The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) aims to provide a safe, aesthetically pleasing, and functional transportation system for the traveling public. ARDOT has implemented several programs dedicated to providing, establishing, and managing roadside wildflowers along the more than 16,400 miles of highways and the more than 200,000 acres of highway roadsides. These programs help reduce long-term maintenance costs, enhance roadside habitats for pollinators and other wildlife, provide attractive roadsides, and preserve native plant populations.
Operation Wildflower
Public sponsors are encouraged to donate wildflower seed to ARDOT for specific planting projects on highway roadsides for Operation Wildflower. This program was originally promoted by Lady Bird Johnson in 1973 as an agreement between the Federal Highway Administration and National Garden Clubs, Inc.
Sponsors of Operation Wildflower projects who donate a significant amount of wildflower seed are recognized with signs that identify the sponsor.
Wildflower Routes
More than 1,200 miles of state highway have been designated as Wildflower Routes based on the presence of naturally occurring wildflower populations.
Native Wildflower Areas
Beautiful displays of naturally occurring wildflowers are being recognized and appreciated statewide on Arkansas’ highway rights-of-way. ARDOT has erected signs that identify “Native Wildflower Area” locations throughout the state that have vibrant displays of naturally occurring wildflowers.
Click on the following links for your copy of the Wildflowers of Arkansas Roadways.
For a Wildflowers of Arkansas brochure contact:
Arkansas Department of Transportation
Environmental Division
P.O. Box 2261
Little Rock, Arkansas 72203-2261
(501) 569-2595