Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Friday - April 06, 2007
From: dallas, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Wildflowers
Title: More on bluebonnets
Answered by: Damon Waitt
QUESTION:
What role did Mrs. Johnson play in preserving the bluebonnet, our state flower?ANSWER:
In her endless travels as a politician's helpmate, Lady Bird discovered that America's roadsides were becoming cluttered with billboards and junkyards, and that our nation's once vast natural beauty was quickly vanishing. Mrs. Johnson viewed roadsides as a window through which we learned about our ecological heritage. As First Lady, she recognized an opportunity to start a national revitalization effort, and she fought to make America more beautiful by restoring and protecting our natural habitats. She made headlines by planting bulbs and trees on roadsides and parkways, and called attention to the growing crisis created by habitat and species loss. In 1965, the Highway Beautification Act (known as "Lady Bird's Bill") was passed. It was the first milestone on a long list of accomplishments protecting and preserving the environment.More Wildflowers Questions
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