Showy Primrose
Indian Paintbursh was mostly found with Bluebonnets but here it was mixed with Showy Primrose.
Cluster of Indian Paintbrush
Close-up of Indian Paintbrush
We think this is Prairie Parsley but aren't certain, photo was taken with a zoom lense so it isn't as clear as the others.
The Show Primrose are opening here.
Winecup, except for one group we couldn't pull over to photograph (no shoulder and too much traffic) this flower was rearely seen.
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