ZBG News

• Current & prior editions of our newsletter, Down the Garden Path
• Spreading Green for More than 50 years!
• Zilker Gateway Median Project

President's Message, December 2009 “A gift is pure when it is given from the heart to the right person at the right time and at the right place, and when we expect nothing in return.” ….Bhagavad Gita 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! Who is that special lady?  It’s none other than Audrey Benitz!  Creating amazing hanging baskets, the festive reindeer topiary, and the Bromeliad Christmas tree in the Greene Room is not part of Audrey’s “job description”.  It’s her way of gifting all of us who visit, volunteer, and work at Zilker Botanical Garden. She gives us these visual gifts from her heart and expects nothing in return. Thank you, Audrey, for all you do for Zilker Botanical Garden. You are a gift that keeps on giving. --Donna Friedenreich President, Austin Area Garden Council Zilker Botanical Garden

Zilker Gateway Median Project
This beautification project is a result of a public-private partnership between the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department and the Zilker Gateway Median Project, the Austin Parks Foundation, a coalition of neighborhood groups, garden clubs and local businesses, including The Austin Area Garden Council, Barton Hills Garden Club, Zilker Garden Club, Barton Hills Neighborhood Association and Zilker Neighborhood Association. Thanks to the generous contributions of both time and money from this coalition, the gateway to Zilker Park reflects Austin’s reputation as a “City within a Park”.

Contributors to the Zilker Gateway Median Project:

Spreading Green for More than 50 years! by Donna Friedenreich, President – AAGC

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 (Austin Monthly, Social Datebook, January 2009) 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.

Our first E-Newsletter is filled with great advice for local gardeners…

• Check out Bob Beyer’s article, Lessons Learned from the Summer of 2009 for advice on xeriscape landscapes that use tough native and adapted plants.
• Enjoy the talking Japanese Weeping Red Maple, narrating its 10-year survival to thrive in Don Telge’s yard.  This is a funny bedtime read for your kids!
• Take a visual tour of What’s Blooming @ Zilker Botanical Garden…to see how colorful perennials not only survived but thrived during the long, hot summer.
• Learn about seminars, shows, and sales hosted by AAGC-affiliated garden clubs.
• Want to learn more about sustainable gardens?  Mark your calendars for the annual Inside Austin Gardens Tour, sponsored by the Travis County Master Gardeners Association…it’s a great way to spend a Saturday this fall!
• Discover why Zilker Botanical Garden is a fabulous outdoor classroom…our organic gardens donated 160 lbs. of produce to the Austin Food Bank, thanks to the Docents of Zilker and PARD staff.
• Be sure to “bookmark” this newsletter for later reading and links to…
  • KLRU’s Central Texas Gardener website
  • the City of Austin’s Grow Green guide to native & adapted landscape plants
  • reviews from visitors to Zilker Botanical Garden on Yelp.com – 4½ stars out of 5 makes our garden sing!

In closing, I want to share how I spent my summer “fostering” my sister’s dog, Dakota. I have nicknamed him the “100 lb. Love Bucket”!  For those of you who are dog lovers, I don’t need to go on and on about what dogs bring to our lives…that would take a long street to share that story. A picture of Dakota in my backyard garden – on a 100+ degree day – says it all. Take time to sit in your garden…it’s a great way to spend a cool, fall afternoon!