The Dark Side of Bluebonnet Season in Frisco and Plano, Texas

TX – The first time a real estate agent gave Stacy a tour of her future house in Frisco, she looked through the wide living room window and out onto a hill absolutely covered in a blanket of bluebonnets in full bloom. She fell in love. It was April, 2020. The back of the house faced the gates of Zion Cemetery, famous for its spring bluebonnets, and a hilly greenbelt outside.

“It was the most gorgeous thing; it was the reason we bought the house,” she recalls a year later.

Now, however, those same bluebonnets are a source of trouble, litter, traffic, and fear, as Texans are trespassing on private property, beyond signs warning of rattlesnakes, to take pictures with bluebonnets.

Stacy, who asked not to use her real name in this article, lived in San Antonio in high school, was somewhat familiar with Texans’ love affair with the bluebonnet season. She and her family have taken their obligatory pictures in the bluebonnets. But this year, when the season peaked in early April, she and her neighbors claimed that the craze has caused a major disturbance as unprecedented numbers enter their neighborhood, surrounding the Zion Cemetery, even trespassing onto their property to get their pictures.

“Neighbors told me there would be a row of cars behind their house constantly,” Stacy says. “They’re flowing into the neighborhood, they were blocking my driveway. Another neighbor had visitors over Sunday, but they couldn’t find a place to park. This is a neighborhood.”

The Bee in the Bluebonnets

The greenbelt outside Zion Cemetery isn’t the only hot bluebonnet location. One spot frequented by families and individuals is on a piece of corporate private property, one of many headquarters in Plano. A security officer, when asked about it, just laughed. Though he didn’t want to name the corporation, he confirmed that they saw everything—frisbee golfers, fishermen, geo-cachers, and of course, bluebonnet hunters.

He says he has known people to sneak around security and bring dogs, cats, kids, and professional photography equipment onto their property. The problem comes from possible property damage, but also from liability for the corporation. He says he’s seen up to 30 or 40 cars blocking private roadways onto their property for the beauty of their grounds. They have no trespassing signs, but many don’t realize that they are trespassing. Or they do it anyway because their purpose is fairly innocuous.

The state of Texas also promotes bluebonnet season quite a bit. It’s been our state flower since 1901, and statewide seeding efforts began in the 1930s by the Texas Highway Department. Then, in 1969, Lady Bird Johnson debuted the Texas Highway Beautification Awards, leading to a new wave of planting flowers along the highways. Texans are known for our state pride, and bluebonnets, as our state flower, enjoy a respected, beloved status. There’s a feeling that the flower belongs to all of us, even if the land where they grow does not.

Every spring, they bloom along roadsides. It isn’t uncommon for families to pull over on the side of the road to take pictures of children and pets among them.

While bluebonnets are lovely and a key piece of Texas spring, people are overzealous. It becomes a safety hazard when people park on the sides of highways and roadways, climbing the steep inclines where bluebonnets bloom. They cross streets to access medians for just a hint of blue.