How are the bluebonnet wildflowers doing in Texas this year?
 

We are coming to San Antonio next weekend and have planned a driving trip to Austin and the Hill country. We picked this time of year in order to see the magnificent wildflowers in bloom. We plan to drive the Willow City Loop.
So are the bluebonnets in bloom there and in the rest of the hill country?

The bluebonnets, along with other random wild flowers, are in bloom in San Antonio--"they" say this year won't be as prolific as years past due to lack of rain but I've seen enough to make me happy!

Not sure about the Hill Country although I would imagine they're in bloom there as well--a friend and I attempted a drive to Fredericksburg last week but traffic was stopped on I-10 so we turned around. :-(

Saw lots of wildflowers along 290 from Houston to Austin earlier this week. Yes, "they" say the flowers aren't supposed to be up to par this year but so far I'd say "they" got it wrong!

Marble Falls got a nice rain last nite so they could be coming out almost any time now . .

this year is weird so far!!
around Abilene, Iris are early, Tulips are late, and I haven't seen any bluebonnets yet!

We did the drive from San Antonio to Fredericksburg this afternoon and I'd say flowers are quite subdued compared to previous years. We took different routes over and back home, and the best of the flowers were in the 281 median between Blanco and Johnson City--lots of bluebonnets with Indian paintbrushes mixed in. 290 from Fred. to Johnson City had very little, to our surprise. We thought that if any place would have them, Johnson City would. Wildseed Farm didn't have much in bloom even. I can't decide if it's too early or just too dry.

We did not do the Willow City Loop today, but I've never found the flowers there to be the most prolific in the area. It's a gorgeous drive, flowers or no, as are all the drives in the area. Each time we do it I'm surprised by how pretty it is, and spring is one of the most beautiful times of year. Everything is so green! Hopefully you won't be disappointed with the flowers and your drives.

Was there any rain in the hill country area is past week? Any expected this week?

Margo

There was a very very small amount of drizzle yesterday and we've had a little rain this morning.

I was talking to a friend this morning who lives in LaVernia (sp?) a bit east of San Antonio, not far from I-10E and it sounds as if they have a bumper crop down there compared to our area. The paper had also mentioned Seguin area as being a possibility in an article a couple weeks ago. It seems when the rain did come, those places got hit and the rest of us were missed.

drove from austin to abilene this past weekend, and did not see much

The Pink evening Primroses are more dominant this year. To get an update on wildflower sightings check out http://www.lone-star.net/wildflowers/sightings.htm.