How tall are bluebonnets

[Breezy]

supposed to be?
Seriously I saw the ones at the church that I mentioned and then tonight I saw a batch right by my house but they are "short". Hoping to get to play tomorrow though.
I am asking cause the pics I have seen on here they appear pretty talk not like waist high but maybe shin high?
TIA

[andiesmith]

new texan? BB are pretty short, shin high i guess. and rememeber not to pick them! we have friends who just moved here and didn't know.

[Breezy]

Well not new and not a texan either lol. You can call dh one though since he did change all of his crap to here. I did not and won't since none of it expires until after we leave here. we have been here 2 years in May. We were told that you can't mow them etc... by our realtor.

thanks for the answer :D

[jeffkohn]

They can vary in size, probably most in this region fall in the 6-12" range. The ones out in West Texas can easily be twice that size, they're a slightly different type.

[HotHolly]

40 feet! Everything's bigger in TEXAS! LOL! That would be cool.

They start off really close to the ground and as they get spent, they'll get taller - about 10-12" or so right before they are totally spent and loose their bloom.

[Arnor]

Check out http://plantanswers.tamu.edu/flowers...nnetstory.html

Where I come from, Iceland, Lupinas were used a lot in the seventies and eighties to try to stabilize the sandy parts of the highlands and wherever grass wouldn't grow. We used a breed from Alaska, Lupinus nootkatensis, which looks very much like the Texas bluebonnet, but grows taller, upto about a meter or more (3-4feet)

Just for fun I attached this image that my wife took in Iceland in June 2002. The tallest plants there were probably about 2' at the time. In the beginning the lupinas were thought to recede to grass, but it has been discovered that it can take over huge areas where grass grew so it went from being a good plant to basically weed in couple of decades<g>

Best regards,

[Cope]

Breezy, I believe your realtor is wrong about mowing them on your own property. It is against state law to pick any widflowers on state property, but on you rown property you are the Queen. Most farmers leave them alone, probably for the aesthetics.

[johnastovall]

Also not all Bluebonnets are blue but there are white ones and some day thanks to Carroll Abbott we'll have red ones. Then his dream can be realized a huge Texas Flag at the Capitol made of Bluebonnets.

And thanks to the Horiculturists at A&M we already have maroon ones..

[jerrykr]

the Aggies developed some Maroon ones! True.

(edit) sorry John, just saw your line about the maroon ones.

It's not against the law to pick them, it's just discouraged. Leave them where they are so everyone can enjoy them, and they will go to seed for next year. They usually get about a foot tall, some shorter.

If you want a picture made sitting in them, #1 rule is don't sit on a fire ant mound.

enjoy spring in Texas.

[gardener]

Jerry is right. There is no law on the books that says you can't pick a nice LITTLE bouquet of bluebonnets if you're so inclined but as noted, we native Texans tend to leave them alone for everyone passing through to enjoy. My personal feeling is that I'd rather someone pick a few rather than wading out like a herd of buffalo through the middle of a nice patch, crushing great masses of them to the ground while wallowing around trying to get one kid pic and destroying the "look" for everyone else that may pass or want a picture. I completely understand the kid picture thing but walk lightly and try to stay on a previous walker's little trail if you can... please?

The maroon variety is really pretty in masses but unfortunately, if they're planted anywhere near the blue (native) variety, they cross pollinate and next year's crop will revert to blue again. Tis just the nature of the beast as they say...

[xseption]

Originally Posted by jeffkohn

They can vary in size, probably most in this region fall in the 6-12" range. The ones out in West Texas can easily be twice that size, they're a slightly different type.

I was hiking in Big Bend over spring break and I found some that came to my belly button (3 ft).

[Breezy]

Originally Posted by Cope

Breezy, I believe your realtor is wrong about mowing them on your own property. It is against state law to pick any widflowers on state property, but on you rown property you are the Queen. Most farmers leave them alone, probably for the aesthetics.

Thanks Alan cause I had already told dh if they poped up in our yard I would mow them over
Why not we have every other freaking weed around lol. We are right beside of a field that hasn't been plowed under for the 3rd phase yet lol.
Good to know I wouldn't be breaking the law lol.
The church I mentioned a couple of days ago now has a sign up I guess they are used to people coming to them lol I still think I will stick with the ones on the side of the creek/runoff bank.

[Breezy]

Oh and the ones at the church and the bank are in batches so hopefully I can get some of the kids sitting on the ant hill in between lol. No seriously there are pretty good amounts of grass between them.
I figured while in TX do as the Texans right lol. I gotta get one bluebonnet kid pic before we move :D
Thanks again for all of the help

[KeithAlanK]

Channel 12 just repeated the old "It's against the law to pick bluebonnets" BS tonight.

Like Jerry mentioned, grabbing a few is fine.
Mowing down a whole field on state-owned property (like highway right-of-ways) is heavily frowned upon.

If we Texans paid good tax money to put police forces out there to ticket flower-pickers I daresay the end of freedom as we know it would be here.

Ladybird Johnson's legacy of wildflowers in Texas is something the rest of the country is trying to copy, just like the SA Riverwalk.

[Murph]

It is not illegal to pick bluebonnets.

IT IS illegal to: Tresspass, Commit theft, or Criminal Mischief. Just show some courtesy to others and try not to trample the flowers.