In 2014, KERA’s Eric Aasen shared 15 amazing things about Texas Bluebonnets. Here are a few excerpts:
The bluebonnet is our state flower. In 1901, the Texas Legislature named the bluebonnet, a legume, the state flower. Many say it got its name because it resembles a sunbonnet. It’s also been called buffalo clover, wolf flower and el conejo, or rabbit in Spanish. Five species of bluebonnet grow in Texas: Lupinus subcarnosus, L. havardii, L. concinnus, L. perennis, and L. plattensis.
- Bluebonnets help to beautify the roads. In 1932, the department hired Jac Gubbels, its first landscape architect, to maintain, preserve and encourage wildflowers and other native plants along rights of way.
- We create family memories in the bluebonnet fields. Snapping pictures of the family in a field of bluebonnets: It’s an iconic springtime image in Texas. And Texans have done it for generations.
- We get poetic about our bluebonnets. Historian Jack Maguire once wrote: “It’s not only the state flower but also a kind of floral trademark almost as well known to outsiders as cowboy boots and the Stetson hat.” He also said: “The bluebonnet is to Texas what the shamrock is to Ireland, the cherry blossom to Japan, the lily to France, the rose to England and the tulip to Holland.”
- We sing songs about bluebonnets. Did you know Texas has a state flower song? It’s “Bluebonnets.” In 1933, the Texas Legislature adopted the song, which was written by Laura D. Booth and Lora C. Crockett. Some lyrics: When the pastures are green in the springtime, And the birds are singing their sonnets, You may look to the hills and the valleys, And they’re covered with lovely bluebonnets.
- In North Texas, Ennis is Bluebonnet Central. In 1997, the Texas Legislature named Ennis the Texas Bluebonnet Trail and the official bluebonnet city of Texas. Every April, up to 100,000 people flock to the Ellis County town.
Wonder who might have discovered the first bluebonnets in Texas? Don’t miss this world premiere!
A Dallas Children’s Theater/
Cara Mía Theatre Company Co-Production
YANA WANA’S LEGEND
OF THE BLUEBONNET
By Roxanne Schroeder-Arce and María F. Rocha
Music by Héctor Martínez Morales
March 23 – April 8, 2018
Ages 6 and up
Ten-year-old María is having trouble in school, so her mom sends her to stay with her Coahuiltecan grandmother in distant Laredo for discipline and perspective. There, María is told an ancient story of young Yana Wana who followed a revered deer to find water to save her people. Yana Wana’s story exposes an amazing and unknown ancestral connection to the bluebonnet that gives María a renewed sense of self and family pride. You may have read one version in school; now we invite you to come see the legend through the eyes of Yana Wana in this world premiere. A beautiful, original play that illustrates the power of heritage and the value of one’s own story – especially one as ancient as the petroglyphs of Texas.
TITLE SPONSORS:
TACA Donna Wilhelm Family New Works Fund and Diana and Thomas Klein
To purchase tickets and obtain additional information about the show, visit dct.org, or call the Box Office at 214-740-0051.
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Commissioned by Dallas Children’s Theater, Robyn Flatt, Executive Artistic Director, Dallas, TX
in partnership with Cara Mía Theatre Co., David Lozano, Artistic Director, Dallas, TX
with contributions by Mitotiliztli Yaoyollohtli Danza Azteca, Evelio Flores, Director, Dallas, TX
and the Indigenous Cultures Institute of San Marcos, TX
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Read the complete article at: https://keranews.org/post/15-amazing-things-you-should-know-about-texas-bluebonnets
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First photo by: Joe Jungmann via Creative Commons. Third photo by: Steve Harbula via Creative Commons. Fourth photo by: David via Creative Commons. Second, fifth, and sixth photos via istockphoto.