Showing posts with label San Antonio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Antonio. Show all posts

Friday, June 8, 2012

San Antonio Botanical Gardens...


Seems we've been spending a lot of time in San Antonio this year.



This time, it was the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.


We got there at mid-day.  And, as you know, that's not the best time for taking photos.



We did enjoy seeing the many demonstration gardens.  


They have plants for many different planting situations.


We picked a rather warm....hot?...day for this.  
I think I might enjoy it more, on a cooler, less humid day.




There were some interesting plants, I'd never seen before.


Like this Narrow Leaved Bottlebrush tree, from Austalia.

Copper plant, lantana, ruby chrystal grass, thryallis

And, gardens with plants I could easily identify.


A lot of plants had identification plaques...like this Salvia madrensis.


And, others did not.


Anyone know what this is?

Or this small tree?


I know I've seen this before, but can't place it.


This, I think, is Moy Grande hibiscus.


I recognized it from Diana's at Sharing Nature's Garden.


On the Native Texas Trail, there are three different Texas areas exhibited.

South Texas is above, with adobe buildings and cactus, mesquite and grasses that populate that area.


The East Texas Pineywoods was nice and cool, with a small lake and lots of shade.


This old log cabin, made of Post Oak logs, was built in 1850 and moved here.


On the Hill Country Trail, the Schumacher House was built in 1849, near Fredericksburg.
You can see the German influence, with the half-timbered construction.


Local limestone was used.  And, is that a Fredericksburg peach tree, in the back yard?


The Auld House is an 1880s cabin, built near Leakey.  It's used as a meeting facility now.

Notice the grasses and native plants in front.


The Hill Country 'meadow' in this area, was full of blooming sunflowers, eight feet tall.


There was also a demonstration of an Acequia..or aqueduct...like the one I showed you in the
San Antonion Missions posts.

There is a Japanese Garden.

Pretty and relaxing.

*******

More plants...

Brugmansia...I think

Coral Bean...

Crinum Lily...

One I'm not familiar with...False Dragonhead...Physostegia correllii.
Pretty...

And, a WHITE Turk's Cap.  Gotta find one of these.



One of our favorites was the Rose Garden.  Very formal and full of blooms.

I didn't get the names of any of them.

two colors, on this peppermint looking one.

Pretty...

And, on this single rose.

I love yellow and white roses.  The heat had made them a little bruised looking.

And, my favorite...this beautiful coral color.

I lucked out with that photo.  I'd like to say it was my 'skill'...but, it just happened.

That's how it works, in gardens.

Have a Great Weekend...
~~Linda~~



Thursday, May 17, 2012

San Antonio Mission Trail...Part 3...

Part 3 and last, on our recent tour of the
San Antonio Mission Trail.

Our third stop was at
Mission San Francisco de la Espada.

This mission was established in 1731.


Like the other missions, it afforded protection for the local Native Indians.


The priests taught agriculture, weaving, and, of course, religion.


The church here is especially small.  But, there are still masses performed here.


Mr. P is a big guy.  But, the door here is pretty small.

This restored section, is a convent.  Seems the sisters love their gardens.


Sturdy walls withstand time.  And, that mesquite tree is hanging in there, too.  The broken section is sending up more limbs.


I liked this one.  It's small and quiet.  No elaborate decorations.
Just simple expressions of faith.


Leaving, we passed this funky little house.


Someone here likes their gardens, too.

***********************

Close by the mission is the Espada Aqueduct.


The success of the crops was very important for the success of the missions.
In a hot and dry climate, this success of the crops depended on water.

So, a dam was built on the river, to divert water into aqueducts.


The water was then used to irrigate the fields.
Remnants of that system are still there.

Pretty clever.

**********************


Our last mission for the day, was San Juan Capistrano.

As you can see, there is a lot of restoration going on here.  It's not open to the public right now.


As with Espada, this is a small and simple mission.


But, the grounds look very charming.


I think we'll be going back to see it, when they're done.

********************************

picture taken 2011

The most famous of the missions on the Mission Trail, is 
The Alamo.  Formally, Mission San Antonio de Valero.

Having been there many times, we chose to skip it this time.
If you haven't been there, it's worth the trip.

******************************
We really enjoyed our tour, and will probably do it again.
We missed things I'd like to go back and see.

I hope you've enjoyed this tour.
If you'd like to see the other missions, be sure to check out Part 1, and Part 2 .

Have a Great Weekend...
~~Linda~~