Perhaps no other state offers the pleasant plethora of fascinating flowers and beautiful blooms as does Texas. And our Central Texas area is among the most blessed. If you have a hankering to see bluebonnets, Indian blankets, Indian paintbrushes and black-foot daisies, this is the place.
More specifically, I would recommend driving on Highway 281 toward Burnet, a town officially recognized by the Texas Legislature as “the bluebonnet capital of Texas.” The Turkey Bend Recreation Area is especially rich in flowers.
Marble Falls is another place that offers vivid wildflower displays this time of year, plus it is home to the iconic Bluebonnet Café, where the food is good and the pies are exceptional.
In fact, let us briefly digress from flowers and consider the 16 species of pies available here, including such crowd-pleasers as apple, cherry, fudge, pecan, peanut butter, banana cream, coconut cream, lemon meringue and German chocolate cake. Yum.
Back to flowers, I would also recommend a visit to Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. You’ll find 650 types of native plants along the winding trails of this lovely center.
Going down Highway 29 toward Mason, you’ll see tons of flowers, especially at Inks Lake State Park.
If you want to see a different type of bluebonnet, much taller than the local variety, drive out to Big Bend National Park. A great scenic drive is along Highway 118 from Alpine to Terlingua.
Finally, drive over to Fredericksburg and the Willow City Loop and the 200-acre Wildseed Farms, two of the best places in Texas to see wildflowers. I would suggest you go on a weekday – they’re awfully crowded on weekends.
