In this episode of Discover Austin, we admire the beauty of our state flower, the Bluebonnet. New episodes of Discover Austin are available each couple of weeks. Over the course of the series, we’ll cover everything from landmarks and events to restaurants and icons. If you prefer to read than to watch, the video’s transcript is available below the video.
Greetings, I’m Craig Smyser. The bluebonnet is the Texas state flower and the subject of this episode of Discover Austin. As you can see, I’m standing in a field full of bluebonnets. Or maybe not. See, if I were actually standing in the field of Bluebonnets, I’d be sneezing for the duration of the video, and even my own mother wouldn’t watch that one.
Each year in early spring, bluebonnets start popping up in fields and along roadsides across central Texas. While only a specific species of bluebonnet was declared the state flower in 1901, that definition has since been expanded to cover all native species of bluebonnets, including new kinds that arise from cross pollination. The bluebonnet easily pollinates with others, so it is not unusual to find a bluebonnet that isn’t blue, such as white, pink, and maroon. After leaving the White House and returning to Texas, former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, encouraged the planting of native plants alongside highways in the state. As a result, bluebonnets grace miles and miles of roadways in Texas during the month of April. It is a rite of passage for all Texans to sit down in a field of bluebonnets for a photo and then, of course, to post it all over Facebook. Thank you for joining me for this episode of Discover Austin.
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