Zilker Botanical Garden
Calendar of Events
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Austin Herb Society Monthly Meeting
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
Think Outside The Pot: Alternative Growing Methods With Heart Of Texas Orchid Society
Think Outside The Pot: Alternative Growing Methods With Heart Of Texas Orchid Society
Join us for the Heart of Texas Orchid Society’s May meeting on alternative growing methods for orchids. Clay and plastic pots are tried and true favorites for many orchid growers. They are inexpensive and readily available. In this discussion, we will talk about alternative methods that mimic natural orchid environments: rafts, baskets, wood & mounts, the PET method, and Japanese kokedama. If you have an orchid that is grown in something besides a pot, consider bringing it to the meeting. Seeing other growers’ creativity may inspire us to try something new. Open to the public, free to attend.
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Austin Ikebana Group Monthly Meeting
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.
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Austin Bonsai Society Monthly Meeting
Austin Bonsai Society Monthly Meeting
Bonsai is a living art form, with each plant constantly changing under the hand of the artist. It is a painting never quite finished. Bonsai also change with the seasons, with each plant having its own unique attractiveness during each season. Miniature maples, tiny elms, delicate pines, and junipers reflect both the seasons and the climates where they grow. Under our eyes, and in miniature form, we are privileged to watch the budding and leafing out of spring, followed by the flowers and fruit of summer, and the stark, yet beautiful, effect of bare branches against the winter sky. Bonsai is an exciting adventure that cannot be adequately described to those who have not experienced it personally. Miniature trees and landscapes, carefully nurtured in the seemingly too small containers, return to us much more than they exact in the cost of creating and maintaining these plants, which soon become our “children.” Bonsai is an adventure in which you can participate with us. You can find the Austin Bonsai Society on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
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Birds and Landscaping with Native Plants
Birds and Landscaping with Native Plants
Violet Crown Garden Club’s May monthly meeting features a program on “Birds and Landscaping with Native Plants” with Gil Eckrich. Participants will enjoy an entertaining presentation while learning about the winning combination of native plant landscaping and birds. Social time starts at 9:30 AM in the Zilker Garden auditorium. The program begins at 10 AM with an optional club business meeting after. Gil Eckrich is a Wildlife Biologist specializing in the study of birds at Fort Hood, a US Army Veteran, a gardener, an award-winning photographer, and a volunteer in his community. Open to the public, free to attend.
Resilient Beauty In The Garden
Resilient Beauty In The Garden
As seasonal transitions and climatic extremes continue to challenge Central Texas gardens, it becomes more important than ever for gardeners to explore the question: “How do plants thrive in the wild without our help?” Matt Welch, a horticulturist, farmer, and plant ecologist, spends entirely too much time pondering this very question. Join us for the monthly Garden Club of Austin meeting as he shares his best answers, exploring the hidden ways the incredible plants and plant communities of the Hill Country survive the seasons, and how you can take cues from these tough Texas plants to build wild beauty and resilience in your own garden. Matt Welch has spent the last 35 years enamored, mystified, perplexed and often confounded by the plant kingdom. He has worked in orchards, nurseries, botanical gardens, academia, and now lives and works on the Pedernales River, canoes to work every day, and is learning how to farm vegetables and grow cut flowers. An East Texan by birth and by disposition, Matt left Nacogdoches for Austin in 2005 after working several years at the SFA Mast Arboretum and the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, two gardens affiliated with Stephen F. Austin State University, where he received his BS in Horticulture a hundred years ago. While there, he happened upon the only thing he’ll be remembered by, a pink fruited form of American Beautyberry, known in the trade as Callicarpa americana ‘Welch’s Pink.’ This will take place in the auditorium. Open to the public, free to attend.
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Austin Ikebana Group Monthly Meeting
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.