I will say at the outset that I have never been a fan of the Wildflower Research Center (WRC). Millions of dollars were spent on the buildings and hundreds of thousands where spent on the plantings with many hundreds of hours volunteered. I always wonder why the plants are donated and the gardening but not the engineering, plumbing and asphalt or architecture. My second gripe is that the original site for the WRC on the Colorado river was a much better location and the only reason for the move was a political developer decision. KLRU produced an incredible documentary about Lady Bird Johnson and her love of wildflowers. This documentary completely portrayed Lady Bird Johnson’s passion for the natural world and wildflowers. The WRC falls far short of Lady Birds vision in my estimation. I met Lady Bird Johnson once while she was visited a garden I worked on that had won a xeriscaping award, and her exuberance was very apparent even though she was very infirmed and almost blind. WRC might redeem itself in my eyes if it follows through on some of the projects they are work on with the Army Corp of Engineers revegetating the San Antonio river and a few other projects in South Texas. Let me repeat this often and loud Botanical Gardens are not about buildings Conference Centers or Weddings, they are about plants. It really looks like the WRC might be finding its voice and beginning to manifest a true interest in plants. We will watch with great anticipation.

wildflower research center