Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Sunday - January 31, 2010

From: Katy, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Wildflowers
Title: Bluebonnets around May 21 in Fredericksburg, TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

We heard that this 2010 spring is expected to be a great bluebonnet/wildflower season in the Texas Hill Country. Do you predict that a later May date (21st) will be too late to catch abundant bluebonnets in the Fredericksburg area this year?

ANSWER:

We would not DREAM of trying to make a spot-on forecast on Texas wildflowers. As sure as we did, a wedding or party or reunion planned to coincide with our predicted date would likely find no flowers at all. Rather than tempt fate, we will tell you that bluebonnets bloom in Central Texas from March to May. Then, we will quote two previous answers from Mr. Smarty Plants (this is a very popular question this time of year).

"Early April is very consistently the height of the flowering season for Lupinus texensis (Texas bluebonnet) in Central Texas. Weather conditions can vary the season by just a few days either way, but not enough to really notice. Weather plays a greater role in the development of any year's Bluebonnet crop. In general, good fall rains improve the show for the following season. However, other variables such as germination rate, competing winter grasses, etc, also affect the flower crop.

So far this year (keeping our fingers crossed) the crop for spring of 2010 looks very promising."