Spring has Sprung in Terlingua and the Big Bend!

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad

    with joy the whole time to have such things about us.

                                                                                 - Iris Murdoch

Another Terlingua Sunset Thursday evening.

Spring has Sprung here in the Big Bend area and Terlingua! I am so excited. Like the Pointers Sisters said, I'm so excited and I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it. Oh yeah!

This afternoon after Raoul arrived home from work we went for a little hike on the back of the property at Big Bend Resort to hunt for wildflowers. I have been waiting for this Spring for two years now. The past couple of years the drought has been so severe that there almost were no wildflowers or cactus blooming anywhere in the area. Now that we have experienced some rain and one snow the moisture has been enough to germinate the wildflowers and cactus.

At this moment there is an explosion of color, there's no other way to put it folks, in the Big Bend and Terlingua. Bluebonnets are carpeting the side of the roads and hills around us here in Terlingua. There are so many varieties of wildflowers blooming that some of them are new to me. The photos that follow are all of wildflowers spotted late this afternoon between Big Bend Resort & Adventures and Maverick Mountain. Enjoy.

This is some sort of ground cover with beautiful violet blooms.

I have no idea what this is but it is everywhere on my property
at Terlingua Ranch. I have been here five years and today I finally
get to see what the blooms look like. This blooms even earlier than
the blue bonnets since many of the blooms are already spent and seed pods have
dispersed their seeds.

A variety of Feather Dalea

Ocotillo preparing to bloom now

A variety of hedgehog cactus with double blooms now blooming

A variety of yucca in bloom

Blue bonnets covering the hills around Maverick Mountain.
Maverick Mountain straddles the boundary to BB National Park.

An arroyo and remnants of a mercury mine.
Notice the small white cross at the side of the road
at the bottom of the photo.

Bi-color mustard blooming

More Bi-color mustard blooms.

I have no idea what this is yet but I love this color!

I hope you enjoyed the floral show. You should make plans to visit the Big Bend National Park or Terlingua soon in order to enjoy this wonderful fiesta of color. March - May are the main blooming season for cactus, however, there is always something blooming here at some point even if it is very small, the wildflowers continue blooming when the main event of large showy cactus flowers have already performed their main event.

See you in the Big Bend!

Charlton