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Photo of Blumenthal Sheet Metal’s “MetalHenge” in the Fifth Ward: Candace Garcia via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Metalhenge! I pass by this several times a day.. such a quirky addition to the neighborhood. Last year I tossed some bluebonnet seeds on this land, but nothing ever bloomed.
northside girl,
you just reminded me that I heard bluebonnet seeds need to be pressed into the dirt to sprout. Also it helps to sort of crush or score them. Bluebonnets sprout so well in pastures because the animals tread on the seeds (and plants.)
Think: abuse.
We have a few hundred acres in central Texas, but less than a section. We run a few head of cattle, but less than a hundred. Of those acres of land, most are open pasture. We plant less than 50 acres in feed crops.
Now, in years past, bluebonnets have been plentiful. But not for the past 3-4 years.
This year, they absolutely exploded. They were all over the place, acres and acres of them. We couldn’t drive anywhere in the pastures without driving over bluebonnets.
Our pastures are all native, none improved. We’ve done nothing to affect the wildflowers. Yet, in spite of the terrible drought last year the wildflowers were more abundant than any time in recent memory.
I’m quite sure that someone with the Lady Bird center knows why this all happened. We’ll probably read about it in a future issue of Texas Highways or Texas Monthly. Apparently, all those seeds were dormant for a few years and when the fall/winter rains came, the seeds woke up. They had been getting stomped on for years as movocelot said, waiting for the kiss of rain.
Whatever happened, I’m glad. The bluebonnets in our area were beautiful.
As added non essential information, we’ve found that while cattle do not eat bluebonnets, they do like the taste of Indian paintbrushes.
Next spring, when you go driving in the country, take note of the pastures with Indian paintbrushes. I bet you won’t see any cattle in those.
Keep an eye on that lot northside girl, you’ll see bluebonnets one spring day.