h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's now the beginning of wildflower season here in Texas, and the bluebonnets are really starting to bloom.

They're the state flower in Texas and can bloom as early as February. While they can grow in just about every part of the state, in West Texas, they tend to only grow from seed and aren't quite as dark as the ones that spring up in East Texas. There are also many different species of the flower, ranging in color from dark blue to even some white bluebonnets. The best way to describe them is that they look like lilacs, but are smaller, and the blue petals are shaped more like bonnets than flowers.

Bluebonnets also have two legends that I know of, one of them is about a pioneer girl who loses her favorite doll (with a blue bonnet) on the prairie. A few days later, there were the flowers all around the prairie with blooms in the shape of bonnets. I'm going to have to research the other legend.

Not only are the bluebonnets are in bloom, so are other wildflowers such as the Indian paintbrush, a red-orange flower that looks like a paintbrush tip, and wine cups, wine colored flowers that open up to the shape of a cup. I don't know if we've had enough rain or too much of it for primroses, which are pink tipped greenish flowers that tend to be shaped along the lines of dogwood blossoms.

In the summer, there'll be Indian blankets, Mexican hats and Blackeyed Susans to enjoy as well, so it'll be a colorful season.