Every spring, Texans have a routine: they go out and look for the wildflowers that are blooming each week. City streets, highways, and parks exhibit a notable presence of various wildflowers. Spring 2025 was a bit odd. There were not many fields covered with Texas Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis). Why do Texans have a fascination with bluebonnets? There’s a simple answer. On March 7, 1901, the Texas legislature proclaimed the bluebonnet the official State Flower of Texas.
Opportunities to photograph bluebonnets are easily found everywhere in Texas. I did not have to drive far to get these images. However, what made my search different was my determination to look for the less abundant varieties of bluebonnets. I had previously seen white bluebonnets, but never had I had the opportunity to see the rich and lush color of a red or maroon bluebonnet. Well, that has been checked off my list. As a bonus, I also photographed the pink bluebonnets variety.
According to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s Director of Horticulture, Andrea DeLong-Amaya, these color varieties appear because of recessive genes in the flowers. They are indeed mutations and occur naturally after being cultivated for specific varieties. That process leads to the term “cultivar” (short for cultivated variety), which Wikipedia defines as “a kind of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and which retains those traits when propagated.” In other words, human manipulation creates those varieties. So, here are three photos I captured of white, pink, and maroon lupines.
That is the story behind the shots. If you liked this post, you may also be interested in others featuring Austin, Bluebonnets, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Landscapes, Macros, Maroon bluebonnet, Pink bluebonnet, Red bluebonet, Sunday Stills, Texas, White bluebonnets, and Wildflowers. Until the next time, keep clicking and capturing the beauty your eyes find.
Posted for Terri’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: All Colors of Red, White, and Blue.
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Sue
Beautiful!
Egidio Leitao
Thanks so much, Sue.
Hammad Rais
Such gorgeous flowers
Egidio Leitao
Glad you liked them, Hammad.
Toonsarah
I’ve seen lots of photos previously of your beautiful Texan bluebonnets, and I’ve occasionally seen the pink ones too, but the maroon is new to me and very striking 😀
Egidio Leitao
The maroon variety has roots in the rivalry between the University of Texas and the Texas A&M University (with maroon in its colors). They developed the maroon variety to increase the rivalry between the two universities. They even planted some of those on the U. of Texas campus! Texas football rivalry is so intense.
Deep in Nature: An Impressionistic Landscape – Through Brazilian Eyes
Pingback: […] Taking advantage of Bluebonnets everywhere, I took a short walk in my neighborhood park, Copperfield Nature Trail, in Austin. Besides getting the “traditional” shots, I always look for new views of this common wildflower. Some color varieties include light blue, pink, white, and even an engineered maroon lupine! You can see those in this post. […]
margaret21
So ineresting to see this variety in a single plant type.
Egidio Leitao
It really is. What makes it even more interesting is that seeing them in one location is no guarantee they’ll be back at the same place next year.
margaret21
Extraordinary!
Randy Schoener
I grew up on the Texas coast. I can remember how Lady Bird Johnson encouraged cities and counties to plant Bluebonnets and other wild flowers along side the highways. And handed out beautification awards to those that had the best looking highways.
During that time, the highways in our area were covered thick with blue bonnets. From the edge of the road to the fence line. For miles and miles. It was truly a site to behold. And I heard Ladybird Johnson actually toured the highways to see them. While it looks like the state of Texas still has a wildflower program that encourages that. The last couple of times I was there. I was disappointed the blue bonnets were not as thick and wide spread along the roadsides as they used to be years ago.
Egidio Leitao
Randy, the highways still get covered with bluebonnets whenever there is enough rain in the fall. This year was a low year for those flowers, though. More often now, we tend to find bluebonnets in some parks during the spring season.
Anne Sandler
It’s amazing to see Bluebonnets also in red and white. Beautiful photos Egidio.
Egidio Leitao
Thank you, Anne.
Terri Webster Schrandt
I LOVE Bluebonnets, Egidio and you managed to display them in red, white and blue! The other colors of them are wonderful, especially the maroon bonnet! My daughter’s bestie lives near San Antonio. She sent a seed packet of them to me. Alas they wouldnt grow in our desert/alpine climate. Thank you for thinking of Sunday Stills. ❤️🤍💙
Egidio Leitao
Well, Terri, I guess I lucked with my choices then. I’m glad you liked the photos.
shoreacres
I’ve never heard of the maroon bluebonnets appearing spontaneously, as the pink and white sometimes do. My understanding has been that the maroon are a cultivated variety; the first time I saw them was at Wildseed Farm in Fredericksburg. Apparently the Aggies love them!
Egidio Leitao
Maybe semantics is getting us confused. In addition to the Wildflower Center’s director and also a couple of professors from A&M, the color existed in a natural state in La Pryor, Texas. Now, A&M made enhancements to bring more intensity to the color. When you say cultivated, it’s probably in connection to the enhancements. Is that the meaning?
shoreacres
Yes: a ‘cultivar’ is a cultivated variety. It is true that the original maroon bluebonnet was found in La Pryor, but it was growing in a patch of a previously developed bluebonnet cultivar called “Abbott Pink,’ named for the late Carroll Abbott, a Texas naturalist. In 1985, a breeding project meant to develop novel bluebonnet flower colors was begun, and ‘Abbott Pink’ was the first seed-propagated cultivar to be released from the project. The banner spot of that flower generally is edged by a narrow maroon band, and that may have played a role in the emergence of the fully maroon flower.
It’s fun to think of the fact that native pink variants of the bluebonnet gave rise to ‘Abbott Pink,’ and that ‘Abbott Pink’ gave rise to the maroon flower that eventually was stabilized and now graces gardens. It’s sort of a botanical version of six degrees of separation! Jerry Parsons’ Plant Answers site has a lot more details that are quite interesting.
Egidio Leitao
You are a walking encyclopedia! Thank you for the education.
shoreacres
I’m no encyclopedia, but I do have a healthy curiosity and pretty good research skills!
Egidio Leitao
And I do appreciate your willing disposition to share information very easily. I thank you for that.
Denzil
You take lovely photographs Egidio
Egídio Leitão
Thanks for the feedback, Denzil.
Pepper
Beautiful bluebonnets! ?
Egídio Leitão
Thank you for your compliment. It’s appreciated.
Pepper
My pleasure. ?