Posted on 04/12/2006 10:24:36 AM PDT by Liberty Valance
Kerrville Texas - The usual splashes of blue along roadsides have become more scarce due to limited rainfall. However, a quick drive down Interstate 10 between Comfort and Kerrville shows a few patches of the state flower popping out along the median.
Standing out against yellow coreopsis and orange Indian paint brushes, the bright blue flower can bloom in fields spanning acres or appear with a few flowers scattered here and there.
“But they’re not the big patches we’re used to,” said Patrick Williams, with the Kerrville Convention and Visitors Center.
In 1901, the Texas Legislature adopted the bluebonnet as the state flower. There actually are five known species of lupines, or bluebonnets. In 1971, the Legislature added the phrase “any other variety of bluebonnet not heretofore recorded making all known species and future species discoveries of bluebonnets the official state flower.”
The Texas Department of Transportation sows bluebonnet seeds to prevent erosion and to beautify Texas roadways, said Laura Goldman, a travel counselor with Texas Travel Information Line.
John Coleman, a Kerrville master gardener, said the number of bluebonnets depends on good, well-drained soil.
Goldman agrees, but added the wildfires also contributed to the sparse blooms this year.
“We not only had a dry winter, we had a drought last summer, and that caused the prevalent forest fires,” she said. “Just like if they mow before it (the bluebonnets) comes to seed, they’ll ruin the chances of the flowers coming back, even though they’re annuals. It’s the same way if they dry out or don’t get enough rain.”
Many Texans feel a strong pride for the flower.
“After a long winter when we don’t have any color at all, then all of the sudden the bluebonnets come out and that makes them special,” Coleman said.
He added that he looks forward to the flower every spring and especially enjoys the local residential gardens that are overflowing with bluebonnets.
Coleman suggested a jaunt down Texas 16, where drivers can see not only the bluebonnets but all four kinds of Indian paint brushes.
Julie Land, Kerrville Convention and Visitors Bureau communications manager, said she has seen good patches of bluebonnets between Llano and Burnet and directed visitors looking for bluebonnets to that area.
“I’m usually looking for a spot where there are a lot of bluebonnets all together,” she said. “They’re just beautiful.”
This year, Land said, a number of people have come into the Convention and Visitors Bureau looking for directions to good bluebonnet spots.
“Of course, this year it is a little harder to send them somewhere,” she said.
Locally, Land said she directs those interested in bluebonnets to a dentist office on the corner of Tivy and North streets where a nice plot of the flowers grows. However, she sends most people to the Wildseed Farm in Fredericksburg because she knows there will be bluebonnets for them to see, Land said.
Outside of Castroville on Texas 90, TxDOT usually seeds an entire hillside. But despite its attempts this year, the hillside is sparse, like most areas, Williams said.
“When it’s there, it’s great,” he said.
For answers to questions about Texas wildflowers, the Texas Travel Information Line is (800) 452-9292. Travel Counselors receive a weekly report on where flowers are blooming.
Here's a pic...
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed/39/39.5.html
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