Bluebonnet flowers
Click for greater clarity and size.
And now here are some bluebonnets, Lupinus texensis, at their floral peak, but viewed more closely than you could see them in the picture of the colony two days ago. I’ve read that the reddish areas visible on some of the bluebonnets are an indication that the pollen on those flowers is getting old and may no longer be viable. If true, that would be a sign to pollinators to make better use of their time on fresher flowers.
This photograph is from March 30th along Interstate 35 in Williamson County.
© 2014 Steven Schwartzman
Portraits of Wildflowers 
I think this image captures the essence of bluebonnets even better than those wide-angle shots of huge fields filled with them. The larger image shows the variation in color especially well. I may hit the roads this weekend, unless we’re stilll enduring caliginous conditions.
shoreacres
April 3, 2014 at 8:47 AM
Yogi Berra apparently said: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” With bluebonnets (and other wildflowers that form large colonies) I’m sometimes not been sure of the best approach, so I usually end up trying a bunch of them. To my mind, bluebonnets can look good en masse, and closer, and closer still, and from this angle, and from that angle, etc. Each kind of view presents limitations but I feel that each is capable of producing good results. At least those are the thoughts in the caliginous corners of my mind this morning. And if you do hit the road, let’s hope you can take it.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2014 at 9:08 AM
really pretty!
question: how do you feel about the new picture editing situation? has it impacted you at all?
SmallHouseBigGarden
April 3, 2014 at 9:26 AM
Funny you should ask that question here. In an earlier draft of this post I mentioned that WordPress (or at least my theme) had eliminated the option to display a photograph at 90%, 80%, 70%, or 60%. The new choices smaller than Large are Medium and Thumbnail, which are both rather small. The problem with Large for this panoramic bluebonnet picture was that the right edge protruded a little into right sidebar. Then I discovered that if I changed Align from None to Center, the picture no longer intruded into the right margin. After I found that workaround, I removed the part of the post that discussed the change in picture choices.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2014 at 9:37 AM
It’s annoying that they keep making changes to seemingly satisfy tablet and mobile users, rather than PC users. I used the border often to frame my images, but that’s no longer available either. It’s OK to edit the html on one image, but it becomes tedious for a dozen or more. And a lot of people are not html literate. Sorry, just felt a rant coming on :C
Heyjude
April 3, 2014 at 11:10 AM
I hadn’t thought about the connection to mobile devices, but that seems a likely explanation.
As for borders, I never used a WordPress option, but have usually put a 2-pixel black border around each picture when I’m preparing it in Photoshop. That keeps light areas at the edges of a photograph from blending into the white of the page adjacent to them.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2014 at 11:52 AM
Yes, I can do it whilst preparing the image, but the WP option made it very simple especially when, like me, you use several images in a post. Your reason for a border is exactly why / when I use one!
Heyjude
April 3, 2014 at 12:01 PM
ohhh makes me homesick – beautiful! K
The Course of Our Seasons
April 3, 2014 at 10:04 AM
It’s just a day’s drive from the Missouri Ozarks to Texas, so you still have time for a bluebonnet weekend this season.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2014 at 10:12 AM
would love to – maybe next year!
The Course of Our Seasons
April 3, 2014 at 11:13 AM
Beautiful.
Raewyn's Photos
April 3, 2014 at 11:56 AM
The bluebonnet is the official state wildflower in Texas.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2014 at 12:01 PM
Une belle évolution du bourgeon qui était déjà très beau. Une jolie fleur qui porte bien son nom.
Merci Steve pour tes renseignements je vais les rajouter dans mon article
chatou11
April 3, 2014 at 12:28 PM
Vive l’évolution! Liberté, Egalité, Florité!
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2014 at 3:32 PM
One year, years ago now, of course, I visited my grandparents in West Texas in wildflower season. I had had no idea beforehand, just landed in the middle of this wildflower extravaganza, including vast swaths of blue bonnets. An unforgettable sight!
Susan Scheid
April 3, 2014 at 2:37 PM
That’s a good way to put it, Susan, a wildflower extravaganza. Perhaps in the next few years you can make that kind of springtime trip again. Things will have changed and not changed.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2014 at 3:35 PM
glorious
sedge808
April 3, 2014 at 8:46 PM
That’s how most people in Texas see them.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2014 at 8:53 PM
Super!
lifelifedeathdeath
April 3, 2014 at 10:16 PM
Welcome to Texas in the spring.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2014 at 10:37 PM
They sure are gorgeous!
montucky
April 3, 2014 at 10:32 PM
They are indeed. If I’m not mistaken, you have some pretty lupines in Montana, too.
Steve Schwartzman
April 3, 2014 at 10:38 PM
Stunning!
trishrich
April 9, 2014 at 7:51 PM
And today I saw a much huger colony of bluebonnets than this one.
Steve Schwartzman
April 9, 2014 at 7:58 PM
[…] On March 25th off Harold Court in east Austin I found a few pale blue bluebonnets scattered among a colony of normally colored Lupinus texensis. […]
Pale blue bluebonnet | Portraits of Wildflowers
April 8, 2016 at 5:08 AM