It's another cold, gray day Northern Illinois.  There were snow flurries yesterday, and large mounds of dirty snow still stand tall where parking lots, streets, and driveways were put to the snow plow last month.  Despite the cold temperatures, or perhaps because of them, the arrival of March brings thoughts of spring:  Warm weather.  Longer days.  Wild flowers.  Especially wild flowers.  With this “roadies” post, I wish to celebrate one of the places in our nation that shows off the glories of spring as well as any.  It is the state of my birth, where I spent most of the first 25 years of my life.  I invite you to celebrate with me the spring wild flowers of Texas.

Texas's springtime flower show is not guaranteed.  In years of draught, the display can be tepid.  In arid far West Texas, the rain may not fall at all, leaving the seedlings in the ground until the next wet year.   In normal years, however, the Rio Grande valley of West Texas provides a modest February preview of the colorful palet that will explode in March and April in more humid climes to the east.

Each region of Texas has its own spring personality.  From the blooming cacti and tall desert Bluebonnets of the west, to the crimson clover and white dogwoods of the east, the entire state sings the praises of the season.  But it is the middle part of the state, stretching in a wide arc from the Red River north of Dallas and Fort Worth, down the prairies and hill country of Central Texas, to the Rio Grande River southwest of  San Antonio that provides the iconic image of a Texas spring.  It is here that the Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush show their stuff, giving us a brief concert in color. 

Out west, where the Rio Grande makes the big turn that gives Big Bend National Park its name, the show starts in mid to late February.  Around San Antonio, the peak is usually late March.  Further north, from Dallas out to Abilene and Wichita Falls, it’s April. In the Panhandle, you’ll find spring color well into May.

With apologies to the many professional photographers who post on Open Salon who would have done a far superior job than me, I offer some pictures I have taken through the years which illustrate the glory of springtime in Texas!

Prickly Pear and Big Bend Bluebonnets, Big Bend National Park

 Ocotillo, Guadalupe Mountains National Park

Ocotillo closeup

 Cholla,  Chihuahua Desert, West Texas

Prickly pear, Palo Duro Canyon State Park, Texas Panhandle

 Bluebonnets, south of FortWorth

Indian Paintbrush, Central Texas

Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush southwest of Fort Worth

 Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush, southwest of Fort Worth

 Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush