Texas Bluebonnet

The humble lupin....a common flower all over the world. Here in Texas the tiny blue variety, Lupinus texensis is held in high esteem.Its appearance across fields and along the verges of highways, marks the short transition from winter into the steaming hot season that is Spring, Summer and Autumn rolled into one. It is the state flower: children can recognize them, paint them and have had their photos taken in them since they were babies. Our first spring here was marked by us carefully checking the flower meadow for snakes, then promptly plonking our 6 month old baby in the middle of the fabulous flowers, right on top of a fire ant nest!
So, this morning, whilst on a trip to a garden center to replace the plants we lost from our unusually cold winter, I stopped at the entrance and took this photo and was reminded of the importance of planting native species in our gardens: and never to sit your baby on a fire ant nest.