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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Wednesday - May 20, 2009

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Wildflower Center
Title: What is the acreage of your gardens?
Answered by: Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

The wildflower gardens and display areas comprise about how much, either percentage or acreage, of the entire 279 acres at the Wildflower Center? Does that also include areas for growing flowers for sales and if so, how big is that area(s)? Thanks

ANSWER:

The public areas that we consider the Wildflower Center gardens amounts to about 12 acres.  If you exclude buildings, trails, growing areas, parking and other paved areas within the gardens, there are more or less four acres of planted garden beds.  The space devoted to growing plants in pots - both greenhouse and outdoor growing areas - occupies less than one acre.  A new childrens' garden (currently in the design phase) will add a little more than three acres of garden spaces.  A planned arboretum will increase the area of the gardens by about 16 acres.  Finally, there are about 80 acres of managed research areas on the Wildflower Center grounds.  The remaining acreage is, for the most part, disturbed as little as possible and is slowly recovering from about a century of ranching activity.
 

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