Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

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.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

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.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
3 ratings

Tuesday - May 17, 2011

From: Maitland, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Wildflowers
Title: Growing bluebonnets from seed in Maitland FL
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

Can I grow bluebonnets from seed in Maitland? The soil is quite sandy, and I do have sunny, dry places to grow them. Are there any special requirements necessary away from their native habitat?

ANSWER:

There are a number of different members of the Lupinus genus that are referred to as bluebonnets, and six of them are all considered the state flower of Texas. However, the one usually thought of as the classic is Lupinus texensis (Texas bluebonnet). This plant is endemic to Texas, meaning that it grows natively nowhere else, and even in Texas, mostly only grows in the Edwards Plateau and the blackland prairies. According to this USDA Plant Profile map, one county in north central Florida has had some planted bluebonnets come up; we have no idea if they are still there, nor is this close to Orange County FL, on the east central Florida coast. We are asked this same question so often (for many other states and even countries), we hope you will forgive us for quoting from a previous answer:

"Sorry, you can lead a seed to dirt, but you cannot make it grow. Lupinus texensis (Texas bluebonnet) is endemic to Texas, although there has been some success in growing it in Florida, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Inside every seed there are millennia of genetic coding that say "grow here, not there."

There are so many different factors that cause this that some have probably not been identified yet. From our Native Plant Database on the Texas bluebonnet, here are the Growing Conditions:

Water Use: Low
Light Requirement: Sun
Soil Moisture: Dry
CaCO3 Tolerance: High
Soil Description: Limestone/chalky, Sandy Loam, Limestone-based, Calcareous, Sandy, Medium Loam, Clay Loam, Clay, Caliche"

In terms of special requirements away from their native habitat; frankly, they really don't grow out of their native habitat. Your soils are probably pretty acidic, which bluebonnets don't like, and changing the soil pH is usually successful only temporarily, at best.

Please read this previous Mr. Smarty Plants question on growing bluebonnets in the Southeast (Georgia in this case). And how about pollination? Read this article from Texas Bee Watchers, which lists the bees that pollinate the bluebonnet. Do you think you have those bees in Florida? We don't know, we don't keep track of bees, they are kind of moody and don't like to be counted, but they are also very particular about what they pollinate.

There are 54 species of Lupinus native to North America, of which 5 are native to Florida. We took a look at some of these to see what the chances were you could grow one of them. Lupinus perennis (Sundial lupine) is native to the Florida Panhandle, according to this USDA Plant profile map. Lupinus villosus (Lady lupine) comes a little closer to Orange County, but still does not grow on the eastern coast of Florida.

The reason that we recommend only plants native to a specific area be planted in that area is that so much in resources-chemical fertilizers, money to buy seeds, water and labor-can be expended on a non-native that probably will not thrive.

 

From the Image Gallery


Texas bluebonnet
Lupinus texensis

Sundial lupine
Lupinus perennis

Lady lupine
Lupinus villosus

More Wildflowers Questions

Texas wildflowers for April wedding
March 13, 2007 - A friend of mine is getting married in Texas in April and wanted to decorate the event with flowers native to that state. In my experience wildflowers do not last long out of the ground or in cut for...
view the full question and answer

Wildflowers for West Texas Permian Basin area
March 19, 2007 - What wild flowers grow out here in West Texas (Permian Basin Area)? I know a lot of the wild flowers from other parts of the state will not grow out here in the dry heat and poor soil. Thanks for you...
view the full question and answer

Springbeauty in New Jersey and Dog Allergies
May 11, 2013 - Is Claytonia virginica in New Jersey and could my dog be allergic to it?
view the full question and answer

Native flowering plants for Frisco, Texas
August 12, 2015 - Hi There, I recently moved from Ohio, Cleveland to TX, Frisco. Could you please suggest me native flowering plants in my back yard and front yard. I like different flowers.
view the full question and answer

Meadow garden for Colorado Springs CO
June 03, 2012 - We recently purchased a restored home on a mesa just above the downtown area of Colorado Springs on the front range. The previous owners seeded the front lawn with blue gramma and told me that all I ...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.