December 2009 isue—

President's Message
Upcoming Events
Gifts and Treats at Chrysalis Gift Shop
The Downtime Garden
What's Blooming at Zilker Botanical Garden...
Ask the Garden Guru
Plant Tales: What's the Name of the Plant
What We're Thankful For

President's Message

I recently read this wonderful quote in one of the many magazines I subscribe to and instantly thought of a very special person. A little background will help you to understand why.

A couple of weeks ago, Austin was hit by a hard freeze. Overnight, my backyard garden went from riotous, blooming annuals and perennials to a sea of shriveled, mushy plants.

Gone were the Monarch Milkweed, Firebush, Pentas, Hostas, Basil, and Sweet Potato Vine—now, just memories captured in photographs. As I drove into Zilker Botanical Garden the Tuesday after Thanksgiving weekend, what was blooming only a week before was gone…Firebush, Pride of Barbados, Esperanza Yellow Bells.

But PARD staff had been very busy. Beds around the parking lot were filled with pansies, violas, snapdragons, cyclamens. And, this very special person had transformed the flower beds at the entrance to the garden center into a botanical fairyland! Read more »

Upcoming Events at ZBG

Be sure to check our Holiday Hours when making your plans to visit!

Central Texas Gardening 101 Seminar
Saturday, January 30, 2010, 10am-noon
free

Rose Workshop, Austin Rose Society
Saturday, Feb 13, 8:30am-2pm
$30 fee includes lunch & materials

Annual Seminar, Austin Herb Society
Saturday, Feb 20, 9am-noon
free

Annual Organic Seedling Sale, Austin Organic Gardeners
Saturday, Marth 6
8:30am - 2pm

53rd Annual Zilker Garden Festival
Saturday & Sunday, March 27-28
10am-5pm
$5 Adults, $3 Children (3-12), Parking $3

More events & details »

Gifts and Treats at Chrysalis Giftshop

The gift shop at ZBG has wonderful gifts and treats for the holidays. As an added incentive to do your holiday shopping at Chrysalis, there's a coupon waiting for everyone who signs up for our E-News so be sure to tell your friends and forward this email. (There's an easy-to-use link at the top of this page, as well as a link from our home page at www.zilkergarden.org.)

See what Chrysalis has to offer »

The Downtime Garden

Is the winter period the "ho hum" time of year for your garden? Does your garden lack the interest that draws you to it during this time? Well, let's change that image!

Plan for “all season” color, not just “seasonal”. So much emphasis and effort is placed on our spring to fall garden. The winter garden gets overlooked and is usually unattractive. All season plants that are permanent, preplanned, and integrated into the overall garden design can change that.  Seasonal plants are temporary, and meant only for specific periodic plantings. Read more »

Violet Crown Garden Club
is one of the oldest garden clubs in Texas. It was established by Clara Driscoll in 1924, and federated in 1928. Read more about Violet Crown Garden Club on their website—
www.violetcrowngardenclub.org

Sign up for Austin Notes, the City's dynamic e-mail update system and get news about Austin neighborhoods, parks, road closures, and more. Read more>>

Mark Your Calendar!

53rd Annual
Zilker Garden Festival

Saturday, March 27th and
Sunday, March 28th
10 am - 5 pm daily
$5 Adults $3 Children (3-12)
Parking $3

Watch for details at www.zilkergarden.org

KLRU's Central Texas Gardener

This weekly gardening show is a rich source of information for Austin and Central Texas gardeners. Check out their weekly show schedule for topics & air times, the "To Do List" for monthly gardening tasks, and much more...

Read reviews from visitors to Zilker Botanical Garden on Yelp.com – 4 ½ stars out of 5 makes our garden sing!

What's Blooming at Zilker Botanical Garden...

There is always something blooming at Zilker Botanical Garden, regardless of the season. Whereas most flowering perennials bloom from spring to fall, late fall still produces some spectacular color at Zilker Botanical Garden. Noticeable in the Green Garden is the native purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). Read more »

Plant descriptions are included in the City of Austin’s Grow Green informative guide, Native and Adapted Landscape Plants: an earthwise guide for Central Texas (4th Edition, 2009). This publication is available at local nurseries and at the Garden Center at Zilker Botanical Garden. You can also download the guide at www.growgreen.org.

Ask the Garden Guru

This new feature of Down the Garden Path invites you to submit questions relating to ornamental gardening.  Submit questions to info@zilkergarden.org, subject “DTGP Guru”

From John D: Help! Some of my Agaves have rotted at the base and collapsed, only to find a mushy and decayed mess. What is causing this?

Guru:  Sounds like you have been attacked by the Agave Snout Weevil (Scyphophorus acupunctatus).
Read more »

Plant Tales:
What's the Name of the Plant?

A gardener was cleaning his greenhouse one day and found a plant about two inches high growing under one of the benches. It was quite evident that the plant was new to this world but what was the name of this plant? He placed the plant in a container and left it on one of the benches. Time passed.  One day, the gardener was amazed to see this small, insignificant plant had grown into a beautiful plant, with branches extending out around the trunk. The plant continued to grow and thrive.  The gardener decided it was time to find out the plant’s name. Read more »

Austin Parks Foundation: What We're Thankful For

ZBG received 2 grants from the Austin Parks Foundation in 2008 and 2009--one for development of the Escarpment Trail for our dinosaur exhibit and one for the retaining wall for the new fern beds. We'd like to share their holiday letter:

It's the time of year when we like to think about it is we're thankful for. We'd like to share with you some of the things Austin Parks Foundation has to be thankful for this year! Read more »