CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It’s wildflower season, and there’s one specific wildflower that usually blankets the area along I-37 each spring, but that didn’t happen this year.
“It’s unsettling. That’s part of Texas. When you don’t have your bluebonnets—it’s just not the same,” resident Linda Cozart, who enjoys seeing bluebonnets each spring said.
A springtime staple in Texas has looked a little sparse this year. Bluebonnets, which typically cover highways and parks, were harder to spot around Corpus Christi this wildflower season.
“There is a significant reduction in bluebonnets all across South Texas. You drive along the roadways, you’ll see a few here and there. Usually, we’re seeing entire blankets of bluebonnets,” South Texas Botanical Gardens Executive Director Michael Womack said.
Womack explained to KRIS 6 News that the ongoing drought has stunted the flowers' growing cycle.
“That’s [fall] when many wildflowers are germinating. They’ll become small plants and then spring rains come, those plants go from being dormant to growing very quickly and putting out flowers,” he said.
Womack added that we may still see a few more blooms, but not the sea of blue Texans have come to expect.
“It kind of breaks up the monotony when it’s out there because you really, you know, see them growing and stuff. It’s kind of disappointing,” Jim Kucera, another Texans who enjoys the flowers said.
Womack also noted that it wasn’t just bluebonnets affected. Other wildflowers suffered this spring as well due to the ongoing drought.
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