Flowers in a Different Light

In the quest for pollinators, plants really pull out the stops, producing flowers with powerful scents, elaborate structures, and dramatic colors -- including in parts of the light spectrum that humans can't see but that insects and other pollinators can. Learn and see how that works in this piece for Wildflower Magazine

Bees are vital to wildflowers

 Enjoy the spring wildflowers this year? Thank a bee! Read more about the role of these insects as pollinators, and how you can help them. 

The Birds and the Bees: attracting pollinators

The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department has guidelines for landowners who want to create habitat for pollinators such as native bees and butterflies -- and perhaps get a tax break, too. Read more about the program in the June issue of TPW Magazine.

Texan by Nature

This non-profit seeks to spur Texan-led conservation efforts with tangible benefits for people, prosperity and natural resources. Or, as founder and former First Lady Laura Bush says, “to keep Texas, Texas, for the benefit of Texans and wildlife.” Find out how you can participate in this piece for Texas Co-op Power Magazine.

Wildflower Road Trips

Plan a spring wildflower road trip in Texas! My latest for Texas Highways covers four parts of the state and the amazing sights to see in each. Read it here.

Seven iconic Texas wildflowers

For this year's annual wildflower piece, Texas Highways took a different approach. We selected symbolic wildflowers for seven regions across Texas and suggested places to see them, along with where to eat and stay and other fun things to do. Read more here.

Wildflowers 2015

The wildflowers have arrived in Texas! My piece for Texas Highways offers up four great routes for enjoying them, and other pursuits.

Wild(flower) Campouts

This article of mine appears in the spring issue of Women's Adventure Magazine.
Spring’s arrival means hillsides transformed by multicolored riots of wildflowers. To truly appreciate the blooms, hike, bike, or—best yet—bed down among them. The show varies depending on rain, temperature and elevation, but March, April, and May bring peak spring color across the nation’s lower half and upper latitudes bloom well into June and July. For a dependable show, try these three camping havens in the thick of the color.

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Texas

Native Tonkawas thought the creaking, 640-acre rock at the center of this Texas park was haunted—hence it’s name. As it turns out, the noises come from the heat-fueled expansion of the enormous granite batholiths. A handful of other revealed-by-erosion rock formations dot the open woodland and grassland that are most vibrant in April. Look for the state flower, bluebonnets, along with Indian paintbrush, coreopsis, bladderpod, and basin bellflower. Arrive early on weekends: The park often hits capacity and closes to late arrivals. www.tpwd.state.tx.us

Things to do:

* Set up at one of 46 walk-in campsites or three primitive camping areas complete with fire rings and picnic tables.
* Climb the 0.6-mile trail to the top of the rock for long views of the surrounding countryside.
* Circumnavigate Enchanted Rock on the wide, easy 4.5-mile loop trail.
* Take a picnic lunch for an early-spring splash in Sandy Creek.
* Rope up for a climb on the rock’s north side. Technical routes range from 5.4 to 5.11.

Joshua Tree National Park, California

With sufficient rain and March’s peak-season mild temps, wildflowers sweep north through Joshua Tree’s 800,000 acres in waves of blue, red, yellow, and white. The Dr. Seuss–like signature Joshua trees, actually giant yuccas, bloom showy cream-colored flowers, while displays of yellow desert dandelions, delicate Spanish needles, blue chia, Mojave lupines, gold poppies, red chuparosa, and tiny forget-me-nots color the surrounding desert habitat. www.nps.gov/jotr

Things to do:

* Pitch a tent under a crystal-clear desert sky. There are 500+ established campground sites and 585,000 acres of open-camping backcountry.
* Hike barely a mile to the palm-fan-lined oasis at Cottonwood Spring.
* Grab a pair of binocs and scout for golden eagles, roadrunners, and 76 other avian residents at the Oasis of Mara.
* Pedal fat tires into Pleasant Valley. Traffic is light on the 17-mile lollipop loop.

Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Missouri

This central-Missouri park is home to a fern-lined spring pumping more than 48 million gallons of water a day. The 30-year-old park is peppered with sinkholes, caves, cave shelters, and even a natural bridge, providing diverse habitats for wildflowers of all kinds. May is peak season for native prairie and woodland species, including catchfly, exotic ladies’ tresses, prairie roses, and multiple varieties of asters, coneflowers, blazing stars, violets, buttercups, and goldenrods. www.mostateparks.com/hahatonka.htm

Things to do:

* Hike the hilly 6.5-mile Turkey Pen Hollow Trail. Camping here is the park’s only overnight option.
* Look for mink, beaver, and otter from the stair-stepped boardwalk on Ha Ha Tonka Spring’s edge.
* Explore the ruins of a fire-burned castle (built in 1905) atop the 250-foot bluff.
* Pack your caving gear and call ahead to access Island Cave, the park’s only wild cave.
* Hike the 1.25-mile Devil’s Kitchen Cave trail and peek up at the sky through its chimney.
See the article with photos here.

Trail Blazers

From the Spring 2010 issue of Wildflower Magazine (which includes scientific names for all these flowers!)

Popular hikes bring wildflowers up close and personal

Growing up in Texas, I learned to appreciate wildflowers mostly from the window of a car. A particularly spectacular field of bluebonnets might earn a stop on the highway shoulder, but that was as good as it got.
As an adult, I found that true appreciation of nature’s lavish and colorful show can be found up close and personal, and a hike offers an excellent way to reach this natural nirvana.
We’ve selected nine inspirational hikes that put you in the middle of spectacular spring wildflower blooms. Chosen for variety of locations, landscapes and level of challenge, these represent but a tiny sample of the hundreds of wonderful wildflower hikes across the country. Once you get started, you’ll want to look for opportunities wherever you go.

Colorado
Zook/Sundance/Talon Loop, Cheyenne Mountain State Park
Out of Cheyenne Mountain State Park’s approximate 20 miles of trails, Pamela Irwin, native plant master and author of four wildflower hiking guides, recommends this combination loop. Start on Talon Loop, which shortly merges with Zook Trail; remain on Zook until it intersects Sundance, follow Sundance to Talon, and Talon back to the trail head.

On Zook Trail, prickly poppy, fleabane daisy and wild rose bloom among grasses. Species near an old ranch corral include chiming bells, yarrow, narrow-leaf penstemon and American vetch. On the Sundance Trail portion, overlooking Fort Carson, find yucca, orange paintbrush, wavyleaf thistle and evening primroses. Farther along, see perky Sue, snowberry, wild four o’clock and skullcap; in spots shaded by Ponderosa pine, many-flowered puccoon and spiderwort. In south-facing areas, find scarlet gaura and cowboy’s delight. A prairie dog town provides additional diversion.
Talon Loop passes through scrub oak and flowers such as blazing star, goldenrod, thimbleweed, sego lilies, silky locoweed and wallflower.
Easy
Distance: 3 miles
Elevation change: 200 feet
Peak: June
Cheyenne Mountain State Park, 410 JL Ranch Heights, 719.576.2016, http://parks.state.co.us/Parks/
cheyennemountain

California
Guy Fleming Trail, Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is named for the rarest pine in North America, Pinus torreyana, which once covered a large area of Pacific coast but now grows only here and on Santa Rosa Island. In addition to Torrey pine woodlands, the park includes coastal sage scrub and chaparral.
This short, relatively level trail has diverse scenery, including an up-close look at the pines, ocean vistas and, of course, native plants and wildflowers. These include bladderpod, bluedicks, Mojave yucca, golden yarrow, wild snapdragon, monkey flower, popcorn flower, common goldfields, California sunflower and rein orchids.
Other hiking options include Razor Point Trail, with dramatic views in addition to wildflowers; Parry Grove Trail, which has a native plant garden at the trailhead; Broken Hill Trail, which passes through chaparral; and the Beach Trail, a route popular for accessing the beach.
Easy
Distance: 0.7 miles
Elevation change:
Less than 10 feet
Peak: March – May
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, 12600 N. Torrey Pines Rd., San Diego, 858.755.2063. www.torreypine.org/

Serpentine Loop, Edgewood Park and Natural Preserve
Known throughout the Bay Area as the place for spring wildflowers, according to president of Friends of Edgewood Bill Korbholz, this park houses more than 500 plant species within less than a square mile, some 70 percent of them native. The unique serpentine soil favors natives that adapted to its unusual mineral content. Serpentine endemics grow only on this soil, and the park has several species, including threatened Marin dwarf-flax and the endangered San Mateo thornmint, which are found nowhere else in the world.
Serpentine Loop offers the most spectacular wildflower viewing, says Korbholz, who recommends following Sylvan Trail from the parking lot to the Serpentine Loop. It passes through mixed woodland forest, where crimson columbine, spreading larkspur, checker lily, California saxifrage and common snowberry bloom. It also meanders through chaparral, which includes clovers, California bee plant, blue witch nightshade, pipestem and California yerba santa. It continues on through grassland, with a wealth of wildflowers from California blue-eyed grass to California buttercup, Abram’s woolstar, the aforementioned Marin dwarf-flax, rare stinkbells, common goldfields, coast range mule ears, California poppy, slenderflower sun cup and the charming brownies.
Easy to moderate
Distance: 3 miles
Elevation change: 500 feet
Peak: April
Park located at Edgewood and Old Stage Road, Redwood City, 650.368.6283. Free, docent-led walks available every spring weekend at 10 a.m. Trail map at www.friendsofedgewood.org (click on Edgewood, then Maps, then Trails)

Washington
Cady Ridge, Jackson Wilderness/Wenatchee National Forest
“When it comes to resplendent alpine meadows, the Henry M. Jackson Wilderness can’t be beat,” says hiking guide author Craig Romano, who recommends seeing it via Cady Ridge and West Cady Ridge trails. Wildflowers proliferate along the mile-high ridge, dominated by lupines and including paint brushes, alpine leafybract aster, gentians, mountain lady’s-slipper orchid, Columbia lily, Wenatchee valerian, white mountain-heather, phlox, buttercup, narrowleaf fireweed, crimson columbine and beardtongue. The 2,700-foot gain in elevation is strenuous, but the scenery is worth the effort.
At the trailhead, follow signs for Cady Creek and, at the next junction, to Cady Ridge. This trail crosses a creek and climbs a series of switchbacks, eventually cresting a 5,300-foot knoll with a view of Glacier Peak above a lupine meadow. Satisfied hikers can turn back here; otherwise, continue across an open slope with mountain views to what Romano calls “one of the finest alpine meadows this side of the Colorado Rockies.” Mountain peaks form a dramatic backdrop, and the route ends at the Pacific Crest Trail, 5,350 feet high and six miles from the trailhead. Backpackers can return to the meadow and bed down in sites located along the meadow’s edge.
Strenuous
Distance: 12 miles round-trip
Elevation gain: 2,700 feet
Peak: July and August
Jackson Wilderness lies within the Wenatchee National Forest, 509.548.2550, www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/recreation/ wenatchee-river/trails/

Michigan
Paw Paw Prairie Fen Preserve
Paw Paw Prairie Fen Preserve, in southwest Michigan, houses a “botanical paradise,” according to The Nature Conservancy’s marketing manager Melissa Soule. Geologically and biologically unique wetlands found only in the glaciated Midwest, prairie fens feature tall grass prairie flora and fauna. This preserve also contains coastal plain marsh, a wetland community dominated by grassland rush.
Some 150 rare prairie fens have been identified in Michigan, says Brad Slaughter, conservation associate at Michigan Natural Features Inventory. The Paw Paw preserve is home to around 200 species of vascular plants, he says, more than documented at any other fen. Slaughter reports that hikers can see marsh blazing-star, a member of the sunflower family that grows up to 4 feet tall, with a dense bottle-brush of showy purple disk flowers. Two valerian species, one of them rare in Michigan, flower in late May and early June. Later in June, Indian plantain bursts out with creamy-white tubular flowers tipped in bright yellow-orange. The carnivorous purple pitcher plant and roundleaf sundew also live on the preserve.
Easy
Distance: Approx.1.5 miles
Elevation gain: insignificant
Peak: June – August
For directions and access, contact The Nature Conservancy Michigan Field Office, 616.785.7055, nature.org/wherewework
/northamerica/states/michigan/preserves/ art17142.html

Connecticut
Breakneck Pond Trail, Bigelow Hollow State Park
New England hiker and author Jeff Romano (brother to Craig) recommends Breakneck Pond, a trail in Bigelow Hollow State Park with an abundance of mountain laurel, the state flower. The state park and adjacent Nipmuck State Forest offer a number of trails.
This one, the East Ridge Trail, follows an old roadway then traverses an open area, re-enters the woods, and climbs gently. Follow the Nipmuck Trail north through forest to Breakneck Hill Road, turn left, then remain on the Nipmuck to Breakneck Pond. The trail follows the pond for 1.6 miles, tunnels under abundant mountain laurel, and actually enters Massachusetts. Bear left at the pond’s northern end, cross a small stream, and go right onto the Ridge Trail. This winds around a wetland and through large boulders to the top of a forested ridge. Enjoy the view here, then descend to Breakneck Hill Road, which passes a small gate before branching onto a second road up the hill. The route goes up a sedge-covered ridge, then descends and follows the narrowing ridge line.
Moderately strenuous
Distance: 7.5 miles
Elevation gain: 350 feet
Peak: June
Bigelow Hollow State Park, 860-684-3430
Classic Hikes: New England, Jeff Romano, The Mountaineers Books.

Texas
Big Bend National Park, Chisos Basin
In this mostly desert park, wildflowers can be spectacular following rain. The higher Chisos Basin has more consistent rainfall and wildflowers. This loop combines several Basin trails for a day-long hike, beginning with the Laguna Meadow Trail, which offers views of the iconic Window formation. A notch in the mountain ring, the Window drains all rainfall from the Basin. Rising through a long series of switchbacks and steps, the trail reaches stands of colorful Texas madrone and Mexican buckeye trees that bloom in spring, says park ranger Jennette Timmer, as do beardtongues, Mexican catchfly, claret cup cactus and scarlet bouvardia, or firecracker bush, a Trans-Pecos endemic shrub.
The trail offers an amazing mountain vista at Blue Creek Overlook and traverses the mountains on the Colima Trail. On this wetter side of the mountains you’ll see mosses, mistletoes and perhaps two types of rare orchids, scarlet mock lady’s-tresses and crested-coralroot orchids. After rounding an exposed rocky point called Boot Rock, the trail enters a more open area, with the deep Juniper Canyon on the right, and continues descending on the Pinnacles Trail. Mints may be growing along the trailside cliffs. The route levels out into grassy Boulder Meadow, painted yellow in fall by blooming broom snakeweed, before heading back down to the Basin.
Strenuous
Distance: 8.6 miles
Elevation gain: 2,000 feet
Peak: April – May
Big Bend National Park Headquarters, Panther Junction, Highway 118, 432.477.2251, nps.gov/bibe

Loop Trail, Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
One of the nation’s largest batholiths, or underground rock formation uncovered by erosion, Enchanted Rock covers 640 acres and rises 425 feet. Native Tonkawas attributed the rock’s creaking and groaning sounds to spirits and thought it enchanted. A 4-mile loop trail gives hikers view of all sides of the rock, plus plenty of wildflowers. The display in spring can’t be beat, and fall isn’t bad either.
The trail initially follows Sandy Creek, at times awash in bright yellow cowpen daisies. It crosses the creek, passes between Buzzard’s Roost and Freshman Mountain and levels onto a wide dirt path circling Enchanted Rock and neighboring Little Rock. The park contains open oak woodland, mesquite grassland and floodplain. Grasses and sedges such as Indian grass, bushybeard bluestem, frost weed and switchgrass form groundcover. Abundant wildflowers include Texas bluebonnet, Indian paintbrush, tickseed, bladderpod and the endemic basin bellflower.
Easy to moderate
Distance: 4 miles
Elevation gain: 160 feet
Peak: April
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, 16710 RR 965, Fredericksburg, Texas, 830.685.3636, website tpwd.state.tx.us/ enchantedrock

Florida
Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park, Gap Point Nature Trail
A barrier island between the Gulf of Mexico and Apalachicola Bay, St. George Island stretches 29 miles. Nine of those lie in the state park, five accessible only by foot. This trail explores the bay side, beginning in the campground and traversing slash pine forest, sand scrub oak, blooming beach morning glory, slender goldentop, slender muhly grass, Florida rosemary, frogfruit, camphorweed, and blazing-star.

The trail dead-ends at the shallow water of St. George Sound. The tall pines and oaks here attract many species of birds, including migrants, wintering waterfowl, and nesting osprey and bald eagles. A number of trails in nearby Apalachicola National Forest, including 74 miles of the Florida National Scenic Trail, cover landscapes containing a variety of wildflowers.
Easy
Distance: 2.5 miles
Elevation gain: Less than 10 feet
Peak: April, October
St. George Island State Park, 1900 E. Gulf Beach Dr, 850.927.2111, floridastateparks.org
Apalachicola National Forest Trails, 904.942.9300.

Trips To Bountiful

For the enlightened and adventurous traveler, serendipity transforms every trip: Hiking a new trail and rounding a bend to encounter an unexpected vista, journeying to a destination you’ve heard about—or visiting a familiar place with someone who’s never been—without an agenda. Or, in the case of pursuing Texas wildflowers, finding yourself surprised with the splashes and brushstrokes of red, blue, orange, and purple that appear in the landscape.
From year to year, nature’s wildflower displays vary dramatically. Rainfall (or lack there--of), the timing of the first freeze, the length of warm spells-—all these weather-related factors determine the palette in each spring’s bloom. And human actions, such as mowing, irrigation, and development, also play a role.
In any given year, wildflowers will bloom—some time, some place—in Texas. When, where, and in exactly what types and quantities—well, finding the answer to that question creates the thrill of the chase. We’ve selected four driving routes that, based on the predictions of experts at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, should offer some of this year’s best wildflower viewing (we selected for variety, too).

See the print edition for additional information on compelling roadside stops, places to stay, and other attractions, so you’ll have fun on your road trip no matter what.

Brenham/Chappell Hill
Set aside a few hours to enjoy this 90-mile drive that scrawls a rough figure-8 around the Brenham area in Washington County. Start from Brenham and
head northeast on Texas 105 through rolling hills, pastures, stands of oaks, and blooming flowers such as purple coneflower, verbena, beardtongue, coral bean, skullcaps, and prairie parsley. A few miles from the city limits, look off to the right for the Monastery Miniature Horse Farm, where the Franciscan Poor Clare nuns maintain a herd of cute, waist-high horses.
If you’re in no hurry, visit Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site, home of the Star of the Republic Museum and Barrington Living History Farm. However, be forewarned. You’d need an entire day to do it justice. Because wildflowers rule this excursion, hustle back to scenic, flower-lined FM 1155.
Drive slowly down the single street that passes through Chappell Hill’s quaint business district. Turn right at US 290 and take the Austin exit in Brenham to remain on 290 roughly 14 miles to the turn-off for Burton, FM 1697. Pay attention, because this stretch of highway often provides some of the lushest bluebonnet spreads in the entire state. Also look for Indian paintbrush, yellow wild indigo, thistles, blue-eyed grass, rattlesnake flower, blanket flower, and rosinweed.
In Independence, stop in Old Baylor Park on the side of the road. Site of the original Baylor University, the park now boasts excellent bluebonnet photo ops. Other usual suspects rounded up here include primroses, lyre leaf sage, prairie Brazos mint, and mayhaw trees. Turn right on FM 50, which takes you back to Texas 105 and Brenham.


Big Bend
This rough and winding route puts many miles on your vehicle, but the visual treats will prove more than enough reward. In the morning, take RM 170 west to the Barton Warnock Environmental Education Center, a source of information on points of interest along the scenic River Road, including Big Bend Ranch State Park. The Center’s herbarium houses 1,100 plant specimens discovered by noted Texas botanist Barton Warnock, plus exhibits on area geology, natural history, and a
2 ½-acre desert garden.
Armed with know-ledge, continue west toward Presidio. Look for blooming cacti, Big Bend bluebonnets, blind cactus, rainbow cactus, cat claw, strawberry pitaya, nama or fiddleleaf, bicolor fan mustard, ocotillo, cenizo, desert marigolds, and rock nettles. Stop to hike Closed Canyon, a narrow slot canyon, where you may spy hechtia, and the Rancherias Canyon Trail to observe unique riparian denizens, including marsh centaury.

In addition to wildflowers, look for herds of pronghorn antelope. The drive on US 90 east to Alpine is dominated by grasslands where yucca and sotol bloom in the spring. In Alpine, have lunch or dinner at La Trattoria, celebrated for authentic Italian fare. Then turn on Texas 118 South back toward Terlingua. Along this scenic road, look for Mexican buckeyes and more wildflowers in the mid-elevations, and flowering desert scrub in lower areas.

Northeast Texas, Caddo Lake State Park, Cass County
You’ll begin and end this wildflower drive in Marshall, which offers numerous accommodations on US 59, including a handful of B&Bs. Head north along Texas 43 from Marshall to Karnack, and you may see bull thistle, coreopsis, and, at the edge of the woods, beardtongue. In low-lying areas, keep your eyes peeled for common rose mallow and giant coneflower, the latter with yellow blooms that can soar six feet high. Take FM 2198 to Uncertain, where crimson clover and coreopsis often bloom, along with partridge pea, downy phlox, bluebonnets, Mexican hats, and wild indigo.
Heavily wooded Caddo Lake State Park curves around Saw Mill Pond and connects to Lake Caddo. On park trails, look for blooming Spanish moss; rent a canoe or kayak and paddle past floating bladderwort, blooming cabomba, fragrant water lily, and American lotus among the moss-shrouded bald cypress trees.

Make your way back to Texas 43 and continue north to Atlanta, then take US 59 to Linden. Along the way, look for coreopsis, crimson clover, spiderwort, phlox, and bachelor buttons gracing the landscape. Continue on Texas 155 to the tiny town of Avinger, then Texas 49 to Jefferson. A bustling port in the 1840s, Jefferson faded when the railroad arrived in Marshall, but you’ll find plenty of mansions turned B&Bs, as well as the historic Excelsior House and Jefferson Hotels, both famously haunted. Consider a bayou boat tour or a ride on a paddlewheel steamer on Caddo Lake, then treat yourself to French cuisine at the Stillwater Inn Restaurant. Or, to keep the pie theme going, visit House of Pies, then take US 59 back to Marshall. Other flowers likely to show themselves along this route include Indian paintbrush, larkspur, red buckeye, butterfly weed, and black-eyed Susans.



Franklin Mountains
This route follows Loop 375, or the Trans-Mountain Road, through Franklin Mountains State Park, at 37 square miles, the nation’s largest urban park—all of it within El Paso’s city limits.
West of El Paso on Interstate 10, take the Canutillo/Trans-Mountain Road (Loop 375) exit and drive 3.8 miles to the park entrance. The Northern Chihuahuan Desert vegetation here includes lechuguilla, sotol, ocotillo, several types of yucca, and many cactus species. Some plant species found here, such as the Southwest barrel cactus, grow nowhere else in Texas. The Trans-Mountain Road reaches 5,120 feet elevation and passes the Ron Coleman Trail, a hike that affords up-close looks at blooming cacti. Fields of bright yellow mountain poppies, one of the park’s most spectacular sights, can best be seen on the eastern slope of the Franklins at the El Paso Museum of Archeology—providing, of course, the weather co-operates. Hike the short Sneed’s Cory trail in the Tom Mays Unit to see pineapple cactus, Chihuahuan fishhook cactus, and agave. This area offers additional trails, picnic sites, and primitive camping; the park also has RV sites. And, remember to visit the store located at park headquarters in McKelligon Canyon on the east side of the park.
For more dramatic and sweeping vistas, consider a ride on the Wyler Aerial Tramway. Take in the view of El Paso from here at 4,692 feet, and check out the cactus garden. An observation platform at the top affords 360-degree views of the park you just traversed, plus glimpses of three states and two countries.
This is just the highlights. See the full article and beautiful photos in the April issue of Texas Highways magazine!