Recently, I asked Sandra Allen, my good friend and co-author of I.O.U. SEX, to take pictures of bluebonnets around her home near Lake Texoma. I hoped to use some of her shots in promoting my book, BLUEBONNETS FOR ELLY. Unfortunately, there wasn't a bumper crop of the state flower in her area this year, but she did get some terrific photos while she was out and about, some of which I've posted below with her permission. (Click on photos to enlarge.)
Thanks, Sandra!
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| Go just about anywhere in Texas and you'll see the state flag displayed. |
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| Yep, there's really a town named Fink. According to the Texas State Historical Assoc.: "Fink's population was estimated at twenty-five for most of the period from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s." I doubt if it has grown any since then. |
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| Too bad there weren't many bluebonnets in bloom in Grayson County this spring. They sure can put on a show when they cover a hillside. To see more gorgeous photos on a variety of blogs, visit West Metro Mommy Reads: HERE.  |
I was in Houston a few years ago to attend a wedding. If I'd known about your State flowers, I would have paid attention and looked out for them then. Thanks for sharing these interesting photos.
ReplyDeleteWhen I visited Texas last spring, I was a little too late to take photos of the fields of wildflowers -- just missed them at their peak! One of our favorite springtime rituals when my husband and I were first married was to go on a road trip just to see the wildflowers. I miss that.
DeleteLove the greenery!
ReplyDeleteHere is my Saturday Snapshot post!!
The countryside won't be green for long! Once summer temps climb up to 100 degrees (F), the grass turns yellow and the flowers wilt. Spring is a fleeting thing in Texas.
DeleteMy granddaughter Fiona and her mom lived in Texas last year for a few months. I had planned to visit them there, but before I could, they'd moved back. I love bluebonnets!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing...and for visiting my blog.
So many places to go and so little time! Maybe you'll have another opportunity to visit, hopefully during bluebonnet season.
DeleteSpring hasn't been its usual bountiful self here either - but I can imagine how showy the bluebonenets could be when they are plentiful.
ReplyDeleteIt's so amazing to be driving down the highway, cruise around a curve, and see an ocean of blue flowers carpeting the hillsides. Takes your breath away.
DeleteThe bluebells look lovely even if there are not as many as usual. Is there a reason that not as many have bloomed out?
ReplyDeleteI don't know! Seems like there were plenty of blooms in other parts of the state, but just not in the area where my friend lives. Maybe next year ...
DeleteGreat pictures! I've never been to Texas (other than the DFW airport), but I'd love to visit sometime.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I say about Atlanta! I've only been to the airport, on my way to somewhere else. Maybe sometime you'll have a chance to visit the Lone Star State.
DeleteInteresting. I just looked up bluebonnets, and they are quite different to what we call bluebells here. They still look like a beautiful carpet of blue.
ReplyDeleteThere are some amazing photos of bluebonnet fields online. I'm glad you enjoyed seeing them.
DeleteI love seeing all the Texas flags when we drive through Texas.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by and visiting me.
I've always wondered if displaying the state flag with such pride is just a Texas thing or if other states do it as well. I live in Washington state now, and I don't even know what the WA state flag looks like!
DeleteWhen my husband first visited my home province of Newfoundland, he got a kick out the fact there was a town called Dildo. He even bought a t-shirt souvenir.
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I've seen bluebonnets before and had to look them up. They're gorgeous! My favorite flower from my home province of Newfoundland is bog cotton.
Although "bog cotton" isn't a very poetic name, pictures of fields filled with the plant are beautiful. Like a field dusted with snow! By the way, bluebonnets are also called buffalo clover, wolf flower, and el conejo ("the rabbit.")
DeleteI read from others that Texas has tons of interesting birds and plants, flowers because of the climate and geography. I like warmer weather myself!
ReplyDeleteHarvee
Book Dilettante
There's a wide diversity of ecosystems in Texas. That results in a variety of climates and geography. As for warmer, I'm not sure you'd enjoy a month of 100+ degree days!
DeleteI can tell you with certainty that South Carolina displays their flag with equal pride. Maybe it's a southern thing. I never noticed it in Ohio or Wisconsin!
ReplyDeleteI think you're right about it being a Southern thing.
DeleteMy niece and her husband live in Texas and she's told me about the beautiful Bluebonnets. Sorry they are lacking this year.
ReplyDeleteSeems like windflowers bloomed profusely in some areas and sparsely in others.
DeleteI love the bluebonnets, that shade of blue is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my SS post Sandra :)
-Kimberly @ Turning the Pages
I've been to Houston too- I saw plenty of state flags, but no bluebonnets… I can imagine how lovely an entire field would look. We get whole fields of purple flowers here- Patterson's Cures-a noxious weed that's bad for the animals sadly- but it does look spectacular, especially when next to a field of yellow canola.
ReplyDeleteThe combination of purple and yellow is always striking. I can just imagine a whole field covered in those colors!
DeleteI do love seeing the masses of bluebonnets in flower ... have only seen them once when touring outside San Antonio and then they were not as profuse as some photos I've seen in magazines, books and on-line ... such a beautiful shade of blue, though!
ReplyDelete