Bluebonnets Star in Texas Road Show
Last spring an 8-year-old boy eager for his group’s Hermitage Museum garden tour made a beeline for me -- a Norfolk Master Gardener docent.
“Ma’am, please show me the bluebonnets,” he said excitedly.
“I wish I could, but you need to go to Texas to see them,” I replied.
“Texas! That’s where I’m from,” the boy said with a grin.
“Me, too,” I said as I steered him toward flowers flourishing at the Hermitage.
That encounter made me dream of enjoying Texas bluebonnets. I was born in Houston and lived in East Texas until I was 15. I hadn’t seen a bluebonnet since moving out of state decades ago.
When a college friend suggested a 2025 sorority rendezvous in the Texas Hill Country, I signed on. She researched peak bluebonnet time and rented a ranch for seven friends outside Fredericksburg in the heart of bluebonnet country. This adventure led me to spend two weeks this April driving around the Hill Country, Dallas, Austin and East Texas seeing family, friends and bluebonnets.
Although Texans blame recent droughts for what they consider a less-than-stellar bluebonnet blooming year, bluebonnets looked good to me. I delighted in spotting hazy blue patches near roadways, in fields and flower beds. Along highways, bluebonnets often had colorful companions -- Indian paintbrush, red clover and Indian blanket.
Natural beauty flourishes in Texas thanks in part to the late Lady Bird Johnson, the Texas-born United States First Lady. The Highway Beautification Act of 1965 is known as Lady Bird’s Bill after the First Lady advocated planting wildflowers along U.S. roadways and eliminating billboards and other roadside eyesores.
Mrs. Johnson believed supporting native plants creates ecological richness, beauty and biodiversity. This led to the 1982 founding of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas at Austin. It promotes sustainable gardening, research, plant conservation, and education.
Cornell Botanic Gardens’ research shows that blue is the rarest flower color. Texans have long boasted that their vivid spring bluebonnets are special. In 1901, the Lone Star state claimed the bluebonnet as its state flower.
In 1932, the Texas Highway Department hired a landscape architect to preserve bluebonnets and other native plants and encourage them to grow along roads. The department cultivates more than 5,000 native species and scatters 30,000 pounds of wildflower seeds each year. The Governor of Texas’ official website calls blooming bluebonnets the “universal sign that spring has sprung.”
Bluebonnets are legumes in the Lupinus family and bloom from March to May. Six species thrive in Texas and produce clusters of fragrant, pea-like blue flowers topped by a white tip similar to a pioneer woman’s bonnet. Bluebonnets are annuals that reseed themselves or grow from scattered seeds. Texans love to cultivate bluebonnets in their home and business gardens.
Bluebonnets are big business in Texas. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center releases an annual bluebonnet bloom prediction much like happens with cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. The Texas B&B Association promotes the spring Bluebonnet Adventure Trail with ideas for best viewing locations and where to stay and dine. Shops tempt visitors with displays of bluebonnet soap, candles, seeds and artwork. And, Texas-based Buc-ees stores feature a bluebonnet gift section in their mega-sized gas station markets.
During my visit to Fredericksburg’s Wildseed Farms, the country’s largest working wildflower farm, I bought a pack of bluebonnet seeds. Since the Texas bluebonnet belt lies in planting Zone 8 I hope my seeds will be happy in Norfolk’s Zone 8B. I have enough seeds to share with the Hermitage in hopes they can grow there and thrill Texas visitors.
To help bluebonnet seeds germinate, the wildflower farm recommends scarifying seeds to crack their coating. Methods include nicking seeds with a knife, scraping them with sandpaper or freezing them overnight before dousing them with boiling water and letting them soak. Seeds should be planted in September or early October in well-drained soil.
I have the recommended bluebonnet planting date on my calendar.
Wish me luck!
P.S. I drove around Texas for 14 days. Only once did I spot trash on a road -- a single plastic bag. Maybe seeing all those wildflowers makes Texans hang on to their trash until they properly dispose of it. Or maybe that long ago anti-litter campaign -- Don’t Mess With Texas -- still resonates.
Helpful links:
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas at Austin:
Travel Texas Wildflower Guide:
https://www.traveltexas.com/cities-and-regions/prairies-lakes/wildflower-views/
Texas B&B Association Bluebonnet Trail Planner:
https://greatstaysoftexas.com/blog/discover-the-magic-of-texas-bluebonnets/
Wildseed Farms:
