Bluebonnets for Bloom Day March 2016

We have Texas Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) blooming in the garden this week.  Bluebonnets reseed prolifically and we also collect the seeds each year for fall planting just to be sure they turn up where we want them.

With their bonnets of blue they are a welcomed sign of Spring and our Texas state flower.

Except they're not always blue as in this rare white bloom.  While non-blue blooms are the exception the hue can range from white to pink, deep purple and even burgundy red.

Two white blooms emerged from one plant.  If white flowers are pollinated from nearby blues chances are the seeds will produce blue blooms next year.  With at least two white blooms there's a small chance we can have more white ones next year.

To up the odds on getting white flowers next year we tried cross-pollinating the white blooms with a Q-tip.  Just an experiment, but we had to give it a shot.

Look closely and the lower flowers have slight blue tint.  On the right you can see centers of the blue flowers turn red as they age allowing pollinators to find the freshest flowers by their white centers.  On the left, one early bloomer is already producing seeds.

In March it's all about the wildflowers and Texas Bluebonnets are my favorite so I'm linking with Garden Blogger's Bloom Day at May Dreams Garden, so be sure to check out what other garden bloggers are sharing.