Spring is officially upon us and in Texas, we've recently transitioned from the winter to the summer. There really isn't an in-between since the weather here is typically described as hot or super hot. My brother and I call it That Texas Heat.
The bluebonnets started popping up a couple weeks ago and I'm sure they will disappear soon so I wanted to make an ode to my favorite flowers... or better yet, a celebration of the wildly popular state flower. I made a short little post on Den in the Garden and Flowers Lair but I truly wanted to dive deep into these colorful gems so that we can have a resource in the Texas Lair. That way, here on Den, you could always refer to this post when mentioning the blue florals.
So I busted out my pro-camera (Sony a7iii) and took some photos of a small batch of bluebonnets on the way home from a shoot a few days ago. I'll try to get some updated 4K footage of them as well before they hibernate for the summer.
The video in this post is an ode to bluebonnets that I made in 2019 - I went out and filmed with my Sony camera and drone that Spring and made a 4K video that I could have as a memory of what I love about the Texas Hill Country. Who knows how long this natural landscape will last with all of the development in Central Texas.
Bluebonnets are some of the most vibrant plants in the state and they are absurdly renown locally for their unique beauty. They are famously illegal to pick out of the ground and everyone flocks to the biggest fields they can find to take family photos - the pops of color make for a great background.
According to Wikipedia, the flower is officially named Lupinus Texensis and runs a natural course all the way down through Mexico.
You can purchase bluebonnet seeds all over Texas and people tend to plant them in their own yards - sometimes you can see the property lines of homes when the blue florals run rampart through a field of grass, then suddenly stop at the lot's border. They usually take a year or two to completely germinate and I'm sure the wait until Spring is an exciting one.
Each year they pop up, I'll create another ode to the Texas Bluebonnets - flowers that means a lot to me since they symbolize the Texas Hill Country that I'm in love with. I grew up here in Central TX so they will always have a special place in my heart.
I plan to write a few articles similar to this one: I want to write about the Texas live oak for example.
Last thing I'll say - as I started writing this post, I purchased an awesome hat from a local outfitters called Texas Hill Country Provisions that I've been eyeing for quite some time. I also bought a sticker of the same image. I'll represent the bluebonnets wherever I go!
You did us proud with this post here my fellow Texan!
Glad you liked it! 🤙🏻
It's nice to see the bluebonnets again! Last year, I kept meaning to take my camera when I went for my mail because there was a nice patch of flowers there. This year...not so much.
Yeah I've been seeing them mainly on Highway 46 and Highway 281. It's always my favorite time of the year.
I saw some small patches on 3009 today. Lots of wildflowers in general. Pretty time of year.
That's a great place to find them. My mom lives out there so I'm on 3009 and 1863 a lot. Good stuff!
Thank you, always happy to show some color!