12 Actual Facts About the Beautiful Bluebonnet Texas State Flower

The official bluebonnet season starts around the end of March and goes through mid-April (depending on the kind of winter weather we've had in Texas.) Let's get started by answering some questions and learning the facts about our beautiful blue state flower.

There is one thing everyone should know about Bluebonnets, whether you are from Texas or not. The State Flower is a very emotional flower for many Texans. While I might think it's okay to mow and or pick Bluebonnets my grandparents will disown me and take me out of the will if I hurt a Bluebonnet.

Furthermore, it didn't help when I told Grandpa that the Lupinus texensis and Lupinus subcarnosis aka the State flower of Texas is a weed. That led to an entire weekend of schooling me on love and respect for Texas. That was the very same weekend that both Grandma and Grandpa informed me that picking or cutting Bluebonnets was illegal.

So, is it illegal to pick bluebonnets in Texas? Are bluebonnets poisonous? Are Bluebonnets only blue in color? Do rattlesnakes live and hide in fields of Bluebonnets? These are only a few questions I've heard all my life about the State flower of Texas.

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While there's some truth in some of the above questions there is a lot of myth and misunderstanding. There are many places in Texas where we can go see, celebrate, and learn about the two main species, Lupinus texensis, and Lupinus subcarnosis that grow in Texas and are known by botanists as Bluebonnets.

I believe that being a Texan, one must know, love, and respect the state flower. While I was born in Texas I knew a few of these facts. Boy was I surprised to learn how little I knew about bluebonnets.

Now that I've learned so much more about the Lone Star States' Bluebonnet. I want to go to those "Bluebonnet Sanctuary Cities" where the bluebonnets are the main attraction. Several cities in Texas Identify with the Buffalo Clover or the Wolfe Flower as it's been known.

The four cities I know that are "Bluebonnet Cities" are Burnet (officially recognized by the Texas legislature as the “Bluebonnet Capital of Texas”), Ennis, Fredricksburg, and Marble Falls, Texas.

Sources are Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Assoc., Take Care Of Texas.org, Texas State Historical Assoc., ProFlower, Wildflower Center.org, TxDOT Wild Flower Legacy,