:: Blue Bonnets ::
Lupinis texinsis Fabaceae

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:: 04.11.07 ::

Still Hangin’ Around

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:: 03.20.06 ::

So Sad…

My efforts to reseed the yard with bluebonnets did not go well. Last year I put out a large two pound bag of seeds, but the summer and fall drought and unusually warm winter temperatures kept the seeds from germinating. There just simply isn’t anything blooming; not even the areas that had already been naturalized for years have any sprouts (see below)…only a few and they are not blooming yet. I fear they may all be gone. I am not sure if the seeds will sit in the ground for another year.

I am trying to remain hopeful, but it is deeply depressing for me since I have such a sentimental attachment to the bluebonnets being on the property…seeing them disappear year after year has been difficult since they brought me so much pleasure as a child. Despite this year’s setback, I will continue to reseed them and bring them back.

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:: 03.18.05 ::

Then & Now

April 11, 1971 – My sister and I looking for Easter eggs among the bluebonnets.
(I’m the dancing blond!)

There are not nearly as many flowers on our property as when I was young. The photos below were taken in 2004 just as I had moved into the house.

The small buds for these flowers begin showing on the ground around February, eventually blooming in late March, and dying off in late April. In May after the blooms have fallen off you will see the large green pea pods that contain the seeds

I do not clean up the dead plants until the seed pods have dried, opened and dropped to the ground…then I mow the dead stalks down and weeds that have grown up around them.

Currently there is a large patch next to the house on the south side, where the vegetable garden was once located. I am trying to start new patches of them away from this garden. There is also a smaller patch on the north side of the driveway, in front of the back barn.