Home Gardening Tips

If you ever happen to be visiting the lovely town of Orange, Texas you should stop by the beautiful Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center. If you’re a fan of botanical gardens, this one would be a real treat. The garden has more than 300 different plant species and received platinum certification for LEED(R)-NC. To us, home gardeners, that just translates into highest green eco-friendly building status.

The Shangri La Botanical Gardens also feature sculpture gardens and greenhouses. The variety of animal life is equally as amazing as the selection of plants and flowers. Birds, mammals, reptiles and others can be seen on the walking tour of the garden. It is clear that a lot of time was spent into building and designing this garden.

What I really like about the Shangri La Botanical Gardens is the educational programs they have to teach kids (and yes, maybe even us old timers) about the environment, ecosystem, animal life, and of course, botany. All of you regular readers know how much I care about preserving the planet and spreading knowledge is really the only long-term solution. Only when people get involved and care enough will change happen in our world.

I also want to mention The Stark Foundation. It’s a non-profit corporation established in 1961 and is organized to improve the quality of life in Southeast Texas.  I seems like a great foundation and worth checking out.

If you are planning on visiting, their website has hours (and they are open on the weekends). They also have group and school tours. I enjoy guided tours as much as exploring on my own.

It’s really amazing what they have established, even though they’ve only started selling the tickets since March 11, 2008! Check out the website www.shangrilagardens.org - its a very well done website with photo galleries and a media center.

Your friend, the old-timer,
Bill Stanley