Blue Bonnets of Texas -circa 1945

I made many business trips to Texas over the past 20 years, visiting Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Angelo numerous times.

Colleagues in Austin repeatedly urged me to visit in the Spring in order to see the Blue Bonnets.

The Blue Bonnet is the state flower of Texas, and the hardy perennial carpets the ground in an amazing display of color each Spring.

I was able to arrange a travel schedule that permitted me to fulfill this suggestion of my collaborators several times.

The sight of the blue bonnets is worth a trip.

Lady Bird Johnson, during her many years in Austin and in Washington, led an effort to restore wildflowers to Texas roadways.

I had often enjoyed the sight of colorful blossoms lining Texas roads, especially in rural areas.

But, I was still amazed at the incredible beauty of the Blue Bonnets when I laid eyes on them.

They cover profusely the meadows and fields of the “Hill Country” around Austin.

This postcard, published in Dallas, captures something of this spectacle.

I would love to see sustained efforts to restore wildflowers in Pennsylvania.  Many of our roadways are barren of the delightful foliage that once bordered country roads.

I don’t know if the application of salt to roads in winter, changes in agricultural practices, or some other factor has eliminated this once-common profusion of flowering plants.

If it can be done in Texas, surely it can be done in the Commonwealth.