Roots & Wings Celebration - Zilker Botanical Garden

The Garden is excited to host an official Roots & Wings Festival Event!

Zilker Botanical Garden will host a variety of family-friendly activities on October 26th as part of the city of Austin’s 7th Annual Roots & Wings Festival. Visit the Garden to celebrate trees, pollinators, and our community where you can learn how to maintain trees, tag butterflies for scientific research, build homes for local pollinators, and much more. There will be crafts, activities, and workshops from 10:00 am-2:00 pm.

The Roots & Wings Festival is held at various locations around the city from Saturday, October 19th -Sunday, November 3rd, and is a community-wide celebration honoring Arbor Day and Monarch Appreciation Day in Austin.

We Need Volunteers!

Volunteer Opportunities

Roots & Wings Festival Celebration | October 26, 10:00 am-2:00 pm

Activity Tables
Locations: Hummingbird Garden, Children’s Garden, and Oak Grove

Nature Scavenger Hunt – Go on an adventure through the Garden looking for birds, bees, butterflies, and more! Grab your scavenger hunt at the welcome table.

A Moon Tree– Meet a tree that has been to the moon! What did it do there? You can learn soon.

Seed Ball Making– A ball of clay that is full of seeds and be thrown in your yard! Create seed balls using Central Texas native wildflowers and grasses to cultivate a wildlife friendly yard.

Pollinator Bookmarks – Lean into your artistic side creating bookmarks and learn about pollinators along the way from the Violet Crown Garden Club.

Cyanotyping Workshop– Learn how early scientists documented plant shapes. Join local artist Allison Lash in learning the art and science of cyanotype. One sheet per person.

Insect Hotels – Make a home for our native bees, you’ll give them a home and they’ll be very pleased. Build a small home for our local insects that will provide them habitat in the winter.

Monarch Tagging – Tagging Monarchs to track their migration. What an event, what a celebration! Learn how to tag monarchs and support community science.

How to Spot Pollinators: Tales and Trails – Talk & Walk in the Herb Garden to learn how to spot pollinators with Austin Herb Society, 11am-12pm.

Tree Sapling Give-Away – Take home a sapling and let it grow tall, be sure to plant it now during the fall.

Bird Beak Buffet – Bird beaks vary in size and shape, which determines what it will eat in the landscape. Learn how bird beaks affect bird diet with the Austin Nature and Science Center.

Building a Healthy Garden – Learn about healthy gardening practices like companion planting, cover crops, and composting from the Austin Organic Gardeners.

Hummingbird Plants – Hummingbirds love the nectar from flowers. Come by the Tejas Garden Star’s table and learn for hours!

Storytime “Annabelle the Bee and the Butterfly Tree” by Debra Raso O’Connor
11:00 am | Oak Grove

When one day she saves Benjamin from being caught in a net, the two quickly become best friends! But when Annabelle hears that her mother, the queen, says they need to move to a new hive, she doesn’t know what to do! She doesn’t want to leave her new friend, but she doesn’t want to leave her family.
Will the two friends be able to find the perfect place? Children will learn about bravery, friendship, and that no problem is too big to solve in Annabelle Bee and the Butterfly Tree.

Debra Raso O’Connor is a mother, retired pediatrics nurse, gardener, and amateur artist, and needle worker. She was born in Montreal, Canada, and lived in Quebec and Ontario before her husband’s transfer to Texas, where she lives now. Annabelle Bee and the Butterfly Tree is her first book and the result of her desire to write a story for her grandchildren.

Monarch Releases
12:00 pm & 2:00pm | Pollinator Garden

From 10 am to 2 pm, you are invited to participate in our Monarch tagging efforts. We will be placing tags on butterflies to track their migration and contributing to scientific research on the migratory Monarch, which as of 2022 has been officially listed as an endangered species. At 12 pm and 2 pm, we will be releasing the tagged monarchs so they can continue their journey to Mexico.

Featured Activity: Cyanotyping

Participants can create alternative photo-process images from plants and objects using the cyanotype process! Artist Allison Lash prepares printmaking paper with the cyanotype liquid, participants choose and arrange objects to place on top of the paper and we expose to the UV rays of the sun! Once the paper is exposed to the sun (may only take 5-10 minutes for UV exposure), we will wash out the paper in water to fix our images. Tongs will be provided.

Allison Lash is a multi-media visual artist with a strong background in photography. She has been working in the arts and educating people of all ages for more than 20 years. Allison currently runs Awesome Art! where she designs and facilitates hands-on visual art activities in the Austin community. To learn about upcoming activities and workshops led by Allison, follow @AwesomeArtAustin on Instagram.

Participating Partners

Museums for All

Zilker Botanical Garden invites all families with Electronic Benefits Transfer cards, WIC cards, STAR cards, CHIP cards, Medicaid cards and MAP identification cards to show their card(s) to receive FREE General Admission tickets. Maintaining affordable access for everyone is a top priority for ZBG. Through Museums for All, those receiving food assistance (SNAP benefits) can gain free access to Zilker Botanical Garden. Upon arrival, please present your EBT card and ID when requesting Museums for All tickets..

The Roots & Wings Festival will be held from Saturday, October 19th -Sunday, November 3rd and all festival events are free to attend. Visit the Roots & Wings Festival website to learn more about festival offerings.

Zilker Botanical Garden offers its own special event during the Roots & Wings Festival, which is included with the price of admission and free for members. See admission pricing here.