Bluebonnets Are Survivors

2009 looks to be a very lean year for Texas bluebonnets and enjoying a nice display at the Wildflower Center Artist's Show last weekend may be as good as it gets for this spring.

Linda and I have enjoyed a few fantastic wildflower displays with bluebonnets as the dominant flower over the last decade in the Hill Country. These along with childhood memories south of San Antonio are a great part of Linda’s inspirations for her contemporary wildflower paintings. Reflecting back over the last 10 years I can really think of two years where almost every where in the Hill Country we traveled we saw awesome displays of bluebonnets.

It seems to me that even though Texas is world renown for the sweeping vistas of bluebonnets the frequency of these displays of grandeur are fleeting and not at all something you can count on each spring as one might think. These realizations lead me to have even more respect for the tenacity and sheer ability of bluebonnets to survive as a species. This favorite flower so deeply identified with Texas can be decimated by drought and reduce these prolific fields of blue azure to tiny spots of color along such famous scenic drives as Willow City Loop near Enchanted Rock. Too much rain at the wrong time can be just as detrimental for these floral displays and the forthcoming seed that insure their very existence for future generations to relish.

The Texas Hill Country and bluebonnets seem to be perfect for each other. The extremes of weather conditions that the Hill Country is known for seems like the perfect training ground for the bluebonnets to evolve as a species. This land of extended droughts and infrequent but furious flash floods, searing summer heat and poor soil fertility, of winter months that can soar to 100 degrees for a day and the next week be below freezing. The Hill Country is a land of extremes yet the bluebonnets thrive in the few good years and survive the many harsh ones.

It all in the bluebonnets genes, they simply know how to proliferate in this land of extremes. As a human being in these uncertain times I take great solace and stand in awe of this ability to survive and thrive. Yes, times may seem harsh now but we will survive and in due time we will thrive. At least if we take a lesson from nature and our beloved Texas bluebonnets.