Planting bluebonnet seeds

Is it too late to plant bluebonnet seeds in Zone 8B?
Thank you

I guess you can always try, but I thought the seeds had to be scarified (roughed up with sandpaper or the ends of the seeds cut with scissors) and scattered in late fall.

I planted bluebonnets two weeks ago. I read somewhere that the 15th of Jan is the latest. You might still try. My seed came already scarified. I'm in 8b. I hope it works. If not then I will plant what is left in the fall.

Planting them this late, I would soak them in water for at least 24 hours. Mine have already made their winter rosettes; however, I have a few that are just coming up.

If the seeds don't work, the nurseries should have plants to put out. Then once they seed out, you might have seedlings next fall.

I never had a lot of luck with the packaged seeds. I bought some transplants from my favorite nursery and they did great. The next year I had lots of seedlings. The plants I have now are descendants from the original transplants. If we aren't blessed with rain soon, there won't be many wildflowers to admire this spring (just like last year).

Many of the wildflowers need rain in the fall and winter to germinate and get going. So there won't be that much. I dragged a long hose way out to the front slope today just to make sure the little bluebonnets out there get to bloom early enough.

My water bills this fall and winter are higher than they have ever been in the past.

I have been collecting blue bonnet seed over the winter from trades, but I'm going to wait until late August/early September to sow. Also I read that if you are sowing bluebonnets in the fall in North Central Texas, September 15 is the latest that you should sow; for transplants, the latest to put them in the ground is Halloween (according to the recommendation I saw). This is for North Central DFW area where we get freezes, but in your zone I'll bet it would be a little later.

Do I have to gather the seeds from the bluebonnets or can I let them reseed themselves?? Last year I had to buy new plants as nothing came up..I've not been very successful with bluebonnets. Do they need a special type of soil?? I will be getting mine tested as well.
thank you

The wildflower center has an info sheet on bluebonnets that explain a lot about them.
http://www.wildflower.org/clearinghouse/articles/Bluebonnets.pdf
I guess you could gather seed if you want to have bluebonnets some place else other than where you have. However, the seeds are often naturally forcefully ejected, so most don't just fall exactly where they are. There's a noise when the seeds pop out...I've heard it at times.

I lived in Austin for a number of years and noticed that Bluebonnets started to germinate in Sept, in that area. They always seemed to come up with the first 'cold' front - it didn't cool off much, but, seeds live a different life than we do. Those were always the biggest plants when they bloomed.

I used to go walking along a creek, just down the hill from my house. I noticed a bluebonnet had sprouted in a silt deposit along one edge. The soil was very light and the bottom edge of the area was in the flowing water, that area always stayed very damp. I watched it over a few weeks and it grew to a huge size, about 9-10 inches across in 6 weeks. Then we had one of those big late season storms in early Nov and it got washed away.

Lupine seeds are tough. If they don't come up this year they will come up next year.

I have tried Bluebonnets here, they do not like this part of Florida. I have tried all the different lupines that are available and they are always pitiful - too warm and our soil is sandy and acidic.

We do have some nice native Prickly Pears>

There's another bluebonnet species that prefers sandy soil. I think it's mentioned in that info from the wildflower center. But seeds are hard to find.

This is a little off the subject but when I was in Ketchikan Alaska they had lupins (they looked like bluebonnets) but were probably a different type. They were HUGE at least 3 feet tall, more like bushes. I didn't realize that Ketchikan is in a temperate rain forest they get little to no snow and they measure their rain fall in feet not inches. California also has lupines. I just find it interesting to see the same type plant in such diverse areas. Yes, I brought seeds from Alaska, I always manage to get some everywhere I go.
Lisa

thanks for the advice..Bluebonnets are of the Lupine family.

Bluebonnet seeds sometimes take a while (years) to germinate. I think I read that of all the seeds dropped over one season, only 20% are capable of germinated that year. The other 80% will germinate the following year or even the year after that. Mother natures way of insuring survival. So maybe you will see some bluebonnets in that area the next year (unless the soil is tilled or otherwise disturbed).

Well that's ok. It's nice to have surprises.

I have never been lucky with bluebonnets, the most I have ever had is 3 or 4 plants, so I don't worry about it now. Probably one of the reasons is that I have too many plants in the area and they get shaded out, but I am not willing to sacrifice my other plants in order to have them, so i enjoy them at other places.
I guess a girl can't have everything, right?
Josephine.

I have two, count them, two blue bonnets germinating in the flower bed.
I guess that's better than none. We'll see what next year brings. Maybe I'll sow some more in the Fall. These two were planted along with about 30 more in mid Jan. :) Just had to share.

Jeanne

Here is my blue bonnet I tried to germinate Jan 08. The failed germantation dirt was recycled to a gal pot and it geminated last fall. I moved the it to my GH in Nov and it started blooming in Jan. It currently has one small seed pod. I did plant 5 that germinated out of a entire pack of seeds last winter, they bloomed and I now have several small plants in the location I planted last spring. Larry

Beautiful blues Larry. Your story gives me hope for next year. I have tulips I planted in the spring of 07. They were left overs at Wal Mart. They never emerged last spring. I just went out today and found three emerging from the soil. I guess you just can't hurry some things. They will grow in their own sweet time. I'm just glad they grow.

Best time to plant Bluebonnet seed is April-June, that is when nature does it. Plant them where you want them to grow.

This message was edited Feb 21, 2009 3:34 PM

I'll give it a try Dale. Used to live in Tampa. My husband was a 21 yr veteran of TPD.

Dale, you are right. I have more plants when I just let the seeds on the plants and disperse themselves. The pods that don't open on their own by the time I need to remove the plants, I open and throw on the soil. I don't really "plant" them.

well..I planted one of those seed packets of bluebonnets so I'll see what happens.

Let us know Cindy. Mine came from Wildseed Farm here in Texas. Cheap enough a packet.

WildSeed Farm is dirt cheap when compared to most companies - and Friedricksburg is a great town to visit. And there are lots of Hill Country peaches in early summer.

Hubby and I want to camp near Fredericksburg this spring and explore it. A trip to Wildseed Farm is part of the plan. I got several seed packets from them waiting to sow.

I usually buy the fall planted seeds- coreopsis & larkspur are my favorites.

By the time Fall rolls around, I'm all tired out from summer gardening and ready for a break in temps and work. The only Fall planting I did last year was peonies. A mole got one and the other is emerging now all pink and healthy.

I have echinacea and short zinnias to sow from Wildseed Farm. The zinnias should get so thick I won't have to mess with weeds too much. Last year I had ditch day lilies in my front bed. They did a wonderful job of filling in the bed and choking out the weeds. But they also choked out my spider lilies, zinnias and tulips. They got dug up late summer and transplanted where nothing is in competition with them. So this year the bed will have the zinnias, short and tall along with many other plants.

In my yard I only have a few containers>

But, at work I have more room>

You do good work Dale. I so love flowers. They just make ya feel good. They come in all colors and sizes and shapes. They are never boring and most welcoming. Thanks for sharing your pics.