Austin - Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Garden

Another wow! This facility is just plain wonderful. You get a glimpse of what is coming when you see an abstract sculpture out in the parking lot. This is the beginning of a smorgasbord of shapes, sizes, viewpoints, colors, and desert plants, bushes, and trees.

One of the first things that greets you as you enter is a cistern and aqueduct. These are keys to yet another Austin area display that uses water effectively. The site collect more than 10,000 gallons of rain per inch of rainfall into its cistern. That water is used and displayed effectively throughout the site.

As you continue into the site you find a lily pond. Only later do you realize how prolific it is. As we came in we noted dragonflies, minnows, and this turtle. The turtle was growing moss or weed all over its back. Good camouflage!

Just after the pond you are greeted by this pristine spring-like pool. It is so clear it looks like a little gem in the middle of the courtyard.

Then begins the work of this amazing site. Everything is very clearly labeled. I am not really into classifying flowers, etc., but I can appreciate thorough and meticulous work.





















As with other sites we visited, there seem to be a lot of themes being expressed. One of them is size. The site contains everything from trees down to these 1/8 inch flowers.


















Another theme is scarcity. Some plants are plushy, with lots of blooms. Some are quite sparse.

Yet another is color. Whites, yellows, red, purple, green, gold, almost anything you can imagine is here.

Then there is the difference between the woody plants and these succulents.

Then, among both buildings and plants is the idea of shape. In the buildings, this is mixed with viewpoints, which are present all through the site. The designer used viewpoint very effectively to isolate parts of the garden and teach lessons on types of plants and habitats.

The shapes are sometimes conventional, but often abstract and very pleasing.

Sometimes the shapes are sculptural.

Your eye is drawn upward and downward, side to side, from sight to sight. The site seems to generate a lot of energy, even on a 100+ day.

Shade and light are also contrasted here. This grape arbor, matched with one on the other side of a formal garden, give respite to overheated visitors.

Another contrast is between damp and dry. Most of the site is appropriately dry, but the Austin area also has water in lakes and streams. So the site reproduces some flowing stream and damp areas, using its cistern as a resource. Note the frog right in the flow of this outlet, just above the foliage.

Along with the damp, of course, come a variety of animals. As we left the site we got stuck at the lily pond, noticing more and more going on. In addition to the turtle we noticed on the way in, there were plenty of other turtles and many frogs.

There were several baby snakes. They looked like red racers, but who knows. They would come up on the lily pads, then slip into the water and disappear.

Then we noticed their mom cooling off in the shade.

There were lots of insects all over. On the pond there were dragonflies and muddaubers. On the flowers there was a mixture of butterflies, beetles, and bees like this guy.

This is a very spectacular place!

Tonight: we will go to Lambert's for barbecue - it must be good, we had to get a reservation!