In 1965, Lady Bird Johnson decided
tion effort Johnson championed for the next 42 years of her life, earning her the reputation as our environmental first lady. Today, thanks to her work, once-blighted areas throughout many cities and highways come to life in the spring with native plants and brightly colored wildflowers. But the centerpiece of her legacy is the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, 10 miles southwest of downtown Austin. In this 279-acre center, some 650 species of plants and trees native
to Central Texas are displayed and nurtured, and that’s just part of the picture. The center offers hiking trails, woodlands and gardens, as well as exhibits, lectures, conferences and family-friendly programs throughout the year. In addition, it operates a nationally known center of information on the sustainable use and conservation of native plants, wildflowers and landscapes. “This is the physical expression of Mrs. Johnson’s love of nature, the place where her ideals are expressed to the world,” says Damon Waitt, the center’s senior director and botanist. In 1982, Johnson and actress Helen Hayes A W i l d ly I m ag i nat i v e C e n t e r founded the National Wildflower Research Center on 60 acres of undeveloped land The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a study in contrasts. The gardens, trails and woods on this east of Austin. By 1995, having outgrown 279-acre site form a quiet retreat where visitors can commune with nature. Even the buildings “sit lightly this site, the center moved to its present on the land,” as Lady Bird Johnson once observed. But inside these buildings, skilled botanists and other professionals run the largest network of information on native plants and landscapes in North America. location. In 1998, it was renamed the Lady Known as the Native Plants Information Network (NPIN), this network offers background on some 7,371 Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. In 2006, native plants by scientific or common name. The info is available on the center’s website to everyone from it became an organizational research unit scientists to the private gardener, and the site gets millions of hits and lots of interest annually, as do two of the University of Texas at Austin, a move other NPIN services. Johnson had long promoted. One, named “Ask Mr. Smarty Plants,” invites visitors to ask questions online about how to start and maintain Born Claudia Alta Taylor in 1912 in native plants, wildflowers, gardens and landscapes. Experts usually provide answers online within three weeks. Karnack, TX, Johnson answered all her life Secondly, the Image Gallery provides the public access to images of more than 17,000 native plants. The grounds are also full of information. Every shrub, plant, tree and butterfly bush has a legend posted to the “Lady Bird” nickname given her as a nearby. With a smartphone, more information is just a click away. small child. Her mother died when she was The center, located 10 miles southwest of downtown Austin, is growing in popularity, says Saralee Tiede, five and, as her parents’ only daughter, Lady the director of communications, “because of its various activities for families.” Bird spent many hours alone in the lush A prime example is the new arboretum, where Texas’ magnificent native trees are exhibited and studied. natural fields near her rural hometown. She Red oaks and cedar elms, some more than 100 years old, and even a clone of Austin’s famed Treaty Oak often reminisced about the cypress trees linstand their ground on the trails and meadows ing Caddo Lake and the Spanish moss that of this 16-acre site. Damon Waitt, the center’s senior officer and chief botanist, calls the hung from them, forming a canopy, and she arboretum “our cure for nature deficit disorder.” fought all her life to protect such settings Another new attraction, set to open in 2014, for everyone. will be known as the Luci Baines Johnson and Ian Johnson attended high school at nearby Turpin Family Garden, in honor of the couple, who Marshall and went to junior college at St. donated $1 million to the project’s estimated $5 Mary’s Episcopal School for Girls in Dallas. million cost. The five-acre family garden will be a In 1930, she entered UT Austin, where she giant playground with dozens of attractions that promote hands-on play and education. earned bachelor’s degrees in history and “Mrs. Johnson would be pleased and excited journalism. Along the way, she metamorabout everything that’s happening here,” says phosed from shy country girl to successful Susan Rieff, the center’s executive director. businesswoman and astute political wife “This was her own backyard, and she wanted with a soft smile and iron will. everyone to come here and enjoy it.” In 1934, just 10 weeks after graduating The center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday from UT, Johnson married the tall, handsome through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The Wildflower Center is especially busy Lyndon B. Johnson, then a congressional aide. in the spring and summer, with programs She soon became his most influential politirecognizing Lady Bird Johnson’s legacy. The cal adviser. She also successfully ran Austin popular Spring Plant Sale and Gardening broadcasting stations from 1943 to 1972. Festival will be held this year Saturday and A mild-mannered trailblazer, Johnson Sunday, April 13 and 14. Participants can made political history in the 1964 presidential choose from some 300 species of plants bred campaign by making a 1,628-mile train trip to survive the Central Texas climate. They can also buy native trees, including hard-to-find through eight Southern states on behalf of the varieties, in 4-inch pots. Democratic ticket. She faced angry crowds For more information, visit wildflower.org. but usually won them over with her soothing
the nation’s capital needed a facelift. So, in a bold and unprecedented move, the new first lady formed the Committee for a More Beautiful Capital and filled it with wealthy private donors and political VIPs. Through this stellar committee, she saw to it that thousands of dogwood trees, daffodils and azaleas were planted in straggly parks and neighborhoods throughout Washington, D.C. Highly popular, this program grew in to the nationwide beautifica-
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