Thanks to wet weather, experts predict a big year for wildflowers this season

AUSTIN, Texas - The wild flower season is underway. Experts at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center say the recent cold spell has not put a damper on what's expected to be a big year for Bluebonnets.

The return of the Bluebonnets is a welcome sight especially for a two-year-old by the name of Floral.

"Have you been waiting for them, forever, for them to come out," Reporter Rudy Koski asked.

"Yeah, they like to come out," the young girl replied.

The Texas favorite started popping up about a week ago. Roadsides are now being covered at a rate that hasn't been seen for the past few years.

The rebound started last year, according to Mark Simmons with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

"Well, I think they will be strong, we had some good rains in Central Texas in the Hill Country, from a farming perspective, no, but from the wildflower, they've had some good winter rains so yes, we expect to see better than usual Bluebonnets out there as well," he explained.

The largest clusters right now are located to the east of Austin but Simmons says Bluebonnets have started popping up around Marble Falls.

"We've had the rains at the right time of the year, we really need for the early spring wildflowers for the rains in the late summer and fall when the Bluebonnets germinate ... and some good rains through the winter to keep them alive and we've had perfect conditions for that."

The wet weather that brought about this bumper crop of bluebonnets didn't bust the drought but it did help other plants bloom like this mountain laurel.

The explosion of color has brought out a small army of gardeners at the wildflower center preparing for what's yet to come.

" Well, I think apart from the Bluebonnets, I think what we are seeing is a good year for paint brush as well, a lot of people like it when you get the blue bonnets, so you get the red of that Paint Brush, they kind of help each other. We see that's going to be good. Pink Evening Primrose looks good, it's a little bit early for the Wine Cups, but yeah, the Primrose, Paint Brush and Bluebonnets so far so good," a gardener explained.

The Bluebonnet season is expected to peak in April and then eventually start to fade away by late May.