HYACINTHS FOR THE SOUL

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Tales of the Traveling Totes # 7 ~ Day Tripping in the Wildflowers

Welcome to Tales of the Traveling Totes #7

A beautiful gift package from my Traveling Tote Secret Pal

Debbie @ Mountain Breaths and Miss Aurora.

Miss Merri Mac and I want to thank Debbie and Miss Aurora for a beautiful gift package that arrived last month. Debbie @ Mountain Breaths and her husband like to vacation in the Keys. Just look at these delightful gifts! The exquisite cheese board was hand crafted by Clinton Pottery in Clinton, New York.

Look for an upcoming post on a Key West dinner.

Laurie King ~ Katie Clooney ~ Katharine

The past few months Miss Merri Mac

and I had the occasion to meet up with some

very special ladies from Blogland.

If you don't know these bloggers, you should!

Laurie King, author of the Mary Russell series,

further entertains @ Mary Russell Holmes.

Katie Clooney @ Preppy Empty Nester, will keep you in

stitches as she shares her life as an empty nester. A real charmer,

I was thrilled to meet Katie while she was in Austin to visit her dad.

Katharine @ Tartan Terrace, is a fellow Texan, a fan of all things

tartan, and has children here in Austin. It's a win/win for me!

It's the best when blog friends get to meet in person,

and listen to this ~ ~ ~

author and blogger Susan Branch is coming to Austin.

Susan (and Joe) will be in Austin on June 18th @ Bookpeople

signing her latest book, ISLE OF DREAMS.

Fun reads ~ all three!

You can bet Miss Merri Mac and I will be there!

A Texas Spring = Wildflowers

~ Come along for a little Day Tripping in the Wildflowers ~

Texas is known for its fields of iconic

bluebonnets, the state flower of Texas, but from March to June

when Mother Nature gives us a wet spring as she did this year,

one can see carpets of other brilliant colors that stretch

along the roadsides of much of the huge state of Texas.

Miss Merri Mac and I decided to take

you to a very special place;

a place where we could show you the

abundance and diversity of the

beautiful blooms that grow wild across our state.

Welcome to Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Grab your sun hat and come along

as we walk the trails and take in the beauty

that is blooming this time of year.

"My special cause, the one that alerts my interest and quickens the pace of my life, is to preserve the wildflowers and native plants that define the regions of our land - to encourage and promote their use in appropriate areas and thus help pass on to generations in waiting the quiet joys and satisfactions I have known since my childhood." Lady Bird Johnson

Lady Bird Johnson,

former First Lady of our Country,

perhaps planted the most important seed of all:

the importance of preserving and promoting our native land.

Click here to read more about

Mrs. Johnson's environmental legacy.

Lady Bird Johnson and actress Helen Hayes

joined forces in 1982 to found the

National Wildflower Research Center.

In 1995 the Center was moved to

its present 43 acre site and became the

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Since 2006, the Center is now a research and educational

arm of the University of Texas at Austin.

The Wildflower Center is one of my favorite retreats,

a place of native plants, wildflower meadows, and woodlands.

For me it is a place of meditation,

where my spirit thrives and my heart fills with joy.

The Wildflower Center's mission is:

"to conserve, restore, and create healthy landscapes."

While wildflowers paint a beautiful landscape,

they are also important habitats for

birds, butterflies, insects, and native wildlife.

They help preserve our soil, and because

they are native to specific locals, they conserve water.

The Center offers a data base of 8,573

native plants in North America.

One can search both scientific or common names.

Click here to access the Native Plant Database.

I readily admit that I can not name each of the wildflowers,

but fortunately the Center provides detailed

markers with complete information.

I took the beginner quiz for Central Texas Wildflowers

and was proud that I correctly identified all 12 of the photos.

You can test your wildflower knowledge here.

With names like

~ Evening Primrose ~ Winecup ~

~ Texas Yellowstar ~

~ Indian Paintbrush ~ Mexican Hat ~ Indian Blanket ~

~ Sundrops ~ Blackfoot Daisy ~

What's not to love about

learning these common names?

After we walked the trails, we climbed

up to the top of the tower for a magnificent 360 view.

While at the Wildflower Center, one will see

workers tending the gardens, leading tours,

and working in various research areas.

The Wildflower Center could not exist without the generous

support of these volunteers who help out each day.