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Question:
A friend has brought me about 5 pounds of Texas Bluebonnet seeds to plant in our pasture. We live north of Atlanta and have some open pasture, where I'd love to broadcast these seed this year. Assuming germination, weather, soil etc. don't stop me, do cows and horses eat bluebonnets, and if so, would it be harmful to these animals?
Answer:
Cows and horses do not eat bluebonnets — the plants contain alkaloids which cause them to be very distasteful to livestock other than buffalo (they were called Buffalo Clover) and occasionally deer. Because of this, farmers and ranchers often take measures to eradicate bluebonnets from the pastures with a broadleaf contact herbicide. Indeed, to a cattle rancher, the Texas State Flower named bluebonnet is a Texas State Weed. Now, to your question about overseeding your pasture with bluebonnets. Bluebonnets are very poor competitors and will be choked out by most pasture grasses such as fescue. I would suggest you plant them in a bermuda grass pasture rather than with another broadleaf pasture grass. Or you could plant them in an area of the pasture with sparse vegetation and use a grass herbicide such as Poast or Fusilade to keep invading grasses out. You should scratch or lightly chisel the area to insure a good soil-seed contact or otherwise you will just be feeding the birds with this expensive seed. Read and follow the planting directions on the Wildseed page at:
aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu...
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