Wildflowers of Big Bend

Spring is a magical season in Big Bend.  Warm temps and winter rains bring an early spring and wildflowers.

When the desert gets nice winter rains the wildflowers will explode across the desert.  The rains are the key.  When they happen it is amazing.

It usually starts in February and runs into early April.   Again, it just depends on the rain.

The winter of 2014-15 was a fairly wet season this last year.  The entire Big Bend region is still recovering from a lengthy drought.  Over the last few years the flowers have been week or non-existent.

They were just waiting for the rain.

This year we got it.

Rain and snow in December and early January.  Followed by some regular rain in February and into March brought out a feast of wildflowers.


It was a visual delight seeing the color.

There are several species and you get some nice color but one stands out-the Big Bend Bluebonnet.

Texas is known for bluebonnets.  They are the state flower.  They grow really big in Big Bend.

As in a flower can be 2-3 FEET tall.  That's right two or three feet tall.

It is an amazing sight.

Often growing few and far between, but the rains this year brought large displays, especially along the roadsides.  It was a treat.

I was hoping for some dramatic sunsets to put with the wildflowers but on most afternoons on this trip it was clear.  Only once did we get a nice sunset and the result is the image at the top.

I had hoped for bluebonnets but there were none near what I wanted to have as my background and instead was out among the yellow flowers that had spread across the desert lowlands.

It was a good spring and I enjoyed seeing the desert back to life after the drought.

I look forward to the fall and hope for some fall rains that will bring the fifth season and the fall wildflowers.