October 2009 issue—

Spreading Green for More than 50 Years!
Heart O' Texas Orchid Seminar and Sale
“Inside Austin Gardens” Fall Tour
Lessons Learned from the Summer of 2009
What's Blooming at Zilker Botanical Garden...
Touring Zilker Botanical Garden…it’s a Good Thing!
Japanese Weeping Red Maple

Spreading Green for more than 50 years!

Do you remember the days when teachers asked you to write a little story about “How I Spent My Summer Vacation”?  Well, fast forward to the summer of 2009 and your story – if you are a gardener – would probably begin with “I spent most of my summer trying to keep my garden alive!” 

Last spring, a local magazine gave us a new tagline for our annual garden festival: Spreading Green.* Who could have predicted that Central and South Texas would face one of the worst droughts in its history?  As you read the premiere issue of our Down the Garden Path E-Newsletter, Stage 2 watering restrictions are still in effect for Austin.  So, it’s a perfect time for AAGC to spread more green by going paperless.. Read more »

Heart O' Texas Orchid Seminar and Sale
Saturday, Oct 24th 10am - 2pm

9th Annual New Growers Seminar, Exhibit, & Plant Sale. Lectures will include the 7 variables: Light, Temperature, Humidity, Air Movement, Water, Growing Medium & Fertilizing (called feeding). There will also be a lecture on Pests and Diseases. Free handouts—with tips for beginners on growing different orchids in the home, greenhouse or outdoors—will be available.

“Inside Austin Gardens” Fall Tour 2009
Saturday, October 24th 9am-4pm

On Saturday, October 24th visit “Inside Austin Gardens 2009” sponsored by the Travis County Master Gardeners Association and the Travis County AgriLife Extension Service. This year’s theme is attracting wildlife to small urban gardens. The six private gardens on tour are National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitats designed and landscaped by the gardeners/homeowners themselves. All of them are Travis County Master Gardeners. Read more »

Lessons Learned from the Summer of 2009

It’s tough gardening in Central Texas, between severe drought, extreme heat, low humidity, shallow soils with alkaline limestone substructure not conducive to moisture retention, weed seed proliferation, and did I mention hail and severe storms, etc, etc. I’m sure that newcomers to Austin trade one set of gardening problems for another but Central Texas requires plants that can endure all of the above. 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...

After the hottest summer on record for Austin and Central Texas – coupled with the dreaded Stage 2 watering restrictions – you might assume that Zilker Botanical Garden was looking a little shabby. Not the case at all!  If you ventured into the garden this summer, as soon as you pulled into the parking lot a kaleidoscope of color and texture bombarded your eyes.  Beds around the parking lot and garden center were given extra attention by PARD staff and all of this tender, loving care paid off. 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.

Touring Zilker Botanical Garden…
it’s a Good Thing!

As summer fades into fall in Central Texas two things come to mind—back to school time and fall gardening time.  This is a wonderful time to visit Zilker Botanical Garden. The cooler weather and much-needed rain have made Zilker “bloom”.  The organic gardens (near Pioneer Village and the Rose Garden) are still producing corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and more.  In the spring, 160 lbs. of produce was donated to the Austin Food Bank from these gardens with the help of Nature’s Way Preschool. Soon the garden will be planted with broccoli, kale, lettuce and other fall vegetables. Read more »

show & tell:
the Japanese Weeping Red Maple

Hello there, it’s me talking, that beautiful Japanese Weeping Red Maple. You will have to excuse my temporary home in this plastic pot. I have been living with several hundred Japanese Maples of various varieties in a multi-acre nursery in Kansas City, Missouri. It is April 1999-- still some cold weather days here--when all of a sudden, I was being moved! Hey, where are you taking me? I have been happy here for the last few years. Just leave me alone. Read more »