Former name | National Wildflower Research Center (1982-1995) |
---|---|
Established | 1982 |
Location | 4801 La Crosse Avenue Austin, Texas 78739 |
Type | Botanical garden |
Collection size | 970+ plant species [1] |
Visitors | 185,783 [1] |
Founder | Lady Bird Johnson & Helen Hayes |
CEO | Patrick Newman |
Owner | University of Texas at Austin |
Public transit access | Violet Crown Trail |
Nearest parking | Parking lot on-site |
Website | www |
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin is the state botanical garden and arboretum of Texas. The center features more than 900 species of native Texas plants in both garden and natural settings and is home to a breadth of educational programs and events. The center is 284 acres and located 10 miles southwest of downtown Austin, Texas just inside the edge of the distinctive Texas Hill Country. [2] It straddles both Edwards Plateau and Texas Blackland Prairies ecosystems.
The center is dedicated to "inspiring the conservation of native plants" and promoting the environmental benefits of native plant landscapes. It is home to the most comprehensive native plant database in the U.S., which features profiles of more than 9,000 North American native plants along with a number of other resources (see Native Plants of North America). The Wildflower Center has 9 acres of cultivated gardens, including the Luci and Ian Family Garden and the Ann and O.J. Weber Pollinator Habitat Garden. Its 16-acre Mollie Steves Zachry Texas Arboretum features collections of tree and shrub species from across the state of Texas. Miles of walking trails, educational exhibits, a gift store, cafe and biannual sales of native plants round out the offerings. In 2013, the syndicated television series, Texas Country Reporter , hosted by Bob Phillips, declared the center the No. 1 site from which to view wildflowers within Texas. [3]
Former first lady Lady Bird Johnson [2] and actress Helen Hayes founded the National Wildflower Research Center in 1982 to protect and preserve North America's native plants and natural landscapes.
The original center was located on a 60-acre site in East Austin. [4] Public demand to view native gardens and learn more about native plants soon overwhelmed the original site, and led the Board of Directors to build a larger campus to accommodate public interest.
The current campus opened in 1995 on a 42-acre site in Southwest Austin on La Crosse Avenue. Five acres of native plant gardens and landscapes, designed by J. Robert Anderson, FASLA (principal), Eleanor McKinney (EMLA) and Darrel Morrison (FASLA), were installed throughout a complex of award-winning buildings designed by Overland Partners to reflect the land and regional architecture of the Texas Hill Country.
The center was officially renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in 1997. [5]
By 2002, in response to rapidly encroaching land development, the center acquired an additional 237 acres of adjacent land through purchase and donation. This expansion of the campus made possible the development of larger scale research on the ecology of the Central Texas region and how best to restore healthy landscapes in the region. It also established education and public outreach as core functions of the center.
The inscription on the Presidential Medal of Freedom award presented to Lady Bird Johnson in 1977 by President Gerald Ford [6] concludes with the words "Her leadership transformed the American landscape and preserved its natural beauty as a national treasure." [7]
The Wildflower Center joined The University of Texas at Austin in 2006 (see below).
With its focus on native plants, research and education, the Wildflower Center has gained national recognition as a leader in plant conservation and environmental sustainability. [8] In partnership with the U.S. Botanic Garden and American Society of Landscape Architects, the center led the Sustainable Sites Initiative, a program that established performance benchmarks for sustainable land design and is now offered through GBCI.
The current mission of the center is "inspiring the conservation of native plants."
On June 20, 2006, the University of Texas System Board of Regents announced a plan to incorporate the Wildflower Center into The University of Texas at Austin. [9] In 2010, a donation of $1.4 million from the San Antonio Area Foundation was designated toward the establishment of a 16-acre arboretum. The Mollie Steves Zachry Texas Arboretum, which was dedicated on April 30, 2011 and opened in the spring of 2012, displays all 53 species of oak trees that are native to Texas. [10] [11] In April 2012, Luci Baines Johnson, daughter of Lady Bird Johnson, and her husband Ian Turpin donated $1 million toward a family garden to be named in their honor. The 4.5-acre native plant garden features a wading creek, a maze of 3-foot-tall native hedges, and a walk-in grotto. [12] It was opened in May 2014. [13]
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson was first lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969 as the wife of then president Lyndon B. Johnson. She had previously served as second lady from 1961 to 1963 when her husband was vice president.
Luci Baines Johnson is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the younger daughter of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson.
Lilium canadense, commonly called the Canada lily, wild yellow-lily, or meadow lily, is a native of eastern North America. Its native range extends from Ontario to Nova Scotia south to Georgia and Alabama. It is most common in New England, the Appalachian Mountains, and the Canadian Maritimes. It is also cultivated as an ornamental in Europe and other places.
Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden.
Calochortus luteus, the yellow mariposa lily, is a mariposa lily endemic to California.
The perennial vine Lonicera hispidula is a species of honeysuckle known as pink honeysuckle and, less often, California honeysuckle. It is a low-elevation woodlands shrub or vine domestically grown, specifically found on the West Coast of North America.
Beargrass Creek State Nature Preserve is a 41-acre (17 ha) nature preserve located in Louisville, Kentucky's Poplar Level neighborhood, in roughly the central portion of the city. It is named for Beargrass Creek, the south fork of which passes along the northern side of the preserve. The preserve is adjacent to Louisville's Joe Creason Park and the Louisville Nature Center. It is owned by the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves and the LNC assists with management.
Clarkia unguiculata is a species of wildflower known by the common name elegant clarkia or mountain garland. The plant was named after Captain William Clark who was part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Croton alabamensis, known as Alabama croton, is a rare species of flowering plant in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, that is endemic to Texas and Alabama in the Southeastern United States. It has two varieties whose ranges are separated by more than 1000 km: Croton alabamensis var. alabamensis is found in two central Alabama counties, while Croton alabamensis var. texensis is found in three counties in Texas.
Ribes aureum, known by the common names golden currant, clove currant, pruterberry and buffalo currant, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Ribes native to North America.
Conoclinium, the mistflowers, is a genus of four species of herbaceous perennial flowering plants, native to North America. They are 0.5 to 2 metres tall, and have blue to purple or violet flowers.
Alisma triviale, the northern water plantain, is a perennial semi-aquatic or aquatic plant in the water-plantain family (Alismataceae).
Allium stellatum, commonly known as the autumn onion, prairie onion, cliff onion, or glade onion, is a North American species of wild onion in the Amaryllidaceae family that is native to central Canada and the central United States.
Ceanothus americanus is a species of Ceanothus shrub native to North America. Common names include New Jersey tea, Jersey tea ceanothus, variations of red root, mountain sweet, and wild snowball. New Jersey tea was a name coined during the American Revolution, because its leaves were used as a substitute for imported tea.
Quercus oblongifolia, commonly known as the Mexican blue oak, Arizona blue oak, Blue live oak or Sonoran blue oak, is an evergreen small tree or large shrub in the white oak group.
Ranunculus abortivus is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Its common names include littleleaf buttercup, small-flower crowfoot, small-flowered buttercup, and kidneyleaf buttercup. It is widespread across much of North America, found in all ten Canadian provinces as well as Yukon and the Northwest Territories, and most of the United States, except Hawaii, Oregon, California, and parts of the Southwest.
Sisyrinchium micranthum, commonly known as annual blue-eyed grass,blue pigroot, fairy stars, and striped rush-leaf, is a wildflower. It is a grass-like species in the iris family, Iridaceae. It is native to Mexico, Central America, and South America and widely naturalized elsewhere. The flowers are between 10 and 20 mm in diameter. Often the flowers are white with blue to purple centers, but may bloom in other colors such as yellow, pink, or violet. These are followed by rounded 3 to 8 mm brown capsules that enclose the dark brown seeds.
Eutrochium dubium, also called coastal plain joe pye weed, is a North American flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the eastern United States and Canada, primarily the Atlantic coastal plain from Georgia to Nova Scotia.
Rubus trivialis, commonly known as southern dewberry, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family (Rosaceae) native to the southern United States and northern Mexico. It is distinguished from northern dewberry by its hispid stems. It is a perennial herb and blooms March to April.
Hibiscus coulteri, is well-adapted to dry desert environments. It has hairy-like leaves that help conserve water, and its yellow flowers, which have reddish centers, bloom mainly after rain. These species are very important when it comes to being pollinators during dry periods. Although having a short life, Hibiscus coulteri is great for landscapes with dry areas because it can grow with very little water.