Where to Stay Among the Texas Wildflowers

The only downside to wildflower wandering is leaving the blooms behind. Why not build some overnights into your springtime jaunt and hunker down into cozy digs amid seas of bluebonnets, Indian blankets, and Mexican hats? These cabins and guesthouses in wildflower country provide temporary homes near bounties of seasonal color. Each is far from city life, so it’s just you and the flowers, with a big night sky to keep you company after dark.

Texas Ranch Life

Chappell Hill

This low-key resort about an hour northwest of Houston sits on the 1,600-acre Lonesome Pine Ranch. Guests come to ride horses, admire the longhorn cattle, fish in a 7-acre or 13-acre pond, or simply sit in a rocking chair on a guesthouse porch. Owner John Elick’s wife, Taunia, spent a few years relocating eight nearby historic homes to the ranch and restoring each one. The Cabin, with its tin roof, clawfoot tub, and pie safe—an antique cabinet with a pierced panel that allows pies to cool—imparts a country sweetness. The Lodge provides two upstairs and two downstairs suites with a total of six bedrooms, along with ample parlor and dining spaces.

Wildflower season is the ranch’s busiest. “Bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, winecups, and many other wildflowers grow all over the ranch, and they never seem to be in the same place,” Taunia says, noting that the cattle and buffalo eat the wildflowers, redistributing the seeds as they graze. Rates start at $560/two nights. 10906 Cactus Lane, Chappell Hill. 979-270-9188; texasranchlife.com

Star of Texas Bed & Breakfast

Brownwood

Choosing between the two cottages at Star of Texas Bed & Breakfast, about five minutes from downtown Brownwood, is the only challenge in visiting this 20-acre hideaway in the northwestern Hill Country. Hosts Deb and Don Morelock crafted each with such romantic appeal that the place is a popular elopement destination—it helps that Don is a chaplain. The Oak Cottage’s rustic porch faces the woods, and the Wildrose Retreat features a shabby chic design and a sleeping loft. Each one has a hot tub, a kitchenette, and room to lounge.

Each morning, Don delivers a breakfast tray with Deb’s creations, such as stuffed French toast or huevos rancheros. There are also spa treatments and wine and cheese platters available on request. And in the spring, wildflowers add an extra special touch. “Our spring flowers should be beautiful this year with all the rains we’ve had,” Deb says. Rates start at $239/night. 650 Morelock Lane, Brownwood. 325-646-4128; star-of-texas.com

Native American Seed

Junction

A treasure trove for nature-loving escapists awaits right outside of Junction. On one corner of a 300-acre farm called Native American Seed, the Cool River Cabin welcomes guests to enjoy a simple but wonderfully comfortable home just a short walk from the Llano River. The Neiman family provides all the scenery one could want as it farms dozens of assorted wildflowers, native grasses, and plants on 75 acres dedicated to harvesting seeds that are shipped all over Texas and surrounding states. Host Emily Neiman says many guests seek out the farm for the wildflower experience, among plenty of natural wonders.

“Guests enjoy an evolving ecological restoration of river hardwood forest, mesquite flats, and upland rolling hill country,” she says, noting that winecup blooms are prevalent in April and May, while red flowering standing cypress attract butterflies and hummingbirds in late spring. Rates start at $199/night. 3791 N. US 377, Junction. 800-728-4043; seedsource.com

Baron’s CreekSide

Fredericksburg

As much as Fredericksburg oozes German charm, it also evokes the spirit of the Swiss Alps. Right outside the heart of town, the multiple lodging options at Baron’s CreekSide include Swiss log cabins, a Kentucky log cabin, a replica of a Conestoga wagon, and two- and three-bedroom homes. Owner Daniel Meyer, originally from Switzerland, built the 26-acre retreat after creating the first cabin using doors and windows he salvaged from a 1700s Lucerne farmhouse in his homeland. With the guidance of a Swiss building crew, Meyer fashioned the 10 romantic cabins with distinctive features so that no two look alike. All have wood-burning fireplaces, king-size beds, Jacuzzi tubs and showers, kitchenettes, grills, and rockers on private porches.

Even though it’s just a couple of minutes from Main Street, the woodsy seclusion gives the feeling of being on a farm in the country. “Since I got here 18 years ago, I have planted close to 200 trees, so it’s quite an ecosystem,” Meyer says, adding that bluebonnets bloom every March. Rates start at $189/night. 316 Goehmann Lane, Fredericksburg. 830-990-4048; baronscreekside.com