Native Plants

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Saturday - March 10, 2007

From: Bernice, OK
Region: Southeast
Topic: Wildflowers
Title: More on bluebonnets
Answered by: Damon Waitt

QUESTION:

It is the first week of March in northeast Oklahoma and I received a wildflower mix that is 60% Lupinus texensis or Texas bluebonnets. Should I wait until fall to plant or can I cold treat or do some sort of treatment in order to get them to bloom this spring?

ANSWER:

At this late date, it is unlikely that you will get your bluebonnets to bloom this Spring - even with treatment. Like many of our Texas wildflowers, Lupinus texensis (Texas lupine) is a winter annual that normally germinates in the fall, ovewrwinters as a rosette, then bolts and blooms in the Spring. That said, there may be other species in your seed mix that will germinate and flower this Spring if you plant the seed now.

From the Image Gallery

Texas bluebonnet
Lupinus texensis