Mediocre wildflower season expected

AUSTIN (KXAN) - If you look closely, you'll notice a little spring color in Central Texas. Wildflower season is getting an earlier than normal start. Redbud and Mexican Plum trees are budding and even a few bluebonnets are blooming.

It’s a time of year that Brenda Griffith remembers vividly from her days in Austin. She now lives in Atlanta and comes back once a year.

"It would just be a carpet of the Indian paintbrush and the bluebonnets and the yellow flowers,” said Griffith. “More flowers than I can remember the name of it was just, it was amazing."

But, Damon Waitt at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center says don't expect this year to be as vibrant.

"It'll probably be mediocre this year,” said Waitt, senior director and botanist. “I've got to be honest with you. We had a record-setting drought during October and November this year. That’s the time our wildflowers, bluebonnets, germinate.”

That means there are fewer flowers to bloom by spring. There is good news, though. We’ve seen some winter rain and warmer than normal temperatures. The late blooming wildflowers like Indian Blanket and Horsemint could be stunning.

“So mid-spring to early summer, we should see a really good show," said Waitt.

Bluebonnets are already in bloom at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Experts there nurse them along for visitors. There’s a spot to snap your picture among them.

Waitt says his favorite area to spot bluebonnets is the stretch from Austin to Brenham.