Bluebonnets

It’s been raining.

Those are wonderful words in North Central Texas. The timing of early spring rains makes me hopeful that our “Monet Carpet” will spring up again this year.

bluebonnets
Texas Bluebonnets, Jeffrey Pang (CC BY 2.0)

I won’t let Hank mow our front pasture down the quarter mile to the road until the wildflower season is over. Indian Paintbrush tower, but others compete. I intended to sow bluebonnets when we moved here in 2006, but I continue to miss the optimal time to do so. And I think, “well, maybe next year.”

I was in junior high school when the 1965 Beautification Act (“Lady Bird’s Bill”) became law. Inspired by the determined will of our First Lady Mrs. Lyndon Baine Johnson, it was big news. Yet, in the lush environs of S.W. Virginia where rhododendron and azaleas grow like weeds, I honestly didn’t see the point. Planting wildflowers? Weren’t they supposed to grow all by themselves?

An early spring drive across Texas today shows the legacy of that law. Vivid blazes of color make you nearly drive off the road. Bluebonnets splash across the pastures and highway medians. Indian Paint Brushes take the stage too, and dozens of other wildflowers are in the cast. Lady Bird’s influence went further, of course. She was key to cultivating native plants and grasses long before it was hip. She helped the nation understand the critical role these grasses, shrubs, and wildflowers play in our eco-system.

The implications of environmentalism are complex and go beyond the idea of “pretty spring flowers,” I know. But at this time of year, I like to remember the feisty gal from Marshall, Texas who lost her mom at age five and shortly after gained that endearing nickname “Lady Bird.” She boldly got her education in the early 1930s and, once married to Lyndon Johnson, used her journalism degree to turn a neglected radio station into a small media empire. She raised her daughters properly and stepped into her soothing role as First Lady at an agonized time in our country’s history. Her heart never left the garden, though.

Are wildflowers flowers gracing your fields yet?