Lady Bird Johnson Reprise

December 7, 2019

I seldom come to the Austin area without visiting the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. When I lived in the area, I both visited often and volunteered there, taking care of the plants we grew to sell at the huge, semi annual native plant sales, and donating my extra babies to them.

This year was no exception, and I enjoyed an early visit on one of the two days members can arrive at 7:30 A.M. Getting to visit early two days a week is is but icing on the membership cake.  This provides the best time to take pictures while encountering very few people. I enjoy getting to support this place that is so important to the survival of native plants,  while being able to use my membership cards to get in free at Botanical Gardens across the country.

At this time of year, the plants are mostly sleeping, but I found a few flowers hanging on. Even so, I enjoyed the long hikes I took, the sound of the two huge wind chimes, and finding a whole new set of play stations for kids in the Arboretum.

The entrance with the Christmas floods still on

These common but enchanting seed pods were everywhere  

One of the late bloomers

Inland sea oats is one of my favorite grasses both because it grows in part shade and because it has herringbone seed heads. 

The water tower is beautiful from all directions - and all the luminaries reminded me of the year I almost melted away while dancing with kids in my Frosty costume at the Christmas festival

I caught this Turk's cap backlit by the early sun

This is the main part of the family area addition done a few years ago

One of the few mistflowers, so loved by monarchs and gulf coast fritillaries 

I think this was a species of penstemon - only found one plant in bloom

Beauty berry had lost it leaves but had lots of berries for the birds

Most of the leaves were off the trees but this was a remarkable leaf all by itself

I found several clusters of these flowers

Asters were still blooming in large numbers

I enjoyed the ball moss and thought of the northern parula that nests in it

Lots of these interesting seed pods

Another set of lovely, empty seed pods 

Spiders must be still finding some insects to catch

A lovely tree still holding on to its gold and red leaves

I found a milkweed pod laying on the ground with its seeds departing on the light wind

I had to check new growth of the scions of Texas historic trees, found in the arboretum - there is a large circle of them started from acorns from their famous parents. 

This oak supervised an art installation and a picnic table

There are several new-to-me installations - this is one.  When I peeked into the little "cone" on the far left,
I found a child hiding inside

I think of endurance when I visit this tree. You are seeing the root end of the trunk, mostly out of the ground. But the tree continues to grow and this time was part of the installations for kids

Another installation - part of Fort Landia - all places for kids to enjoy - the signs are for the historical tree children

Yet another new installation for kids to enjoy

Just as the light got too bright for pictures, and I started to leave, I found more activity in the parking lot plantings.

Butterfly on lantana

I think this is a syrphid fly

Gulf Coast Fritillary on Rock Rose 

I have a few other blogs of visits at different times of years. For a spring visit, click here. For a slightly earlier fall visit, click here.


On a personal note, I am writing this while visiting friends in Louisiana. By the time this comes out, I will have been to Alabama to give my deposition for the trial on my car wreck and met up with another friend and gotten back to Texas to begin a several day of birding and camping, sometimes with only my guest friend, and sometimes with added friends.

I visited at the quietest time of the year.  But the garden only sleeps for a few months before it will begin an awakening and then have lots of flowers and butterflies until next November.


Hope your holidays are happy.  As this blog publishes, I'm having a wonderful holiday trip with a friend to photograph birds down the Texas coast, through the Rio Grande Valley, and back up into the Hill Country.

Between Bluebonnets and Butterflies at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

I'm migrating west before starting my route north.  This lets me visit lots of friends and relatives, and to camp out.  Then I'll finally drive straight up and stop at one or more motels just before I reach my summer home.

Today I moved from Galveston, Texas to Dripping Springs, Texas, stopping at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center where I found spring in rushing toward summer.

As always, there is an air of excitement there, made more apparent today by both tours of senior citizens and and visits of school children, from toddlers to middle school.

There were a few bluebonnets still in bloom, but most of them had already set seed, which was rapidly maturing. Many other spring flowers were in bloom and summer blooms were starting to paint the landscape.

A senior tour. The man in the yellow shirt was the leader and seemed very knowledgeable 

Another volunteer talks to a school group at the beginning of their tour. 

The pond just before the entrance to the courtyard

This little water snake seemed to be stalking....

.....this frog

Athena the owl has had a nest with her mate at the entrance to the courtyard for the past seven years.
 I could only see one owlet today

What geometry

Bees and syrphid flies were busy

Lots of DYCs were blooming

View of the water tower

Bee collecting cactus pollen

This courtyard holds many themed beds showing habitats across Texas 

Caterpillars at the butterfly house

I was excited to see Clematis pitcheri just starting to bloom

Late blooming bluebonnets

Prickly pear cacti were getting glorious

Portrait of a prickly pear cactus bud

Prickly pear in bloom

I'm going to spend a long weekend with my daughter and go camping with her. Stay tuned.

I hope you are getting to enjoy spring where you live.

Fall at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

November 29, 2016

A traditional fall, with lots of colored leaves, is very hard to come by, but the Lady Bird Johnson National Wildflower Center is a treat to visit as a hot Texas summer cools down.

There is a lot to see and do in any season. The buildings are in the traditional hill country style and are very pleasing to view.  There is a water collection system that collects water off the roofs and sometimes becomes part of the architecture.

Normally I walk in and shoot ahead on this entrance area.  This is from behind a pond on
 one's left when coming in - pond is in foreground

The small pond offers many lovely views

A beautiful multi use tower - has a seating area at the top  and stores water, I think

Entrance to the tower

A view from the top over the planting beds which are at chest level along the top

Looking down from the tower at a water tank and landscaping by the administration building

The area where plants are raised for the semi annual plant sales - I spent a lot of hours working here before I became a vagabond

Stock tanks are used with great effect just behind the greenhouses- there are several "habitats" of them as well as beds of representing the different ecosystems of the state. 

 Flowers were almost non existant on this late fall day - but oh the butterflies. They were competing for the few flowers left so they were very concentrated. And the day was still cool enough that they were sitting a long time, allowing even me to capture them with my camera.

Queen

Painted Lady

The Wildflower Center is dedicated to using native plants whenever possible and has done a lot of research on grases and sedges that make fine yards that don't require fertilizers and pesticides, and which support native fauna. One of their beds was a demonstration of one of their yard grasses.

Habiturf 

One building on the grounds is dedicated to art shows and is changed out frequently with work that may be purchased.

Part of the current exhibit

A quite, cool place to sit and and enjoy the outside butterfly gardens

Part of a wooded garden

Buckeye

Dogface sulfur on echinacea

I love these benches in spring/summer when they are backed with blooming vines

The center had three demonstration gardens showing how native plants can be used for landscaping, in casual to formal gardens. Can you believe those are CEDAR TREES?

The demonstration of how to have a formal garden using native plants - the statue is part of the temporary art

One of the many volunteers that were cleaning out the beds for winter

A neat little secluded patio

Another volunteer working in the butterfly garden at the end of a long arbor

Several groups of children were there on field trips and were getting mini lessons

This area is part of the children's gardens and also has picnic tables

Loved how they channel water 

And did I mention there were lots of butterflies?  I got sidetracked by the several times.

Variegated fritillary 

Zabulon skipper

Think this is one of the painted ladies

Anybody know this one?

Or this one?

Dogface sulfur on turk's cap

Butterfly blowout - how many species can you find?

I enjoyed seeing Chile Piquin used in a raised bed- bluejays and I love to eat the them. 

An ancient tree near the entrance

 One of the last lantana blooms

There were sayings on several rocks within the family garden.  This one once again reminded me that we too, are part of nature and divorce ourselves from it at a great cost to ourselves.




Any time you get near Austin, Texas, be sure and visit this wonderful, ever changing place.  I didn't have time to tell you more but one of the new interesting sections is an arboretum where seeds from historically famous Texas trees have been planted.  Signage tells about their famous parents.

On the personal front, I've just arrived in Louisiana and will start another round of doctor visits and physical therapy on my shoulder soon.  Hulin and I will be traveling to California for Christmas with some of his family.