Zilker’s Botanical Gardens: Austin’s Eden

It would be ideal if we all had green thumbs, if we could each turn a seed into a brightly blooming bud that would return year after year to add fragrant beauty to our yards and windowsills. But we don’t. Most of us can barely keep a pot of mums alive. Fortunately, the few individuals blessed with a true skill at gardening are willing to share the aesthetic scenes they create. In Austin, those people have done so through Zilker Botanical Gardens, a 31-acre area of variable and beautiful topography.

Zilker Botanical Gardens is actually a complex comprised of many different gardens. At the garden center are the garden offices with the gift shop and restrooms. Educational displays inform visitors of the flowers and plant life they have or will be viewing throughout the remainder of Zilker. These displays are in the Green Room, which was created and donated by Tony Novak. A beautiful stained glass window pictures numerous bromeliads, and a bust of Isamu Taniguchi adds to the aesthetics. From the center, you can see the Violet Crown Fountain, awash in natural beauty, birds and of course flowers. But the most important thing obtained at the garden center is a map that allows you guides you through the rest of the Gardens.

One of those gardens is Austin’s Green Garden. To inspire the residents of Austin, it is filled with landscape that positively rather than negatively impacts the environment. Native and adaptive plants are presented in arrays designed by nine different landscapers, in a way that allows homeowners to learn which plants go well together and what will work in their own yards. This creates both an eye catching and practical garden for any Austenite to see.

The Cactus and Succulent Garden pictures are what many Yankees think of when they imagine the Southwest: a desert, but a desert bathed in glory. Dedicated in 1989, this beautiful arrangement is best viewed between April and May. It is certainly a delight for the eyes and spirit.

For those interested in a more historic arrangement of plant life, the Hartman Prehistoric Garden gives guests a glimpse into the past – the prehistoric past, when dinosaurs rather than humans roamed the earth, and wildlife was free to grow wild. Tracks and bones discovered in 1992 in the area are housed in this 2-acre plot, for an even more realistic look at history.

Perhaps the luckiest part of Zilker Botanical Gardens is the Herb Garden. Shaped like a four-leaf clover, the garden involves raised beds and a number of fragrant, delicious herbs. At the center of the clover is Rosemary, goddess of herbs casting a blessing on all that grows within her reach.

Nearby, the Isamu Taniguchi Japanese Garden, built by Taniguchi himself, give visitors a taste of Japan with a decidedly Austin twang. The ponds in the first part of this section spell out the word Austin, proving that the garden was in fact a gift to the city. The Mother Tree and “Bridge to Walk over the Moon” also fill this space, creating a garden that is both delightfully exotic and simply beautiful.

Other gardens include the Mabel Davis Rose Garden, the Doug Blachly Butterfly Trail and Garden and the Pioneer Village. Each has its own theme and twist, but one thing is always certain – all are uniquely beautiful and not to missed by any visitor or resident of Austin.