Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

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The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is just a little south west of Austin. During Cindy's visit we took her there -- it was the first time for all of us. We've driven by many times on our way out of town to the Salt Lick BBQ and nearby Hill Country wines.

The Wildflower Center is a largeish bit of rough hill country land that's been pretty much left in it's wild state. Lots of cactus, scrubby trees and grasslands. You're even warned to watch out for rattle snakes -- I've never seen one in all my trips to Texas and the desert country but then I don't want to. There's very little soil in this part of Texas, you'd wonder how anything could grow here. Especially in the summer time when they get many days over 100F. They warn you about taking the trails during the heat of the summer. They're not long, but you are out in the sun.

We took a walk through one of the trails where they had forts set up for kids to explore. As it was a Sunday there were lots of kid p'liking in these forts.

One of the interesting features on that trail is the "Hall of Texas Heroes". It's not a hall at all, it's a meadow where the Texas Heroes are famous trees from around the state. What they've done is taken cuttings or grown seeds from these famous trees to preserve their story here. Famous trees like the Matrimonial Oak from San Saba.

The visitor's centre is an impressive rough hewn native limestone building with a cafe, exhibits, a gift store, a viewing tower and an impressive entrance. There's a shaded courtyard which would be a nice relief on a hot summer day.

It's winter time so there's not much flowering (Texas Mountain Laurel is in bloom but not much else). We saw lots of evidence that the meadows would be covered in Blue Bonnets (Lupins to us) when the weather warms.

Here's some photos from our visit.