ENNIS, Texas — A North Texas town is taking its place in the state history books for its breathtaking spring blooms of the quintessential Lone Star flower.

What You Need To Know

  • Ennis, Texas, received a state historic designation for its annual bluebonnet blooms

  • The town hosts the long-standing Ennis Bluebonnet Festival, now in its 73rd year

  • Local businesses see a significant uptick in visitors, with an estimated 90,000 attendees every year

The city of Ennis just received a state historic designation — not for a building or a particular site — but for its yearly bloom of bluebonnets.

The official flower of Texas grows for only a handful of weeks each year and, during that time, can easily be spotted along highways and in fields across the state, with blooms even forming as far as Louisiana. It’s even become a Texas rite of passage to take springtime pictures surrounded by the bright blue wildflowers.

In Ennis though, a town of about 24,000 that’s a 40-minute drive southeast of Dallas, the flowers just grow in really large numbers.

“This is this incredible gift that we have here,” said Ashley Colunga, community engagement director for Ennis. “We have one of the highest densities of bluebonnets.”

Colunga said that decades ago residents realized they had a special situation when it came to the flowers and identified a 41-mile trail through Ennis where bluebonnets bloomed particularly well. From there, the Ennis Garden Club formed and led to the creation of the Ennis Bluebonnet Festival, which enters its 73rd year in 2025.

“We had so many great pioneers,” said Colunga. “Sandy Anderson… she just kind of spearheaded and really took it to the level that it is right now.”

In 1997, the Texas Legislature named Ennis the home of the Official State Bluebonnet Trail and the Official Bluebonnet City of Texas. The community has embraced that identity by adding the bluebonnet to the city’s logo and decorating the town with bluebonnet decor each year in the spring.

Colunga said the spring bloom has become one of the busiest times of the year for local restaurants and businesses who will go as far as opening for extra hours to accommodate the estimated 90,000 visitors who show up to Ennis to see the bluebonnets.

The Ennis Welcome Center includes large maps of the United States and of the world, which are covered in tiny dots representing the international locations tourists have traveled from to see the flowers.

“In fact, I wanted to come down earlier and my sister says, ‘No, no. The bluebonnets won’t be ready yet, you’ve got to come now,’” said Debbie Ludke, who traveled with her husband from Minneapolis to be at this year’s festival.

The historic marker for the Ennis Bluebonnet Trail is now posted outside of the Welcome Center, just down the street from the grounds of the Bluebonnet Festival, which runs from April 11 through April 13. City leaders say the Ennis Bluebonnet Trail will remain open this year through the end of April.