Sunday, July 23, 2017

Lady Bird Day @ The Wildflower Center


July 23, 2017 ~ Lady Bird Day!



Each year, The Wildflower Center 

honors its namesake and founder with a day

of free admission and special activities planned

to celebrate Mrs. Johnson's environmental legacy 

and the legislation that she inspired.

With Lady Bird's influence, 

more than 200 environmental laws were enacted

under President Johnson's administration.  


                          Oenothera Speciosa



Today I'm taking you along to the 

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center 

to see some of my favorite Texas wildflowers.




Oenothera speciosa 

is the scientific name for evening primrose.





This plant is sometimes known as showy primrose because the 

flowers often open in the morning rather than evening.





You might know this little wildflower as a buttercup

 It gets that name from the cup shape petals 

and its butter colored pollen. 

 As a child, this is one of the first wildflowers I knew. 

I inherited my love of flowers from my mother.

I fondly remember how she would delight in

sharing these little pink blooms,

put it to our noses to take in the fragrance,

and leave of us with little "butter noses".

 Sweet memories of childhood!





The delicate flowers are about 3 inches wide with four petals. 

 They can range from a dark pink to a pale pink.




Here in Texas we can plant them from seed in the fall, though they 

are common along the highways and in open woodlands. 

 They generally bloom from the middle of March well into July.



Lady Bird Johnson, a former First Lady of the United States

delighted in this sweet, pink flower. 

In her book, WILDFLOWERS ACROSS AMERICA

 Mrs. Johnson said, ". . . evening primrose —

 to me one of the most exquisite and feminine of all wildflowers." 

 At one time the pink evening primrose was chosen for an early 

logo for her National Wildflower Center at Austin.




This hardy drought tolerant wildflower is one of the few 


evening primroses that blooms during the daytime.




                          Some of these little "buttercups" also

come in a sunny yellow variety.




The square-bud primrose has a more distinctly square shape 

to the petals, and the flowers are a bit smaller 

than the pink evening primrose.




Mixed in among the pink and yellow evening primroses 

in the planting I photographed are these striking winecups 

that are a deep burgundy color.




The cupped petals of the winecup 

are deeper than the primrose

This deep burgundy color is a common 

variety to Central Texas.



There is also a white variety.




The winecups 

are in the Mallow Family.




The National Wildflower Center was established in 1982 

to protect and preserve the native plants 

and natural landscapes of North America. 

 The Center is one of the leading research 

institutions for native plants.




Spectacular displays of color blanket 

both garden plots and open areas at the center.




Lady Bird Johnson was a strong advocate 

for preserving the natural flora of North America.


To read more about the National Wildflower Center click here

Joining


Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop @ Katherine's CornerShare Your Cup Thursday @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. OlsenHome and Garden Thursday @ Delightsome LifeShare Your Style @ Vintage NestVintage Charm @ Blue Willow HouseFoodie Friday and Everything Else @ Rattlebridge FarmFeathered Nest Friday @ French Country CottageHome Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

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36 comments:

  1. I loved my tour this morning!!! thank you so much!!

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  2. Sarah,
    Texas wildflowers have always captured my heart. I am grateful that Lady Bird Johnson put all of America's wildflowers into the limelight during the Johnson White House years.

    Judith

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  3. What a wonderful legacy for our beautiful country. I loved seeing the different primrose varieties. Thanks for the lovely tour, Sarah!

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  4. Beautiful post Sarah. She really did a lot of good during her time in the White House. A very lovely lady.

    Thanks so much for sharing this with us.

    I had a lot of primroses growing in my gardens this year.

    Enjoy your week.

    Hugs,
    Mary

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  5. She was quite lady, and after my own heart with her love of flowers! I never made the connection of primrose and buttercup, thank you for that. I smiled at your memory of your little yellow nose as a child!

    I'd love to see your pretty fields. Thanks for sharing your visit to the center.

    Jane x

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  6. Your flowers are lovely
    Happy Mosaic Monday

    Much love...

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  7. Sarah, I'd love to see your Texas wildflowers some day! Have always admired Lady Bird Johnson and her accomplishments. Thank you for sharing this with us.

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  8. Beautiful! My yellow buttercups are a welcome sight in my landscape garden, and they bloom in one corner of my garden in early June. I call them my birthday bouquet. :)

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  9. How lovely Sarah. Wildflowers are a favorite here too. What a wonderful legacy and LBJ's center is something I would love to visit someday. I love flowers but wildflowers are special. I enjoyed this tour........

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  10. Beautiful post - I remember Lady Bird Johnson and her fight for preserving native flowers. We owe her a lot. I'm in love with the pink buttercup. I'm wondering if it would grow in Florida.

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  11. We have the yellow..I love the PINK!

    Such beautiful floweres Sarah! Enjoy today!

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  12. What a wonderful tour, Sarah! I have a winecups, but don't have any of the evening primrose. Maybe I should plant some this Fall? I hope you have a beautiful week in your garden.

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  13. Beautiful place to have a walk and to learn about flora! Amazing fragile various blossoms!
    A nice day and new week, too!

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  14. Sarah, I always enjoy strolling the gardens in Texas and I'd love to visit Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. My MIL had showy primrose in her garden that reseeded every year. I've never heard or seen the pretty winecups before, but I'm thinking they're the perfect flower for a 'sip & stroll' visit in the garden. ;)

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  15. So pretty. If I was some famous person this is the kind of legacy that would be nice to leave behind for others to enjoy.

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  16. Lady Bird Johnson's Wild Flower Centre is wonderful, I imagine you enjoyed your visit there vey much. What a truly great legacy she has left behind.
    Happy Mosaic Monday.

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  17. Lady Bird did leave a lasting legacy. How lovely to show us this fabulous garden. The primrose and winecups are beautiful. I love the quote ..."My heart found its home long ago in the beauty, mystery, order and disorder of the flowering earth." I will be pinning that.
    My heart stirs with every flower! There is much to scroll back and take in your post today. Texas has amazing wildflowers.

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  18. Sarah, my Texan heart loves this post. Lady Bird was such a great lover of wild flowers and saving our earth. I love this post and would enjoy a visit to this Wild Flower Center! Thank you for sharing it on your blog! Hugs!

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  19. Perfection! Oh, I do love this post -- she was such an inspiration to help keep our country beautiful and protect our flowers. These make me smile.

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  20. How beautiful. This looks like a place I could get lost in for hours. Thanks for the tour!

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  21. Happy Pink Saturday, Sarah. You know, I always think of Lady Bird when we see flowers growing along the highways. She started what became an everlasting legacy.

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  22. Lady Bird definitely helped make Texas more beautiful. I am glad you shared the beautiful gardens.

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  23. Sarah, Lady Bird did so much to preserve beauty along our highways and she did leave a legacy! Thank you so much for the visit to the Wildflower gardens. The pink evening primrose is truly a gorgeous flower, delicate and feminine! Thanks for sharing this lovely post at Gardens Galore!

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  24. Sarah - your pictures are amazing. My daughter did a report on Lady Bird Johnson (which included dressing up as the First Lady), and this brought back to me all that she did for our environment. Thanks for the beautiful reminder!!!

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  25. oh this looks like such a glorious place to visit and wander. Happy days. And thank you for stopping by my blog yesterday.

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  26. What a beautiful place to visit and to learn. I had no idea there were so many varieties of evening primrose. Such delicate flowers make a lovely display.

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  27. Sarah, Thanks for the tour of these gardens. I love the bird sculptures. Have a great day. Sylvia D.

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  28. I have always wanted to see fields and fields of Texas wildflowers.

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  29. Dearest Sarah,
    So happy we have people like Lady Bird Johnson as she left us a lot of beauty.
    Preserving our flora and fauna is something near to my heart.
    What a lovely Oenothera speciosa photos you show us here.
    We used to have plenty of them but we have none left! So said as I loved their pink carpeting of an entire stretch close to our gazebo.
    Sending you hugs,
    Mariette

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  30. So pretty Sarah! I had a lot of these at my previous home for a couple of years and then they failed to come back. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  31. Sarah, I loved this post so much. Beautiful wildflower gardens ... Lady Bird accomplished so much. I am so grateful for her legacy . Especially when we travel, when I see wildflowers blooming in median strips along highways and every time I gaze out at beautiful scenery that before her would have been disrupted by garish billboards I loved the quote on the plaque ..."the beauty, mystery, order and disorder ...". Than you for sharing this wonderful place.

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  32. What a lovely place We lived in DC when they where in office,
    she seemed to like her country side.
    Thanks for stopping by my blog

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  33. Thanks for this amazing virtual tour,so beautiful and colorful!

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  34. What a lovely tour, Sarah! We're blessed with some beautiful wildflowers, here in Texas! Thank you for sharing @Vintage Charm!

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  35. How amazing that you've written about Lady Bird today....for just this afternoon I drove past the home where she was raised...in Karnack TX!!!! It's a beautiful plantation type home that has been kept up and still has a sign out front proclaiming it her homeplace!!!
    Another coincidence is that I went scuba diving with daughter Linda and her family in Roatan not long ago..very fun to talk to her about where her mom grew up!!

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Thank you to each of you who take the time to leave a comment. I read and appreciate each and every one and will respond to any questions. Your notes are the only way I know who has stopped in for a visit.