There’s a lot of news to catch up on as work continues on the Annex and Botanical Gardens.
A Native Plant Demonstration Garden is being put in at the Annex with the help of Master Gardeners Sara Lott, Peggy Hebort, and Jan Beavers who have generously committed to donating their time and expertise. Most of the materials and plants for the garden are being donated including a bed rock mortar from a local ranch which will anchor the installation. Board member Del Barnett secured the help of local business owner Rocky Gonzales who donated his time and equipment to move both soil and the bed rock mortar into place.
City of Goldthwaite and Atmos Energy came out to remove a tree and its roots which had lifted up a portion of the sidewalk and threatened a gas line in front of the Annex. After pulling up the sidewalk, removing the tree and roots, and putting the sidewalk back in place, everything looks wonderful and is safe again. We are incredibly grateful!
Micheal Bradle, a private archeologist out of Lampasas, recently gifted us with a large portion of his private Texas Archeological library. To date we have received approximately 400 resource materials.
Plans for the Texas Botanical Gardens are coming along well. On June 26th our professional team – Robert Jackson, Scooter Cheatham, Drew Patterson, Dan Potter, and Mike McElhaney – met to work on the final design. We have also had several small planning sessions regarding groundbreaking.
Mia McCraw will be working with us part-time identifying native plants, grasses, and soil types for the gardens. Mia is a reasearch associate who works with Forrest Smith, Project Coordinator of South Texas Natives at the Ceasar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute.
Tab Ledbetter, a local landscaper, will be supervising and coordinating the development of the Gardens. Tab and Jan Fischer have been discussing the garden project for over a year now and he recently returned to Goldthwaite, his hometown, bringing his business, Looking Out Design, with him from Waco.
Tab had the following to say about the project :
Modern technology has given us unlimited ability to impose our functional wishes on the Earth. This often leads to designs that are sterile, unnatural, and aesthetically unappealing. They are difficult for us to enjoy, even when we don’t know why. The ancients approached their integration into the landscape with a symbiotic approach that yielded something more beautiful because it was man and nature in concert. Your outdoor space should be approached from that same perspective.