the-bluebonnet-bandit:

transmortifried:

*throws cress seeds at an abandoned warehouse* be the change you want to see in the world

Alright guys! Listen up! Its story time..

Does anyone wanna know why my user name is the-bluebonnet-bandit? No? Well I’m going to tell you anyway.

Its because a long time ago back in highschool my home town was slowly begining to be re-developed. A field I had loved as a kid moving in became a series of storage units. So basically, under the presumption of the myth that bluebonnets are illegal to pick in Texas, I decided the best way for me to handle this was to go out and buy a pack of bluebonnet seeds to basically chuck ‘em at the field in question. It takes time for a peice of land to be purchased and for a structure to take place, so if I planted some bluebonnet seeds in the field in early October, by next season there would be a whole field of them right? And then they couldn’t build there, hazzah!

Except its not as easy as it sounds. And now as an ecology major with a focus in plants, I know that. See, many empty fields in the suburbs are filled with agressive and non-native plants that would make it hard to establish something like a bluebonmet in just one season. I would need to remove those plants in a certain desired area around my square of bluebonnets then make sure each seed survives to flower. And then ideally I’d want to keep expanding my target patch, or establish a different patch the next year at a key place on the field.

Even if not illegal, destroying a field of our state flower, or a beautiful field of wildflowers is a harder sell to the public. It creates more dialogue. Draws more attention. And if you pair this with, say, a grassroots community campaign to spare the land in question you definately have more of a chance of achieving your group’s goal if it looks like the backdrop to someone’s family photo. Plus, planting wildflowers, helps the community and wildlife.

I’m not saying go out and chuck seeds at stuff until you re-claim your space and use gardening and tree planting (tree graffiti, or tree-fiti if you will…) as counter meaaures for over-development and urban sprawl.

But I’m not-NOT saying that…

*When to plant bluebonnet seeds

*How to plant a wildflower meadow

*US Wildflower planting guide

*Best trees to plant for your area

*How to make seed bombs

*Using community gardens to feed the hungry

*How to make a community garden

*How to conduct a petition drive

* Change.org – starting an online petition

*Find your townhall meetings

*Register to vote