COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) -Bluebonnets are blooming at the Gardens at Texas A&M, and the director says peak color is still about two weeks away.
Mike Arnold, director of the Gardens at Texas A&M, said the season is running earlier than usual. He said the typical peak window around the Brazos Valley falls in late March through the first of April, but this year’s bloom is trending ahead of schedule.
Are bluebonnets illegal to pick?
Arnold said picking a bluebonnet is not illegal outside of a state park, though he said the gardens prefer visitors leave the flowers in place so they can go to seed for future seasons. He picked one during the interview to point out its scent and the small red dots that indicate a flower has been pollinated.
Maroon bonnets: a Texas A&M original
The gardens also grow maroon bonnets, a variety developed at Texas A&M by horticulturist Jerry Parsons and his colleagues. Arnold said Parsons set out to create a red, white and blue display using the state flower. Finding blue and white varieties was relatively straightforward, but breeding a true red or maroon took considerably more years of work.
Arnold said maroon bonnets require careful seed management to maintain their color. Without isolating the population used for seed collection, the plants tend to revert to blue over successive generations. He said anyone wanting to grow maroon bonnets at home should source seeds from a grower maintaining an isolated population.
A safer spot for bluebonnet photos
Arnold said the gardens seed the bluebonnet area heavily each year in part to give families a safe alternative to roadside photo stops. He said the goal is to keep children away from highway shoulders where accidents can occur.
The Gardens at Texas A&M are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
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