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For more than a hundred years it’s served as an official icon for Texas.
Just as much as cowboy hats and boots, the bluebonnet flower has come to personify what it means to be “Texan,” and each Spring that status is celebrated along highways and hillsides across the Lone Star State.
It’s also celebrated within the Houston Airport System (HAS), as thousands of bluebonnet flowers begin to pop up at George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) and William P. Hobby (HOU) Airports.
“I think it’s absolutely beautiful,” said Karen Wilkerson, a passenger at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. “It’s a great way to introduce Texas to people like me who are visiting for the first time.”
It’s an annual tradition that began back in 2000, as HAS team members took more than 500 pounds of bluebonnet seeds and began planting them in various locations at both IAH and Hobby Airport.
An additional 500 pounds of seed results in a colorful mixture of Indian Paintbrushes and Texas wildflowers.
“When you travel a lot, most of the airports start to blend together,” Wilkerson says. “It’s nice to see something like this because it makes the airport stand out and it makes it memorable.”
Wilkerson certainly isn’t alone in her appreciation for the state flower of Texas.
Each year, thousands of floral enthusiasts hit the roads from west of San Antonio to east of Houston, in search of the liveliest bluebonnet patches.
Experts say the finds have been particularly impressive this year, thanks to some well-timed assistance from Mother Nature.
“The rain has an immediate effect on wildflowers, blooming early in the season,” says Damon Waitt, senior botanist for the Lady Bird Johnson
Wildflower Center. “We’ve also been fortunate when it comes to cooler-than-average temperatures.” |
