I Brake for Bluebonnets

I've loved flowers since I was a little girl, and I've always had a bad habit of picking them. Right now it's bluebonnet season, and it takes everything in me to not hit the brakes (even along dangerous roads, where they usually are!) and pick them whenever I see them.

Once, when Dear Husband and I were visiting the some national gardens in D.C. and I leaned down to touch one (I swear!) a lady screamed at me, "DON'T PICK THE FLOWERS!"

I could have used her the other day. The boys and I were driving around a nearby nature center when I spotted a little field of bluebonnets. Without thinking, I stopped the car, jumped out and grabbed a fistful of bluebonnets. As I walked back to the car, I saw a sign on the other end of the field that said, "Do not pick wildflowers." Oh well, I thought at the time.

It wasn't until we were driving home that I remembered that it is AGAINST THE LAW to pick a ladyslipper, Minnesota's state flower. Was it the same for my beloved bluebonnets? It couldn't be! Texas seems to be such a lawless place sometimes (I NEVER see police in our town!); a harmless, flower-picking resident like me would never be prosecuted, right?

The good thing is: I have learned my lesson. I will no longer pick state flowers. I will let them remain growing happily in their fields and allow other people to enjoy them, too. The bluebonnets will be safe next year, as I will not be here. And a bluebonnet by any other name -- lupine -- smells as sweet; there are plenty to be legally picked in Northern Minnesota! =)