[dropcap]W[/dropcap]ith over 30 official garden clubs that call Zilker Botanical Garden Center their home, it is pretty clear that we live in a city of gardeners.
This number doesn’t even include a whole host of very active ‘unofficial’ clubs and community gardens, guilds, meet-ups and projects that happen across Travis County, and Hays County where the Kyle, Wimberley, and San Marcos Spring Lake garden clubs continue to thrive.
The Garden Club of Austin is one of the city’s oldest, and it celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of its first flower show this coming weekend with a big plant show and sale.
On Saturday the show runs from noon to 5 p.m. and on Sunday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Zilker Garden Center Auditorium and patio, at 2220 Barton Springs Road, will be the center of all of the activities.
It was fun to drop in on a meeting of this venerable club last Thursday. Amanda Moon (from our nursery It’s About Thyme) spoke of the joys of strolling through an evening garden of silver foliage and white flowers, many of which release wonderful fragrances to attract bats and moths and other nighttime pollinators.
‘If you are wanting to go with vines, you can plant a mixture of morning glories for day-time color, and moonflowers for the evenings and nights,’ suggested Amanda.
She also spoke of many other players who have a role in creating a beautiful evening and nighttime garden, including hymenocallis (spider lilies), gardenias, angel’s trumpets, artichokes, sweet alyssum, silver pony foot and mission olive trees.
Afterwards I sat down with Wilburn Hackebeil, who was club president from 2007 through 2012 (and a huge fan of caladiums). He explained that of all the clubs, the Garden Club of Austin is the most general. “If you are new to Austin, this is a good place to learn the basics,” he said.
Fellow club members, such as Indian horticulturist Venkappa Gani, are all seasoned experts in the differences between gardening east or west of IH-35, which plants to put where, and they will help with advice on how to grow bumper crops of vegetables.
“When the club began in 1953 it was called ‘the Men’s Garden Club of Austin,’ and there were a lot of guys from Bergstrom Air Force Base, and much more of a focus on vegetables,” said Wilburn. “Now it’s more about flowers and vegetables and everything in between. Also the ‘men’s’ part of the title has been dropped and women have been welcomed for years.”
There was a fun, party-atmosphere in the room as the 40-or-so assembled members exchanged stories and asked questions during Amanda’s illustrated talk. At the end came the results of a salsa-making contest and a raffle.
The Garden Club of Austin currently has 60 members. Annual dues are $25. They are a friendly bunch and will welcome new members with open arms. Please visit their website: www.thegardenclubofaustin.org to sign up. Happy gardening everyone!
If you have a question for Chris or Amanda, send it via email to [email protected]. Or mail a postcard to It’s About Thyme: 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX 78748 www.itsaboutthyme.com
