Inks Lake State Park turns into a wildflower paradise most every spring, though not every year is as saturated with color as 2024 was. The 1,200-acre (486-hectare) park sits in the Texas Hill Country’s Highland Lakes region. Its granite-and-gneiss shoreline hugs Inks Lake on the Colorado River, and it’s welcomed visitors since 1950. Of all the trails that wind through the park, my favorite for wildflower photography is Pecan Flats Trail — an easy, well-marked 3.3-mile (5.3-kilometer) loop through cedar, pecan, and hardwood woodland. It even offers a shortcut partway through, which comes in handy when the light is good and there are too many photo opportunities to pass up. The photos here were from a hike on that trail.
Although the trail is dotted with all kinds of wildflowers each spring, this post focuses on just two: Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush. Growing tangled together across the flats, they turn the trailside into a celebration of red, white, and blue — colors worth celebrating this year, as the United States marks its 250th anniversary, the semiquincentennial of July 4, 1776.
The bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) is the flower most associated with Texas, and for good reason. In 1901, the state legislature named a related species, Lupinus subcarnosus, the official state flower, but Texans took a stronger liking to Lupinus texensis — the showier bluebonnet that blankets roadsides and fields each spring. In 1971, lawmakers settled the debate by declaring any bluebonnet species found in the state the official state flower. This low-growing annual sends up flower spikes 8 to 20 inches (20 to 50 cm) tall, each packed with as many as 50 small, pea-shaped blossoms — deep blue at the base, fading to white at the tip. Bluebonnets typically bloom from March into May, occasionally lingering into June.
Weaving through the bluebonnets at Pecan Flats is Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja indivisa), also called Texas paintbrush. What looks like a brush dipped in red paint is actually a cluster of colored bracts, not petals, surrounding small, inconspicuous flowers underneath. The plant grows up to 18 inches (46 cm) tall and has an unusual survival strategy: it is hemiparasitic, meaning that although it photosynthesizes on its own, its roots also tap into the roots of neighboring grasses to draw off extra nutrients. It shares the same spring bloom window as the bluebonnet, which is exactly why the two so often turn up growing side by side.
Standing among the two together at Pecan Flats — blue and white spikes studded with bursts of red — it was hard not to think of the flag. Two and a half centuries after 1776, Texas wildflowers were still putting on the same patriotic display, without any help from us.
That is the story behind the shots. If you liked this post, you may also be interested in others featuring Bluebonnets, Flower Hour, Indian Paintbrush, Inks Lake SP, One Step, Parks, Sunday Stills, Texas, and Wildflowers. Until the next time, keep clicking and capturing the beauty your eyes find.
Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour #35 – partially (B & C).
Posted for Terri’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: Saturated in Red, White, and Blue.
Posted for Pepper’s One Step at a Time #17.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Lupinus texensis — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupinus_texensis
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — Lupinus texensis (Texas bluebonnet) — https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=lute
- Native Plant Society of Texas — Lupinus texensis, Texas Bluebonnet — https://www.npsot.org/posts/native-plant/lupinus-texensis/
- Wikipedia — Castilleja indivisa — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castilleja_indivisa
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — Castilleja indivisa (Texas Indian paintbrush) — https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=cain13
- Native Plant Society of Texas — Castilleja indivisa, Indian Paintbrush — https://www.npsot.org/posts/native-plant/castilleja-indivisa/
- Texas Parks and Wildlife Department — Inks Lake State Park Hiking Trail Guide for Pecan Flats — https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_p4507_0015t.pdf
- AllTrails — Inks Lake Pecan Flats Trail — https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/texas/inks-lake-pecan-flats-trail
- Texas Hill Country — Dive in: 5 Ways to Play at Inks Lake State Park — https://texashillcountry.com/play-inks-lake-state-park/
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SoyBend
They look so good together!
Egidio Leitao
Yes, it is a match made by Nature. Thanks.
niasunset
WOW! Colours so impressive Thank you, Love, nia
Egidio Leitao
Thanks for the comment.
Pepper
Your beautiful post featuring Texas wildflowers brighten my day. Thanks! 😁
Egidio Leitao
Pepper, I am happy it had that effect. Thank you for writing.
Toonsarah
Beautifully composed and photographed Egidio – I love the pops of red against the more muted and out of focus blues.
Egidio Leitao
Thanks, Sarah. It’s easy to do that when one has fields of wildflowers like that every year.
Wandering Dawgs
Egidio, your Texas bluebonnets and Paintbrush are beautiful red, white, and blues. I’m so grateful I spent time in Texas one spring and saw these flowers in person.
Egidio Leitao
Thanks for the feedback, Beth. I’m glad you’ve seen them in person, too.
Anita
A very beautiful post, Egídio. The colors in your photos are absolutely stunning, I love that mix of bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush, is like pure magic.
And the way you managed to weave it perfectly into all three challenges shows you have a wonderful eye for timing and theme.
Egidio Leitao
Anita, first of all, many thanks for the compliment. I do agree that the flower combo in the photos is photographer’s dream-come-true. And it happens every spring! As for weaving those into three challenges, it was luck. I try to keep my post focused on one topic instead of having various themes. That works most of the time, as in this theme.
Cath Moore
such incredible beauty!
Egidio Leitao
Thank you very much for your kind comment.
Steve Schwartzman
It seems only natural for a nature photographer in the United States to post pictures showing red, white, and blue for the Fourth of July.
Like you, I find Inks Lake State Park a great place, not only because of its plants but also its geology. Of our state parks that are easily reachable, Inks Lake has become my favorite.
Egidio Leitao
Thanks for the comment, Steve. Inks Lake is a wonderful park, and it’s so close to us. I’m glad to hear it’s become your favorite.
Terri Webster Schrandt
I’m so excited you double-dipped to my challenges, Egidio! These are beyond fabulous! Why didn’t I realize blue bonnets are part of the lupine family?
Egidio Leitao
Thanks, Terri. I’d love to catch up on the missed challenges, but it may not happen. In this post, the second flower fell under C (the scientific name).
Terri Webster Schrandt
Sometimes one must take a break. At least L-A is on hiatus for a couple of weeks. Flower Hour DEF is live now if you feel inspired 🙂
Anne Sandler
What beautiful reds, whites and blues Egidio!
Egidio Leitao
Thanks, Anne. Those flowers go together really well.