Don't steal the bird peppers
Dichromena colorata , AKA star grass
This beautiful sedge grows in shallow water in my container pond. I understand the need to have cool, wet feet during this hot spell.
Unripe chile pequin peppers
These peppers will turn red in the fall, making pretty companions to the red spider lilies that bloom then.
This photo was taken last September. The red chiles are visible behind the spider lily.
This native Texan is also known as bird pepper. When I visit Barton Springs Nursery, which has a small aviary with parakeets and chickens (an interesting combo!), employees have advised me to bring a handful of bird peppers to feed them. The peppers are also edible for humans, although I understand that they are fiery hot. Recipes calling for them can be found online.
I read about chile pequin in the Austin American-Statesman this morning. The article was about the sad decline of Zilker Botanical Garden and, in particular, the Hartman Prehistoric Garden, a showcase of prehistoric-type plants, plus fossils, petrified wood, a large waterfall, and a bronze dinosaur sculpture.
It’s a lovely garden. But according to the Statesman article, it’s been neglected for several years, along with the rest of the Zilker gardens, due to underfunding by the city. The Statesman reports that ZBG receives only $463,303 and serves 390,000 visitors yearly. Contrast that with San Antonio Botanical Garden, which the Statesman says receives $1.5 million and serves 75,000 visitors yearly.
Worse yet, the Zilker gardens have been abused by the very people who enjoy them. Of the Hartman garden, ZBG volunteer Craig Nazor is quoted as saying that people are actually plucking rare plants right out of the ground and stealing them. They are defacing fossils and gathering “huge bags of bird peppers off the plants because you have to pay $4.50 or $5 at Fiesta [grocery store] for them.” Now that’s just ridiculous. What do people think botanical gardens are—a free smorgasboard? For pity’s sake, don’t pick, don’t pluck!
The rest of the gardens are faring no better. A stunningly sinous 40-year-old pittosporum tree in the Japanese garden has suffered from people carving their names into its trunk, which will hasten its death, according to Nazor. Still other plants are trampled by people walking into the planting beds for photo ops.
Zilker Botanical Garden, along with Barton Springs Pool and the hike-and-bike trail along Town Lake, is one of our city’s finest public amenities. Barton Springs has suffered in recent years from polluting run-off. The hike-and-bike trail has seen neglect due to budget cuts and overuse, but now it is benefiting from a foundation dedicated to preserving and improving it. I hope Zilker Botanical Garden will get the attention and money it needs to be returned to its glory. And in the meantime, plant-loving visitors should keep an eye out for plant thieves and defacers and speak up for the garden.
We have “bird peppers” growing on the side of our house, and we cook with them regularly when they’re in season. You have to wash your hands really well after handling them, because they are some of the hottest peppers you can get. I grew up in New Braunfels (just North of San Antonio) and visited the SA Botanical Gardens regularly. The gardens in San Antonio have a few key differences from Zilker… for starters, they charge an admission fee. I’m sure that helps with the funding, in addition to what they get from the city. They also have several climate-controlled gardens (rainforest, etc.) The attendants at the entrance would obviously notice someone carrying off plants. It’s definitely worth visiting, if you’re there anyway. If you’re going to the Zoo, you’ll want to walk across the street from the parking lot and check out the Sunken Gardens, too. I’m not sure if they’re being maintained right now, but they used to be really gorgeous. But, that’s off topic…
It seems that Austin doesn’t put much money into most of its parks, Zilker included. I recall a recent article in the Statesman about the sad state of Pease Park. I think people take the parks here for granted. It’s unfortunate.
I saw the Statesman article, too, Pam, and it made me incredibly sad. We go to Zilker whenever we can, for things like Zilkerfest/FloraRama, shows presented by clubs and plant groups, and we take out-of-town guests, making them get souvenirs at the gift shop. It was so exciting to witness the transformation of a blah area of the park into the enchanting Hartman Garden. The gates alone are worth a visit! My husband & I were amazed at how fast everything grew, and we’ve even copied some of the combinations. But our home version of the Dinosaur Garden was achieved by buying similar plants at Red Barn, Howard Nursery and the Great Outdoors, not by stealing from Zilker!! What an abomination!! The idea of someone swiping rare cycads makes me furious.
We are severely ‘underparked’ here in Austin, something that is has been talked about in this article and other stories. In the article, the horticultural volunteer Nazor and the park director Warren Struss have really different ideas of what Zilker should be. Right now it’s trying to be both a backyard for families and a serious garden at the same time.
It seems obvious to me that this city needs two separate floral parks, although how to carve them out of what exists now would need some magical powers, as well as money. If it were possible, in my mythical Zilkerland there should be a no-fee area that would offer the kinds of elements preferred by most casual visitors and families with young children, where the kids would have opportunities to enjoy nature in a casual way. This might include stepping stones across one pond that is connected to another pond with goldfish & turtles to watch. It could have a dramatic waterfall and stone wall as a backdrop for those taking bridal photos, along with some bright swaths of flower gardens with both seasonal flowers and plants to attract butterflies and birds, and finally, it would have some nice trees for families to sit under. This grass would be suitable for resting and reclining, because no dogs would be allowed in any part of either floral park, so there would be no dog messes on the babies’ sandals. I guess the display rose garden might belong in this section, too.
In the second area, you would find the actual Botanical Garden, entered after paying a small fee, say $2 for an adult and a dollar per child? The Taniguchi garden belongs in this area, and the building for the flower shows, as well as the Hartman. For some reason people think ‘child’ when the word ‘dinosaur’ is attached, but whenever we’ve been there, it was the ADULTS who were enthralled by the Hartmann, way more than most of the kids seemed to be. Well, that’s my dream garden.
We’ve been to the San Antonio Botanical Garden a few times and marvelled at the setting, the exotic plants, the wonderful buildings and structures. That garden charges admission and it has a more defined purpose. It isn’t trying to be all things to all people, an impossibility which seems to be tearing Zilker apart.
Pam, I’ll back slowly away from the soapbox now – apparently this has all been fermenting in my mind since early Sunday morning. I had no idea how much the article upset me until I started to write to you.
Annie
Yes, it is very upsetting. I like the idea of charging a nominal admission fee, maybe even just $1 for adults and children alike. A token amount that wouldn’t make it a hardship for most families to see the gardens. (Contrast that with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, which charges $7 for adults and $3 for children 5-12.) Perhaps that money could pay for additional staffing and needed repairs.
The main way to end plant thievery would be to have one entrance and exit, preferably staffed. Right now, there are at least two entrances to the gardens, one public and one very private (a walk-in entrance near the MoPac bridge). Also, I think a foundation is needed to secure funding to maintain the gardens for the long haul and to enhance the botanical nature of the garden, versus the “backyard” nature, as you so appropriately dubbed it. Zilker Park is already Austin’s backyard. The Zilker Botanical Garden should aspire to something more. —Pam
I enjoyed your postings, and I want to thank you for the kind comments about the Hartman Prehistoric Garden (HPG). I was the horticultural consultant for that garden – I researched, designed, procured, and executed the installation of the plantings there. When that garden was opened on April 1, 2002, the Austin Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) had promised the Hartman Foundation, the underwriters and major donors to the project, a full-time gardener for the garden, but none was hired. I have been volunteering at least 10 hours a week since then in the HPG to keep the plants and ponds looking good and the garden growing. Warren Struss, the PARD director, has told me that the reason more money is not spent at Zilker Botanical Gardens (ZBG) is because the money is needed for recreation centers and swimming pools. There are foundations waiting to help, but after budget cuts that have compromised proper maintenance, these foundations are hesitant to get involved without some kind of change in management, so things are at an impass. The best way you can help is to write to the Austin City Council and tell them that you would like to see more support for ZBG. At this point, if the City Council doesn’t get involved, I’m afraid ZBG will remain a garden in danger. That breaks my heart, too.