Bluebonnet Baby:

Our yard stood out like a sore thumb, where only weeks before it had been the shining star of our street. It had gotten to where there were knocks on our door...almost daily; people offering to mow our yard. Hubby would always laugh and politely decline, citing that we were waiting for our bluebonnet patch to 'go to seed'. 'Funny how many people look at you blindly when you try to explain such things, but it goes to show...not everybody gardens or nurtures flowers like I've done for most of my life.

When we moved into our house that first spring, it didn't take long for me to discover the garden of Bluebonnets sporadically growing in our front yard. I was bubbling with enthusiasm-I had been trying for years to grow Bluebonnets from seed, which seems darned-near impossible. Needless to say, I never had any luck. They were the elusive flower, and the one I wanted to grow even more because I couldn't.

So there we were with a 'not so big' patch of what had been lovely spires of blue only weeks prior, but had since faded to look like weeds...to most folks; though they were utterly priceless to this lover of flora. We waited it out, and in a few long weeks, our Bluebonnets set seed and Hubby went about collecting them and scattering them all over our front yard. It would be a long wait for the both of us, before we knew whether or not the seeds would grow and blanket our yard. We kept our hopes high, and went on with our lives.

Time flew and it was spring again, and the foliage started to peek from the ground...in spots all over the yard. Still too early to tell for sure; it was looking like Hubby's labor hadn't been for naught. A short time later, we were truly amazed by the beautiful bouquets of blue scattered about our yard. Instead of daily knocks on our door, we had passersby stopping to take photographs; using our Bluebonnets as a perfect spring backdrop. We too, took advantage of the scene, snapping photos of my kids, our little schnauzer Blanca, and me and Hubby; showing off my baby bump since I was then four-months pregnant with my third child, at the ripe-old age of 40. While the miracle of Bluebonnets had been over-wintering in the ground, a tiny life had been growing inside of me.

Not only had I been nurturing my own life, but the little life of another; managing to introduce my husband to the wonderful world of gardening in the mean-time. I don't believe Hubby had ever in his life grown flowers before he met me. His Bluebonnet patch had been a grand-awakening for his senses. He was truly in love with his native flower garden; the beloved state flower of Texas. I was a very proud wife indeed.

Time passed, and once again, our sea of velvety blue turned to a dry patch of yellow...consuming our front yard. And again, the knocks on the door came quite often. This time, we had posted a sign of 'No Solicitors' on our front door. It worked most of the time, but still...some people would knock anyway. We didn't answer, and eventually they went on their way.

The seasons came...the seasons went, my belly grew bigger...bigger, then came our precious baby girl that autumn, followed by the most spectacular winter I've ever known. It was baby's first Christmas and there was a blanket of white all across Fort Worth. It was a first for us all...in so many ways. Hubby and I both had never had a white Christmas, and by His blessing, baby's first Christmas was perfectly white.

Then came spring...spectacular spring! First appeared a green meadow of frilly foliage, then...an ocean of blue all over our front yard; Hubby's precise soughing of seeds had paid off...big! Not even by the side of a rural country road...had I ever seen so many Bluebonnets, and we were right-smack in the heart of the city. I went to work with the camera, snapping picture after picture. By then, our baby was almost six months old; so naturally, I had to get a shot of our sweet little flower nestled in the Bluebonnets her daddy had nurtured the year before.
That was our last season in our house, and I haven't returned to see if the new owners might've kept the Bluebonnet patch growing. I can only hope...somewhere down the road of time, that I will be lucky enough to have such abundant blessings again. But one thing I know for certain: I will never forget our beautiful garden of native flowers, forever abloom in my memory, and that first spring with our Bluebonnet baby.