Austin Herb Society Monthly Meeting
Since 1983, the Austin Herb Society has been educating members and the community about herbs, including propagation, landscaping, history, folklore, and culinary, medicinal, and decorative uses of herbs. While our members are united by an interest in herbs, they are also a diverse group of individuals: from gardeners and herbalists to cooks and business owners. AHS members design and maintain the Zilker Herb Garden-a dazzling landscape of color and fragrance that has become a centerpiece of Zilker Botanical Garden. Here, visitors can touch, taste, and smell they way through nearly 200 varieties of herbs, depending on the season. Bees and butterflies dot the beds of basil, lavender, and calendula. There are classic culinary herbs like rosemary, mint, and thyme alongside herbs revered for their health attributes, including aloe and echinacea. In addition to hands-on learning in the Zilker Herb Garden, members enjoy: Monthly meetings with expert speakers on diverse topics (currently via zoom) Educational workshops and seminars throughout the year Study groups focused on culinary herbs and herbal products Field trips to unique gardens and herb-loving businesses Delicious herbal refreshments at our in-person meetings Fellowship with interesting and informed herb lovers Please join us in exploring the wonderful world of herbs! You can also find us on Facebook
Lakeway Garden Club Winter Garden Tour
For our December event, the Lakeway Garden Club is hosting an informative field trip for all members. We will meet at the Lake Travis Community Library, have a quick meeting and then take a short drive to our garden tour at the Lakeway Church's Garden 9:10. We’d love to display photos of our members’ gardens, so please post your garden pix to our Facebook page and we will share them during our meeting. If you would like to request a future garden topic or have a specific gardening question, please let us know. All are welcome to join for free if they are not already a member.
Texas A&M AgriLife Open House – Tool Care
Join Us in the Texas A&M AgriLife Demo Garden for our monthly Open House! The first Friday morning of every month is designated as a FREE open house for the Texas A&M AgriLife Earth-Kind Demonstration Garden at 1600 Smith Road, Austin. You’ll be able to visit the garden and speak with the Travis County Master Gardener volunteers who maintain it as well as get your gardening questions answered by the Plant Clinic staff. Each month will also feature some sort of demonstration or workshop that deep dive into subject areas. See monthly topics below. Monthly Topics January 5th - Tree Trimming February 2nd - Houseplant University March 1st - Rose Pruning April 5th - Spring Vegetable Gardening May 3rd - Mulch 101 June 7th - IPM Insect Management July 5th - Shade Cloth August 2nd - Solarization August 16th - Light Requirements September 6th - Soil Texture and Composting September 20th - Landscape Design Site Analysis October 4th –Entomology and Plant Pathology Scavenger Hunt November 1st – Vegetable Garden layout and rotation December 6th – Tool Care
Austin Ikebana Group Monthly Meeting
The Austin Ikebana Group was founded by Isamu Taniguchi (circa 1902-1992), who started building the Taniguchi Japanese Garden when he was 70 years old. Ikebana is more than simply arranging flowers-its Japanese characters mean “giving life to flowers.” This art form has spiritual and philosophical roots, where the relationship between every flower, stem, branch, leaf, and even container expresses a balanced and harmonious nature. The feelings of the arranger play a key role as well. Members rotate leading demonstrations and workshops. Because members have trained in various schools of Ikebana, including Ohara, Sogetsu, Ikenobo, and Ichiyo, they bring a rich atmosphere of learning and growth to the meetings. This becomes a contemplative practice of expressing gentleness and elegance through the art of flower arrangement. Meetings are monthly on the first Friday at 10am.
Seed Collection Gathering
Join us for Seed Collection Gatherings on the second Monday of each month from 3–4:30 pm in the northwest corner of the Austin Public Library Main Branch on the 6th floor. What is the Seed Collection? The Seed Collection is a joint project of the Austin Public Library and the Central Texas Seed Savers, a grassroots group of seed savers, gardeners, horticulturists and social activists that coalesced around the idea of establishing a repository and exchange system for seeds of land race, heirloom, locally adapted and native varieties of fruits and vegetable and other useful plants in Central Texas region. The Seed Collection is housed in the classic card catalog cabinet on the Austin Central Library's 6th floor. Everyone is welcome to "check out" and "return" seeds from the collection. If you have more questions about this project or would like to join our green gang, please Ask a Librarian. The Seed Collection has taken root! The Central Texas Seed Savers and the Austin Public Library are committed to supporting the local environment and community by sharing seeds and related knowledge through our programming and circulating collection. We believe that seeds are nutritional and historical suitcases which contain the potential for both physical and cultural sustenance. Seed collections like ours are intended to promote sustainability, self-sufficiency, food security and interpersonal exchange. How does it work? Browse the drawers, check out up to four seed packets per visit and record them on our checkout clipboard on top of the catalog cabinet. When you have extra seeds, keep the spirit alive with a donation. Fill out a form from drawer 19, and place it with the donation in drawer 20. If needed, you can find seed envelopes in drawer 21. The Seed Collection relies upon your contributions to keep it growing.
Free Day at Zilker Botanical Garden
On select dates throughout the year, Zilker Botanical Garden offers free days where no admission is charged. Free Days for 2024: January 15, February 19, March 12, April 28, July 14, September 7, November 11, December 26 No advance registration is necessary. Final entry to the Garden is 4:30pm. Parking is always free and available via our main parking lot, which can be accessed through the front entrance of the garden. If overflow parking is needed, our overflow lot at 2300 Stratford Drive will be open. If you park in the overflow lot, you can enter directly across the street through the Hartman Gate at the back entrance. This is a highly ornamental gate and is easily recognizable.