Can anybody explain why we don't have any bluebonnets in the Panhandle?

Cold
High
Dry

High and dry perhaps, but the cold isn't enough. All the seed sells and packages say they are climatizes for zone 4-10. We are well within that.

So I looked at a few sites. Bluebonnets prefer well-drained soils, and sandy soils, which we don't have. Also slightly alkaline soils, ours are very alkaline. I think the biggest problem is that they bloom March-May, and it's too cold up here for them to bloom during those months.

I think the seed guys are too optimistic

It certainly occurred to me that they want to make the sale.

I think I'll just grow some in a bed, and try a small amount in the sloped field adjacent to my house and just see what happens.

We planted some in our front flowerbed in 2009 and they have been coming back and covering a larger area every year. Just have to keep them watered.

I have a non irrigated sliver of my lot between my lot and the neighbors. It's on a southwestern facing slope, which is ideal.

Since it's not irrigated, it has ample opportunity for good seed/soil contact since it is sparsely populated right now.

I bought a pound of seed, scarified, and I'm going to plant it this weekend. A pound will cover about 2000 square feet.

I plan to supply water in the fall to get it to germinate, and we'll just see what we get.

If these germinate and flower, I will buy another pound next year so that I've got two years of seeds that should germinate at a high rate, and hopefully that will be enough to establish a stand that can go on their own.

In my conversation with the "seed guy", he said that he would expect this to do well if I take care of the water. He said cold winters should have no negative impact. Droughts would have more impact, but I can control for that.

I'll report back in the spring.

Good luck!

Mine stay green all winter even through snow, ice, and -12. I actually have a few confused ones blooming right now.