Top 10 Reasons to Love the Texas Bluebonnet

Texas Bluebonnets in Full Bloom

If you were, or still are a David Letterman fan, you may be missing his infamous Top 10 List by now.  You’ll remember the lists were a mainstay and regular segment of his nightly monologues. The Late Night with David Letterman Top 10 List debuted on September 18, 1985 and came to an end when he retired in 2015. The lists were a humorous view of events or the political climate at the time. For me, the Top 10 List is a great way to summarize important places, people, or for the purpose of this blog, the Texas Bluebonnet

I have lived in Texas for almost four years and have grown to love the Bluebonnet, a hearty wildflower that provides the state with a dramatic, beautiful and natural landscape every spring. I, in addition to many Texans, scour wide open fields, roadside highways, and state parks to find the perfect sea of bluebonnets to photograph.

So, in honor of the Texas Bluebonnet and David Letterman’s Top 10 List, here’s my attempt to pay homage to both.

The Top 10 Why Texans Love the Bluebonnet

1. It is the true sign that spring has sprung.
2. For Texans, there is comfort in knowing that the 27th Texas state legislature got it right when they adopted the bluebonnet on March 7, 1901 as the state’s official flower.
3. You can visit the official Bluebonnet Wine Trail. In the months of March and April, seas of bluebonnets, spectacular views and award-winning wines await the Wine Trail traveler. The trail is located between 1-45 and U.S. Highway 290. Along the way stop in Ennis, the official Bluebonnet city of Texas. In Ennis, explore the Texas Bluebonnet Trail and the Bluebonnet Trails Festival, April 7-9. This festive event celebrates 66 years of Ennis Bluebonnet trails and showcases over 40 miles of mapped Bluebonnet driving trails. Enjoy a weekend of arts and crafts, music, kids’ activities, and scenic country drives.
4. Bluebonnets provide a great natural backdrop for selfies, weddings, professional and amateur photographers, and parents with young children.
5. Bluebonnets combine well with other Texas wildflowers such as the vibrant Indian paintbrush, Indian blanket, and Drummond phlox.
6. You can grow your own by freezing the seeds. All you need is a jar, hot tap water, and 48 hours for the seeds to germinate. Then spread them in your yard in September or October and wait for the results come spring. As an annual, the bluebonnet seed may sprout years after being planted.
7. They also come in shades of white, pink, purple, and maroon.
8. It’s always bigger in Texas and the bluebonnet is no exception. We are the only state with six state flowers–all varieties of the Texas bluebonnet.
9. The bluebonnet is synonymous with a sunny disposition. The flower was named because of its close resemblance to a sunbonnet.
10. They line miles and miles of Texas highways. Hats off to the Texas Highway Department who ensures that 30,000 pounds of wildflower seeds are bought and sowed every year.

Travisso, Italian-inspired, Hill Country made.