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We design and manage our gardens to teach, inspire and please and to promote the use of native plants. Our gardens show how Texas native plants may be used in many landscapes and garden styles to bridge the gap between people and the natural world. On our 279 acres, we feature about 650 species of Texas native plants with a focus on the Central Texas Hill Country.
Don't miss the Courtyard, the Hill Country Stream and Woodland Garden, the Theme Gardens, the Home Owner Inspiration Gardens, the Butterly Garden and Insectary, the ponds and water features.
Butterfly Garden
The Ann and O.J. Weber Butterfly Garden was a gift from the O.J. and Ann Weber Family Foundation Fund of the Greater Houston Community Foundation. This garden, designed by Judy Walther of Environmental Survey Consulting, demonstrates the codependent relationship of plants and insects, and the critical role of pollinators in sustaining biodiversity.
Unlike enclosed butterfly "house" displays at some botanical gardens, this garden is a butterfly habitat. It is designed to attract and sustain pollinators by using a diverse range of plants that are native to the Texas Hill Country. Some 350 different plant species, arranged in specific plant habitat communities, create a healthy ecosystem for butterflies and other invertebrates throughout their life cycles.
Carefully placed benches, walking paths, and shaded areas allow visitors the opportunity to quietly observe the activities of butterflies and other pollinators. Plant habitat communities include: shallow & deep soil; low & tall thickets; deep water with submergent and emergent plants; marshy pond edge; shallow wetland seeps; wet weather swales; wet & dry vine habitats; thin soil cactus & succulent habitats; woodland edge; dry & wet woodland.
A butterfly boosting house (insectary) located next to the garden allows us to protect the caterpillar (larval) phase of the butterfly life cycle in an enclosed environment that is free from birds, wasps, and other predators, thus boosting their numbers. Once the insects have pupated (chrysalis phase), a less vulnerable condition, they are placed in the garden where they emerge into adult butterflies and fly freely.
