President's Message, September 2009
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 (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!

--Donna Friedenreich
President, Austin Area Garden Council
Zilker Botanical Garden