For years I have been puzzled over why bluebonnets grow in every direction from my house, but not for me or any of my near neighbors. I have experimented with fertilizer and irrigation with no improvement for a few years. They would sprout, then die long before blooming.

Finally I noticed that occasionally one would come up and thrive. Every one of those was on a place that had been tilled deeply or over a buried irrigation line. Finally I began to suspect that my soil was not "well drained", in other words, it contains too much clay and holds water too long.

I dug out an old flower bed to a depth of 1' and refilled with very sandy soil, then planted bluebonnets. The young plants did well till we got back to back rains. Then each plant that was on a high clump of dirt kept thriving, while the ones on low places began to look puny. That surprised me till I realized that my sandy soil was sitting in a clay jug with clay bottom and clay sides. Now I know more about "well drained soil" and more about bluebonnets.