San Antonio Botanical Garden reopening, part 1

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Pam/Digging

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May 19, 2020
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After a month and a half self-isolating at home, I was craving a garden visit when I got the news that both the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and San Antonio Botanical Garden were opening back up at limited capacity. I immediately went online and secured tickets for the Wildflower Center (click for my recent visit) and SABG, which is honoring reciprocal memberships with other botanical gardens, so I got in for free. Yippee!

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It’s only a 1-1/2-hour drive from my house in northwest Austin to San Antonio Botanical Garden, an easy drive that requires no stopping at a public restroom along the way — ha! So last week my Italian exchange student (yes, she’s still here for a couple more weeks) and I hit the road and headed south to the Alamo City for a little garden therapy.

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SABG marks its 40th anniversary this month, and the gardens are looking lovely. And summery, with a red-hot color scheme near the entrance slightly tempered by blue salvia.

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Cool-red firecracker fern with blue nolina (I think) and golden thryallis — shazam!

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‘Bells of Fire’ esperanza hulks over Mickey Mouse-eared spineless prickly pear, firecracker fern, and ‘Brakelights’ hesperaloe.

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Across the path the culinary garden beckoned, so we popped in for a look around…

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…and got sidetracked by this pretty, steel-sided lotus pond.

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Ivory lotus flowers and matte-textured leaves — beautiful.

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Heading over to the Family Adventure Garden we stopped to admire this limestone block wall planted with more red-flowering plants, including cigar plant cuphea and firecracker fern.

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I love a circular water feature, and this one is pretty awesome, with circles radiating outward like ripples on a pond. The L-shaped steel sluice fountain drips a steady trickle into the pond, and string lights overhead promise fun evenings for the lucky few who get to visit after dark.

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A wider view of this inviting hangout/event space, with the water feature in the background and a bosque of crape myrtles to shade colorful patio seating.

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Sadly, No Name Creek, an interactive water feature for kids to play in, was turned off for safety’s sake, so I didn’t take any photos of that area. (You can see it in a previous post about SABG’s family garden.) Other parts of the garden were taped off too, like the sand pits and water fountains. But this tunnel was open.

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Prickly pear grows on top, reaching for the sun.

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The muhly maze is quiet in spring without autumn’s spectacular pink flowering of Gulf muhly grasses. But thanks to tidy mounds of dwarf yaupon holly, it’s still serene and green.

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I like the wooden rockers, stump seats, and child-sized red picnic bench.

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Climbing the stairs up to Prickly Pear Peak, we passed this flowerbud-studded prickly pear languidly leaning over a rocky ledge. Check out that wavy, steel-mesh fence too. Nice!

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Desert willow in bloom on the hillside

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Crepey desert willow flower

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At the top, a tornado-like steel arbor seems to whirl under a blue sky.

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Hot-pink-flowered queen’s wreath vine scrambles up the angled poles.

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Queen’s wreath, also known as coral vine for some reason

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Under the arbor the tropical glasshouses are visible in the distance.

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And here we sit in our masks, looking like garden bandits.

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Honeybee enjoying a little queen’s wreath goodness

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These prickly pears are so sculptural. Expert pruning or natural growth pattern? Inquiring minds want to know. Also, they look beautiful amid the firewheel, a native Texas wildflower.

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I’ve always liked this grassy amphitheater/play space, with limestone block seats embedded at angles in the ground.

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American basket flower

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A closeup view

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As one of SABG’s angular glasshouses comes into view, I’ll stop here and will pick up with part 2 of my visit tomorrow. Stay tuned for an explosion of Dr. Seussian Yucca rostrata in bloom.

I welcome your comments; please scroll to the end of this post to leave one. If you’re reading this in a subscription email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment box at the end of each post.

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The post San Antonio Botanical Garden reopening, part 1 appeared first on Digging.

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