Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

4801 La Crosse Ave, Austin, TX 78739, USA

I have been reading about a national conference held in the 1960’s about natural beauty held at the White House and co-chaired by Lady Bird Johnson. Her vision led to many programs and projects throughout the United States as well as the creation of the Lady Bird Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. The Center celebrates the use of native plants in a sensitively designed, sustainable setting with architecture reminiscent of Spanish missions, Texas Hill Towns and ranches. It has a series of gardens, educational facilities,a cafe, library, trails and an arboretum. A children’s garden will open in 2014. An active research facility, the Center’s gardens and landscape are a learning laboratory accompanied by signage and extensive audio tours. Water and shade are used throughout to provide respite from the warm and sunny (except when I was there) climate.

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Where Beauty and Purpose Meet

I have been reading about a national conference held in the 1960’s about natural beauty held at the White House and co-chaired by Lady Bird Johnson. Her vision led to many programs and projects throughout the United States as well as the creation of the Lady Bird Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. The Center celebrates the use of native plants in a sensitively designed, sustainable setting with architecture reminiscent of Spanish missions, Texas Hill Towns and ranches. It has a series of gardens, educational facilities,a cafe, library, trails and an arboretum. A children’s garden will open in 2014. An active research facility, the Center’s gardens and landscape are a learning laboratory accompanied by signage and extensive audio tours. Water and shade are used throughout to provide respite from the warm and sunny (except when I was there) climate.

Lady Bird’s Legacy

A living legacy of the former First Lady, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin serves to preserve and protect the natural landscapes of Texas, as well as flora indigenous to North America. The Wildflower Center is a gorgeous facility open to the public for daily visits (as well as special events like weddings), and is also one of the premier research institutions in the nation. The gardens are a celebration of the native flowers of the Texas Hill Country, as well as South and West Texas. Other native species, like insects, birds and reptiles, can also be spotted on site, making the Wildflower Center a special place for children and adults, alike.

Lady Bird, Lady Bird

Claudia Alta Taylor was born in Karnack, Texas in 1912 and was so pretty her family nicknamed her “Lady Bird.” Lady Bird ultimately married and was First Lady to the 36th U.S. President, Lyndon B. Johnson. After a much publicized highway beautification program that she spearheaded, her name became connected with environmental protection. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin on the outskirts of town is a living shrine to the former First Lady’s commitment to save Texas’s indigenous wildflowers and plants. The center makes for a great afternoon outing and has numerous trails and plantings that keep the original flora of the state flourishing. You can pair a visit to the garden with a trip to the LBJ Ranch in Johnson City where you can see how LBJ and Ladybird lived at the “Texas White House.”

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