A field of bluebonnets in the Highland Lakes during a previous season. The 2025 blooms could be a bit sparse in the western part of the state, according to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Photo by Ronnie Madrid/Divine Radiance Photography
Texas Hill Country bluebonnets in 2025 might pale in comparison to recent blooms, according to the experts at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, who are predicting a mixed season for spring wildflowers due to drought in the Edwards Plateau and Trans Pecos. However, eastern parts of the state could have a strong showing.
The Austin-based center released its annual wildflower forecast Feb. 25, but the outlook is a little hazy.
“If predicting the weather is a challenge, then predicting the wildflower bloom for a big state like Texas is even more of a challenge,” said Andrea DeLong-Amaya, the center’s horticulture director, in a media release. “With fluctuations in weather and micro-climate scenarios (where one small geographical area may have received different weather than others), it’s sometimes hard to make a big sweeping prediction. This is one of those years.”
The late fall 2024 drought in the western part of the state, including the Hill Country and Highland Lakes area, will likely hinder this year’s early blooming wildflowers like Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) and Texas paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa).
“Last fall’s drought influenced the number of little wildflower plants we have growing out there,” DeLong-Amaya said. “I think we’ve had enough precipitation to give them a boost and get them blooming, but it’s too late in the game to germinate new seeds, which will affect the numbers of plants we have.”
If these early bloomers are a little sparse, then late spring and summer flowers will have more room to grow, so expect to see a burst of firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella), also called Indian blankets, and purple horsemint (Monarda citriodora) if wetter weather is in the forecast for the next few months.
WILDFLOWER OF THE YEAR
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center also announced 2025’s Wildlfower of the Year: Gregg’s mistflower (Conoclinium greggii). This member of the Aster family forms puffy, cushion-like flower heads of small purplish-blue clusters and can reach up to 2 feet tall. The center picked Gregg’s mistflower because of its long blooming season, which starts in March and ends in November; its adaptability to a variety of soils and light conditions; and its vital role in feeding essential pollinators, particularly Queen butterflies in the summer and fall.
