Admission is paid at the Visitor Center where a map of the gardens is provided. This also serves as a gift shop. From there we proceeded in the direction of the Anderson Bromeliad Conservatory that contains 800 plants obtained from Central and South America.
Here are some of the lovely flowers we saw along the way.
Exotic birds: Moluccan Cockatoo, Macaw, Sun Conures.
The Orchid House is currently in temporary space as the large, new, Samuel Jones Orchid Conservatory is under construction. There are over 2,000 orchids here. Here are some...so exotic and beautiful.
Butterfly House and Gardens. We only saw Zebra Longwings here, but they were everywhere.
Hummingbird Garden: We did not see any hummingbirds but there are lovely plants that attract them.
These lizards were also enjoying the Hummingbird Garden this time of year.
View of Gator Lake, a natural wetland, as seen from the Birding Tower. Birds can be seen in abundance here. The red-winged blackbirds were beautiful in flight.
The second Kent Ullberg bronze wildlife sculpture.
The Wetlands Awareness Boardwalk begins at the Palapa Grande.
Arid Garden: There were many different cacti here; here are a few that I especially liked. Check out how tall that stalk is growing out of the yucca in the middle photo. It was huge!
And some of the plantings in the Sensory Garden.
The Rose Garden and Pavilion, that features over 300 roses in 12 raised beds, is a popular wedding venue. Unfortunately for us, most of the rose bushes were cut back a couple of weeks ago.
The Prentiss Global Butterfly Collection was our final stop at the gardens. It is a huge collection and is located in the Education Station. You have to see this in person to appreciate it!
After cloudy weather here in Corpus Christi, it was really enjoyable to visit these gardens. We have been to many botanical gardens (as this is something we like to do as we travel the U.S) and each one has its own feel. This one is very casual, although the Rose Gardens are more formal. The inclusion of the Mary Hope Brennecke Nature Trail, Gator Lake, and Oso Creek provides a large area of natural habitat with lots of bird watching opportunities. The new Samuel Jones Orchid Conservatory will be impressive once it is complete. We were happy that we came here today.
Admission is $7/adults and $6/seniors (over 60). Check out their website for additional information about hours of operation and exhibits.
Website: www.stxbot.org
No comments:
Post a Comment