Endemic to these parts, the first of this season’s Bluebonnets has begun to bloom their plumes of blue flowers along Texas roadsides according to a Facebook post by Big Bend National Park. Espousing the good news on February 1, the social media page for Big Bend appears to be the bearer of welcomed tidings, as it’s notification that the Big Bend Bluebonnet has sprouted has attracted “likes” and comments from around the state, also identifying their delight in seeing some of the earliest blooms.
Local News
The First of the 2017 Texas Bluebonnets Has Bloomed and We’re Thrilled
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Lupinus texensis (widely recognized as THE Texas bluebonnet) is the lupine species found in parts of the Texas Hill Country, while lupinus havardii (a botanical name honoring botanist and surgeon, Valery Harvard) is the version of bluebonnet most commonly found in the Big Bend area. It goes by the name Big Bend Bluebonnet as well as Chisos Bluebonnet, and its bloom time has been anywhere between January and June. Taller than the texensis species, it’s the “friendly giant” of the state flower, growing up to 4 feet in height.
Photo: Facebook/RConinePhoto
Their folklore began with tales from Native Americans, and today they’re almost a form of Texas trademark. Every year Texans and Tex-pats look for this sign of spring in uncultivated pastures and along roadsides throughout the state, and tourists come in droves to witness their beauty. It’s the stuff that paintings, postcards, and fully-illustrated storybooks are made of, and the bloom is wildly popular for planting purposes in home gardens, not to mention it’s rugged hardiness along back roads, and beautiful fields, where it’s been known to draw a marriage proposal or two out of a young man or serve as a beautiful backdrop for the fateful (and loving) wedding he proposed to come!
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