Spring is Beginning in Texas--What's Blooming Right Now?

Early spring ephemerals are waking up across the state. Here's a brief guide for some plants to keep an eye out for right now.

Ah, do you feel that? Summer….er, Spring in Texas has begun! I joke because wow, did I get in and out of the car on Sunday doing errands and begin to sweat with temperatures in the mid 80s. I love the heat and I’m glad we’re done with what semblance of winter we had this year, though I don’t love the heat so much I’m ready for summer just yet, or long strings of 100* days with no rain. But turning up the dial a bit and triggering those early spring ephemerals? Yes, please!

Ephemeral: lasting for a very short time

I could wax poetic about spring ephemeral plants with a list a mile long and y’all would be bored to tears so I’ll keep it to a short list of some of my favorites and the more common species you are likely to see around Texas right about now or for the next few weeks. The thing about the spring ephemeral list is that they are a rolling show, one species starts which leads to another and another and soon it’s April and we’re into a completely different cohort of plants. Which means, I think I have to do this a few times this year!

My apologies to the majority of Texas west of the Hill Country because I just simply do not have a huge photo backlog to share from there as I don’t usually get out there during spring. I do have some dedicated west Texas posts rumbling around in my brain I hope to get to soon!

Let’s start with trout lilies, Erythronium albidum. Texas has three species, this one, a yellow flowering one which is much less common and only in a few scattered sites in east Texas, and another white flowering one that is also very uncommon in the DFW area. You can see this species easily by taking a hike around Tandy Hills Natural Area in Fort Worth.

One of our earlier blooming tree species, eastern redbuds, Cercis canadensis. Dreamy to see blooming right now and one I look forward to spying as a sign that warmer weather is surely on the way.

Our native plum species, Prunus sp., are often overlooked in the landscape but they are a very important early spring nectar source for insects and an important food source for wildlife. This particular photo is of a Mexican plum, Prunus mexicana, but we have dozens of species ranging from native plums like this one to cherries and even our very own almond species growing in the Hill Country. Look for them blooming now and in the next week as many of the flowers are already fading!

Texas mountain laurel, Dermatophyllum secundiflorum, is one of our more delicious smelling early spring bloomers. This one is from my own garden and out of its natural range of central and west Texas, but if you’ve got the right growing conditions you too can be delighted with stunning purple blooms and the grape Kool-aid scent for a week or two. Mine isn’t blooming quite yet but it has at this time of year before.

You have to look close to see these Virginia springbeauties, Claytonia virginica. They are often intermixed with lawn grasses or other vegetation and are primarily found in the eastern half of the state. If you find these you can usually find other unique spring ephemerals nearby.

Violets (Viola sp.) are an overlooked early spring ephemeral. Our native Texas species are primarily shades of blues and purples, though we do have several primarily white species that have purple or yellow tinges or markings to them. Violets can be found blooming as early as January if you find yourself needing to see something blooming in the grey days of that month.

An often overlooked bloomer is Texas toadflax, Nuttallanthus texanus. While its blooming stalk is tall, the flowers themselves are rather small and can easily blend into the background. These are fairly common on roadsides if you pay attention.

I was going to leave out our most well-known species, the paintbrush and the bluebonnet, but opted to throw in Texas paintbrush, Castilleja indivisa, because look at it! It’s a beauty! You can find early bloomers of these even into January some years and I’ve seen them out of season in summer and fall before as well. Castilleja species are all either parasites or hemiparasites, which means they will obtain a portion of their nutrition from the roots of other nearby species. You can see Texas toadflax in with this photo, too. And no bluebonnets showcased here because while there are a few early performers up, late February and early March is not their time to shine.

Texas ragwort, Senecio ampullaceus, is at the very beginning of its blooming period but most of the plants right now look like this. The larger plants have huge, fuzzy leaves and I have seen many people ask on social media “What is this plant?” because it has such a standout basal rosette. In another two weeks or so, stalks of bright yellow flowers will appear and will be an insect magnet!

The arrival of the anemones in mid-February really gets things going in my mind. I know that we don’t have too long to wait and soon the threat of a freak February freeze will fade from worry. Tenpetal anemones, Anemone berlandieri, are our most common anemone species with Carolina anemone, Anemone caroliniana, having a more scattered central/eastern Texas presence.

White flower: southern bluet, Houstonia micrantha

Purple flower: tiny bluet, Houstonia pusilla

Rose bluet, Houstonia rosea

Bluets will be up in late January/early February and most people will not be looking for them. Our three most common central and eastern Texas bluets are even tinier than the Virginia springbeauties, often intermingled amongst grasses and other nondescript vegetation. I generally start seeing bluets in early February and again, one of those highlights that I know seasons are shifting. Tiny bluets are our most common, followed by the other two. I come across southern bluets far more often than rose bluets, having only seen them twice. My photo here is from my last trip to Fairfield Lake State Park in February 2023 and I only saw them again recently in a cemetery. They seem to like more compact, sandier or limestone soils.

This is an oddball one but a species I’ve come to really enjoy finding, smallflower fumewort, Corydalis micrantha. It’s slightly less common than the more widespread species commonly known as the scrambled eggs plant, Corydalis aurea. Smallflower fumewort comes up in my yard naturally and I let it reseed wherever it finds itself because it is so unique and ephemeral.

And last but not least, I’ll end with not a plant but one of my favorite moths, the luna moth, Actias luna. Found throughout the eastern half of Texas, the adults will be coming out of their cocoons now and throughout the spring. You can find cocoons within the leaf litter and the adults often scramble up trees once they eclose to dry their wings. Their larval host plants include a variety of species of trees but a common one they use are sweetgums, Liquidambar styraciflua. The adults don’t feed, their goal is to mate and create new caterpillars. Many silk moth species are like this, lacking mouth parts. Such a strange, and if you want to anthropomorphize a bit, sad world for these beautiful moths.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this sampling of early spring ephemerals! I think a mid and late spring sampling is warranted so keep an eye out for April and late May photos.

Two things to watch or read for the weekend:

• No monarchs yet, but Red Admiral butterflies are fluttering throughout Texas via Texas Butterfly Ranch.

• Saving the last lady’s slipper orchids in Texas via NPSOT 2022 Spring Symposium with Adam Black

  

  Misti writes regularly at Oceanic Wilderness and In the Weeds. She hosts one podcast, Orange Blaze: A Florida Trail Podcast, and recently retired The Garden Path Podcast.