As Texans and others drive through our vast Lone Star State in the spring, they feast their eyes upon masses of wildflowers.

Just as a higher power causes nature to bring forth sunshine and rain to burst the flowers into bloom, man, out of love for Earth and humanity, often does his part. We can thank the late Lady Bird Johnson (1912–2007), wife of the 36th U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson, for promoting beauty in Texas.

Highway Beautification Act

On Oct. 22, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Highway Beautification Act at the urging of Lady Bird Johnson.

Before the 1965 Congressional session ended, Johnson summoned his Cabinet and top staffers and scolded them. “The Congress is about ready to adjourn,” he said. “They haven’t passed Lady Bird’s Highway Beautification Act . . . Now, she wants that bill. And if she wants it, I want it. By God, we’re going to pass it.” 

Texas wildflowers bloom in abundance, and billboards, outdoor advertising, and junkyards are limited, all because of Lady Bird and LBJ.

Roots Run Deep

President and Mrs. Johnson’s roots run deep in nature’s beauty and its effect on humanity.

As a child, President Johnson spent his days near the Pedernales River in the Texas Hill Country. “My deepest attitudes and beliefs were shaped by a closeness to the land, and it was only natural for me to think about preserving it.”

When Lady Bird was 5 years old, her mother Minnie Lee Patillo died. While grieving, she found refuge as she wandered through the East Texas woods, enhancing her love for natural beauty and killing loneliness. “Nature was my first and most reliable companion.”

The Johnsons’ Legacy: How Lady Bird’s Vision Still Blooms in Texas

 Because of the Johnsons’ Texas heritage, all Texans reap unique benefits. Not only are we uplifted by beautiful fields of blooming wildflowers as we travel in the spring, but we are also able to enjoy the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center which was founded in 1982 in Austin.

Today the Johnsons’ younger daughter, Luci Baines Johnson, helps carry on her Mother’s work. She says that her Mother’s “beautification” work in the White House and environmental work at the Wildflower Center afterward were not “projects” of a First Lady but simply efforts by one woman’s desire to share the passions of her life with the country and community she loved.

“My affiliation with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center was simply an extension of our family’s love affair with nature. It is so natural to love what your Mother loves, to want to see your Mother’s dreams continue long after she is gone. I was honored to be a member of the board of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for many years,” she said.

“My husband and I learned that visitorship increased dramatically for botanical gardens when they provided a children’s garden. Like other board members, we supported this expansion for the LBJWC. However, we felt it was important to those without children to feel they, too, were welcomed. So we gave a major gift and named the garden the Luci and Ian Family Garden. The garden’s magical popularity for young and old has been one of our life’s great joys,” she said.

 “It has been a boon to our souls to see folks come from across town and across the country to the Wildflower Center and absorb the comfort and hope Mother always did in the natural world.” 

Tips for Viewing Wildflowers

Spring of 2025 promises to be a good year for Texas wildflowers, usually in bloom from mid-March through the end of April, depending on the weather. Warm winters result in early-blooming plants, like bluebonnets, to burst early. To know when and where to see the wildflowers, be sure to follow the Texas Wildflower Report on social media.

In addition to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, you can also enjoy the beauty of flowers at Fort Worth Botanic Garden, San Antonio Botanical Garden, and Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin. These gardens are open year round.

The Ennis Blue Bonnet Trail, one of the oldest Texas bluebonnet trails, promises excellent beauty along 40 miles of driving trails. Ennis, which is 35 miles south of Dallas, is the Official Bluebonnet City of Texas and home to the annual Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival which features live music and a beer garden. This year’s festival is April 11-13.

Burnet is also hosting its annual Bluebonnet Festival April 11-13. Live music, parades, kid-friendly rides, a wildflower show, carnival, food, races, and more draw 35,000 visitors each year to this small Hill Country town with a population of 6,940.

Not too far from Burnet, Marble Falls is right in the middle of Wildflower Country. In addition to Bluebonnets, you’ll see other wildflowers like the Indian Paintbrush, Yellow Coneflower, and Verbena. Be sure to download a map for some beautiful Wildflower Trails that start in Marble Falls and take you through the Texas Hill Country. 

Hope for Tomorrow

One of Lady Bird Johnson’s favorite sayings was, “Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” Luci Baines Johnson shares how many of Lady Bird’s traits are being passed down and carried on in the family. “We need that hope for tomorrow more than ever. I am so proud and grateful that my granddaughter Tatum Nugent inherited her great-grandmother’s environmental gene. Tatum earned her undergraduate degree in marine biology at the University of Miami and is now earning her master’s degree in Environment and Sustainability Management at Georgetown University. She, like the flowers, is my hope for tomorrow.”

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Cover Photo by Ryan Riggins on Unsplash

Minnie Payne grew up in South Carolina but because of her husband’s government job, lived in many different U.S. cities. Having lived in Texas 38 years, she claims it as home and appreciates the many opportunities and advantages that the Lone Star State provides.