Posted on: April 12, 2022
By: Alan O'Neill
Posted in: Texas
Mark Mulligan/Staff photographer
DIANE COWEN, MELISSA AGUILAR, STAFF WRITERS
April 7, 2022Updated: April 11, 2022 5:43 p.m.
Looking for bluebonnets? Each year, TxDOT plants 30,000 pounds of seeds along Texas highways, a mix of grasses and wildflowers that bring springtime blooms. On the hunt for bluebonnets, you may also find Indian paintbrush, buttercups and Mexican blanket flowers. Follow the phlox and pink primroses west along U.S. 290 toward Brenham, where pastures are blanketed in blue. Here are some locations ideas to get you started:
Memorial Park: You’ll find patches of spring wildflowers throughout the park. Look for photo-worthy spots in the Eastern Glades near its parking lot.
Yellow wild indigo (Baptisia sphaerocarpa) flowers and Blue flag irises (Iris virginica) in Memorial Park’s Eastern Glades (Courtney Hall/Memorial Park Conservancy)
White Oak Bayou: Trails in this walker-friendly greenspace on the edge of the Heights have lots of spring flowers, including bluebonnets. Look for them just south of 11th Street and along TC Jester.
You can find spring wildflowers across along the White Oak bayou trails just south of 11th street and along TC Jester.
Anna Bauman/Houston Chronicle
Willow Waterhole: This wandering greenspace in Westbury has patches of bluebonnets throughout. Look for a parking area off of Dryad Drive and go from there.
Bluebonnets grow on a slope, Wednesday, April 6, 2022, at Willow Waterhole in Houston.Mark Mulligan/Staff photographer
Houston Botanic Garden: Wildflowers and bluebonnets are abundant at this botanic garden near Memorial Park (1 Botanic Lane). Note that this is not a free park. General admission is $12.50 for adults and $8 for students and children Monday-Thursday and $15/$10 on Friday-Sunday.
Houston Botanic Garden.
Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer
Terry Hershey Park: This Harris County Precinct 4 park, at 15200 Memorial on Houston’s west side, has wildflowers scattered throughout sunny parts of the park.
Theresa DiMenno photographs bluebonnets in Terry Hershey Park on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in Houston. ( Brett Coomer / Houston Chronicle )Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
League City: Bluebonnets are scarce here right now, but there’s a great patch in a 10-acre field on the north side of League City Parkway, near the Lawrence Road intersection. The wildflower project farther east on the parkway past the Hometown Heroes Park is only starting to bloom now and could produce more in the coming weeks.
Drummond phlox grow along Texas highways. Each year, TxDOT plants 30,000 pounds of seeds along the roadsides, a mix of grasses and wildflowers that bring springtime blooms.
Kathy Huber, Staff / Houston Chronicle
U.S. 290: Head northwest Houston and you will find some great spots to take pictures of the kids or the dog in the wildflowers. Or just to admire them as you drive by. In fact, you’ll know you’ve hit Washington County when you see wildflowers everywhere.
Paintbrushes and bluebonnets in Washington County. John Everett photoJohn Everett
Texas 237: This stretch of highway between Brenham and LaGrange is lined with fields and ditches filled with all kinds of wildflowers. Remember that this is all private property, so be careful where you stop. Great stopping points are the center of town in Round Top, where you can walk around.
The “sand bluebonnet,” which grows well in sandy soil, has its blue flowers all of the way to the tip.
Robert “Skip” Richter/Texas A&MAgriLife
Chappell Hill: Visit this historic small town for the Bluebonnet Festival of Texas April 9 and 10. There will be craft demonstrations and kids’ activities, as well as shopping with more than 250 juried exhibitors. 5070 Main, Chappell Hill, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. First Baptist Church Chappell Hill, 7675 FM 2447, where you can park and pose in the fields of FM 2447 and capture a beautiful church steeple in the background.
Bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and other wildflowers are shown along FM 2447 in Chappell Hill.
Melissa Phillip / Staff Photographer
Independence: Settled in 1824 by John Coles, one of the original 300 families brought to Texas by Stephen F. Austin, Independence is scenic any time of year. Old Baylor Park is a favorite stop, where graceful oak trees and a hidden cemetery add to the ambiance. The archeological ruins of the old Baylor campus for men sits next to the Antique Rose Emporium on the east side of FM 50.
Bluebonnets are beginning to bloom beside the Independence Log House at Old Baylor Park in Independence, outside Brenham.Molly Glentzer
Favorite routes: WildflowerHaven.com offers a list of bluebonnet routes to explore, including FM 390 from Texas 105 to Independence. Another favorite is Phillipsburg Church Road, south of Brenham off Texas 36. Farm to Market. The backroads usually make for good wildflower hunting. FM 362, FM 320 And FM 322 near Whitehall are good sidetrips around Brenham.
Bluebonnet Trail of Texas
Ken Ellis/Houston Chronicle
Painted churches: Combine a wildflower drive with a bit of Texas history. Fayette County’s “Painted Churches” date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many of the fields around them are filled with wildflowers and the old church structures are a gorgeous backdrop for photos. Here’s a handful to check out: St. Mary Catholic Church, 2833 FM 2672, High Hill; Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church, 821 FM 1295, Praha; Saints Cyril and Methodius Church, 4148 FM1383, Dubina. For information on Painted Churches tours, go to schulenburgchamber.org.
(L) Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church in Dubina. (R) St Mary’s High Hill Catholic Church in High Hill. (Elizabeth Conley, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer)
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