Catch the Bluebonnets in Texas This Spring

If you haven\'t seen the wildflowers in Texas in the spring, you
haven\'t lived! The highway medians and hillsides are full of
color - bright red, yellow and blue, pink and cream - but you
better look out because cars are always pulling off the side of
the highway to ogle and take photographs. It\'s a tradition to
get in your car in the spring and go look at the wildflowers.
Nearly everyone in Texas has a photo of their kids in the
bluebonnets.

Typically, in my photo album there\'s a photo of me in the
bluebonnets taken by my grandmother, a photo of my sons in the
bluebonnets, taken by me, and a photo of my granddaughter in the
bluebonnets taken by my daughter-in-law.

Isn\'t it time you had a photo of your family in the bluebonnets?
Why not make plans this year to have a drive in Central Texas
and start a new family tradition? Bluebonnets, the state flower,
grow all over the Texas Hill Country, from San Antonio up to
Dallas and for two weekends in April people come from all around
for what has become one of central Texas\' major events.

\Don\'t be surprised,\ says an article in the Austin Statesman
\to see 30 to 40 cars pulled off the road at some spots, with
children squatting in neck-high fields of lupinus, better known
as bluebonnets, smiling for the family camera.\

In fact it\'s such an event, there are hotlines you can call that
track sightings of wildflowers and tell you the best places:
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (http://www.wildflower.org )
- 512-832-4037, and Texas Department of Transportation -
1-800-452-9292 - which provides tourism information and also the
option to hear reports on wildflower sightings throughout the
state.

When you come, plan your trip to include WILDSEED FARMS (
www.wildseedfarms.com ), the largest working wildflower seed
farm in the US. I discovered the farm on my way to visit LYNDON
B. JOHNSON STATE PARK, which is between Fredericksburg and
Johnson City. I was driving along the highway, and all of a
sudden cars were swerving, stopping, pulling over, and heading
back. There on my left were the beautiful gardens full of
brilliant color, and I joined in, pulling over and heading back.

Equidistant from Junction, San Antonio and Austin, Texas, and
seven miles east of Fredericksburg, WildSeed Farm is open daily
from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Here\'s a map:
http://www.wildseedfarms.com/farmmap.html .

The farm has 200 acres of wildflowers at different stages of
growth. Texas bluebonnets, red corn poppies and phlox in the
spring, and cosmos, sunflowers and zinnias in the summer. While
at Wildseed Farms, you can stroll along the walking trails,
observe a working farm, and then visit the market retail center
and buy some seeds! There\'s plenty of room for the kids to run
around, and when else can they see a working wildflower seed
farm? Later you can relax in the BrewBonnet Biergarten which
offers beer, wine or soft drinks, ice cream, German tacos
(you\'re on your own there!) and various snacks. In the Garten
Haus, you can buy house plants, and in the Blumen Haus, fresh
cut flowers are available.

One of the special events at Wildseed, \Pedernales Valley
Wildflower Festival\ will be held April 5-18th this year
featuring the new Butterfly House with native butterflies. For
more information call 1-800-848-0078 or visit them on the web.
Do be aware that I\'m sorry to say their photographs do not do
justice to what you will see in person if you hit the Texas
highways in April.

This part of Texas is filled with quaint shops and historical
places, excellent food, and a welcome attitude toward tourists.
There are innumerable attractions to visit, but I\'ll mention one
if you\'re especially interested in flowers.

Be sure and visit the ANTIQUE ROSE EMPORIUM in San Antonio, 7561
Evers Road, 210-651-4565, open daily. Tour the grounds and the
beautiful displays garden and pick up some hardy antique roses
for your own garden.

Come on rose pruning day (known to some people as Valentine\'s
Day) for a Rose Pruning & Training Seminar, February 14th, 2004.
Owner and head gardener will show you how to prune, and how to
train roses. Seminar begins at 10 a.m. and is FREE of charge. Go
here for more information: http://www.antiqueroseemporium.com .

While in the area, in San Antonio you\'ll find the ALAMO,
SEAWORLD, FIESTA TEXAS, MISSION TRAILS and the RIVERWALK.

Over in Austin, the state capital, you\'ll find more wildflowers
- 42 more acres - at the LADY BIRD JOHNSON WILDFLOWER RANCH,
http://www.wildflower.org , and the beautiful UMLAUF SCULPTURE
GARDEN & MUSEUM, http://www.umlaufsculpture.org , outdoors and
user-friendly. Umlauf was an art instructor at the University of
Texas for 40 years and donated his home, studio and more than
250 pieces of artwork to the city of Austin which maintain the
lovely garden where his works are displayed. He worked in many
mediums and styles, and you\'ll find his works displayed in the
Smithsonian Institution and New York\'s Metropolitan Museum.

You\'ll probably recognize the face of his most famous UT
student, Farah Fawcett, who was often his model. An
exceptionally peaceful and beautiful sculpture garden!

Also in Austin is BARTON SPRINGS (
http://www.tec.org/bartonsprings/5Ws.html ) a 1,000 foot long
natural limestone pool fed by several underground springs,
situated in ZILKER PARK (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/zilker ),
which also has the Zilker Eagle, a large playscape, and 400
acres of sports fields and woodlands.

Then for more scenery, take the HILL COUNTRY FLYER, a steam
locomotive SP 786 manned by volunteers. There are 1-hour trips
through Austin, a 33-mile ride from Cedar Park (north of Austin)
to Burnet through the Hill Country and special event rides, such
as murder-mystery excursions. Call 512-477-8468 for more
information.

Also for the kids, there are zoos in both San Antonio and Austin.

If you choose the Dallas area, give Kelly Dunn a call. An
excellent photographer, she\'s booking bluebonnet photography
dates already. Visit her on the web at
http://www.justimagineinc.com .

And last, but not least, to make this a memorable excursion for
the kids, the BAT EGRESS. This is something you won\'t see all
the time. Every evening from mid-March until early November, 1.5
million Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from their roosts under
the Congress Avenue Bridge in downtown Austin and head out over
the town looking for dinner. Go here for directions:
http://www.batcon.org/discover/congress.html . There\'s plenty of
parking, restaurants nearby, a souvenir stand (yes, t-shirts!)
but no public restrooms or concessions.

Generally the bats emerge at dusk, but \may fly late if
conditions are not favorable.\ In early August you can see the
new born pups on their first forages with their mums. You can
also view them via a River Cruise.

And yes, there\'s a hotline. For updates and approximate
emergence time, call the Austin American-Statesman/Bat
Conservation hotline - 512-416-5700 (category 3636) for the
latest flight times.

Here is a photograph of the people waiting
(http://www.batcon.org/discover/cab14-sm.jpg ), and here go the
bats (http://www.batcon.org/discover/cab08-sm.jpg ).

Trust me, you have never seen anything like it, and it is
guaranteed to render all age groups speechless. It\'s very
silent. Also it\'s VERY creepy. (And remember, you can look, but
you better not touch.)

Y\'all come, y\'hear?