The Great Bluebonnet Project

[jinman]

Part of my project is to ensure that the original plot of bluebonnets is maintained while removing plants and seeds for my transplant. After digging bluebonnets with my FEL, I went back and put seeds over the original plot and spread clumps of them around. To ensure a good replant, I took my drag there and put it to work, dragging the seeds around and dragging across more seeds to pull them into the area. I dragged and cross-dragged this area too, probably as much as 1 acre or more if you count the undisturbed area where I dragged seeds from. Here are a few pictures of that process and how it looks now. I think looking at the ground, you would not know I'd taken a lot of soil except for there being little vegetation in this area. It's my hope that after one more growing season, this will look like nothing has ever been done here. We'll see . . . .

 

[jinman]

While I was taking these pictures, I couldn't resist taking some other pictures to show. We have a spot near the front of our property that has a native growth of blue sage. Later in the year, it will shoot up about 3' tall and put on a very showy blue cluster of flowers. Last year, I put rocks around the area, but most of the year, it just looks like a weed patch until it starts to bloom. I decided to dedicate the front half of the bed to planted flowers so we could have some color mostly year-round. Unfortunately, the deer thought my planted flowers were very tasty. Yum! To make sure we got to enjoy the flowers, I had to cover them in deer netting. I used some green flower stakes and twist ties to hold the netting in place. It keeps the deer out while allowing us to see the flowers and water them. It's not too obtrusive to the view; the best solution in my opinion. A photo is attached.

We also have a very showy growth of native Texas Bluebells along our lakeshore. I've included a couple of pictures of them.

Finally, (Wrought_n Harv) Harvey Lacey's wife, Glenda, gave us a wonderful passionflower vine starter. My wife, Kathy, has planted and replanted that vine and we enjoy its beautiful flowers and fragrance every year. All I can say to Harv and Glenda is "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" What a wonderful gift.

 

[Bird]

Jim, your drag looks good, and using the Mule instead of the tractor was probably a good idea, but . . . several years ago, when I was working with the neighbor baling hay, I was doing the baling with his 85 hp Oliver and Gehl round baler and he was doing the raking with his old Farmall Super H. The Farmall broke down, so he decided to pull the hay rake with his Kawasaki Mule. It pulled the hay rake easily, but it would overheat, so we finished the job with him pulling the hay rake with my little B7100 Kubota.

I was surprised at the Mule overheating, and don't know whether it's a tendency they have under a pulling load, or whether his kids and grandkids had run it through the pasture so much that the radiator was clogged with grass seed. But that was the only time it overheated.

 

[jinman]

Bird, did you use low range on the Mule? What I noticed was that the Mule was working hard, but the electric fan was not coming on very often, mostly when I stopped moving. There was never an overheat indicator. The drag was surely heavy. I kept getting stuck in deep sand and on hillsides if I didn't use 4wd, and high range seemed to be a very hard pull. With low range and 4wd, it didn't even grunt. Like you mentioned, I think the radiator may have become clogged on your Neighbor's Mule. It may have also been the difference of the Mule 2500 and the Mule 3010. For whatever reason, our Mule did the job with ease.

 

[Bird]

Jim, I know his Mule was a 3010, and since he was the one driving it, I can't be sure, but I'm pretty sure he was using high range, 2WD because of the speed he was going. I know that Mule got a lot of abuse by his sons and grandsons. My brother's Mule never overheated, but I think the only thing it ever pulled was a 50 gallon spray rig. However, we used it pretty hard hauling all the dirt I could pile on it with my front end loader, even with the tailgate down and a sheet of plywood bolted to the bed to make it hold more.

 

[bindian]

Jim,
My brother and I used to mow my Grandma's lawn. Each spring her Bluebonnet patch grew. She always reminded us not to mow any Bluebonnets until they seeded. I remember mowing around and in and out of the groups that sprang up. You should have a good crop in the transplants.
hugs, Brandi

 

[jinman]

Woohoo! Woohoo! Woohoo! My bluebonnets are sprouting, and they are everywhere.

I'm really excited now. Everywhere I spread the bluebonnets over the 1/2 acre area there are little seedlings everywhere. Like beans, they first make two dime-sized thick lobes (dicots) and then between these lobes there is a shoot with three leaf points (last photo). The next leaf will have five points as will the remaining ones. The week of wet weather we had has just caused an eruption of plants. I'm happy to note that the area I reseeded is also covered in seedlings. This is looking like it is going to be a successful transplant beyond my expectations. Wow! I'm more excited than I ever thought I would be.

BTW: It has been almost exactly two months since I dragged the transplants to spread the seeds. There is more or less an even distribution of plants over the whole area.

 

[EddieWalker]

That is exciting!!!

I've had terrible lucky trying to move plants from one place to another, and have come to the conclusion that it's just one of those things that I just don't get, so it's very impressive to see your results and success. Now I'll just wait patently for spring and your pictures of them blooming.

Eddie

 

[wushaw]

Jim; I take it the long oval leaves will sprout out shortly like in the last picture, I have not seen mine in the early stages of growth like these. I usually don't notice them till November hugging the ground.

 

[jinman]

Eddie: Thanks! I have a long time before any blooms, and the amount of moisture between now and next April will probably determine whether we have a great or mediocre display of blooms. I have always had luck when I transplant the whole plant including the roots. I've done this with small patches before.

What seems to work best is lousy soil that won't grow much else, with a high content of sand and calcium. The "experts" say you can fertilize the plants very lightly to increase the size of the plant. My experience is that the moisture content in the fall when they form roots and in the spring in late March and early April are the most important factors in plant growth and bloom numbers and size. Therefore, if it is too dry, I just may have to do some irrigation to keep the plants "happy."

Al: Yes, you are right that the plants will soon sprout into the familiar 5-leaf stems. These florets will grow to a small size and then stay that size all winter, making a root system underground. When spring arrives, they'll have the developed root system to support rapid growth of the fullsize plant. The "experts" say that September is the right time to plant seeds, but I think they are wrong. The best time to plant seeds is when Mother Nature plants them in late June/July. That way the seeds have a chance to get scarified and innoculated before the fall when they germinate.

I have a neigbor who wanted some bluebonnets too. I took a scoop of my plants/seeds to her house and spread them on a hillside beside the driveway. I went to see if the plants had germinated at her place too. They have recently had a septic system installed for a cabin/bunkroom. The truck and trailer with the backhoe was parked right in the middle of the bluebonnet patch. I was sorry to have to show her the tiny plants the truck/trailer tires destroyed since it was wet and there were shallow ruts with crushed bluebonnets in them. She was a bit sick, but I showed her many more plants and tried to be positive about her chances for recovery of site. She and her husband have lived here for 25 years and could never get bluebonnets growing. Now, she is sad because they were obviously going to have a beatiful bed of wildflowers and they have been damaged. I assured her that if these didn't work out, I'd bring her more transplants next year. I figure the next thing is she will want to hire me and my tractor to put a rock barrier around the bluebonnet patch.