Houston's Garden Hot Spots

Submitted by Christine Turner on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 4:40pm

         

The financial downfall caused everyone in America to be more cautious of how they spend money. Like many other families, I decided to stay in Houston for my vacation.
I started gardening as a child, and I still adore digging in the dirt. When looking for something to do, it was perfectly natural for me to spend time at Mercer Arboretum.  Best of all, my visit to the arboretum was FREE!
If you enjoy gardening, or just the beauty of the outdoors I would highly recommend a visit. Bring your camera, a book, and/or a friend.  However, you might want to keep fido home, because dogs are not allowed in many parts of the arboretum.  

Additional places you might enjoy visiting:

A few of my favorite gardening books:

 

If you only want to check out one gardening book, I would recommend A Garden Book for Houston and the Gulf Coast, by River Oaks Garden Club. Gardening conditions are indubitably different from my home state of Colorado, and this book was invaluable to me when I moved to the Houston area. The monthly guide offers suggestions and helpful tips for beginning to expert gardeners.

Houston's warm climate and lush vegetation provides great conditions for hummingbirds.  Learn what additional steps you can take to encourage these visitors to your garden.
 

I frequently turn to Jerry Baker's books for gardening advice. The first time I encoutered Texas critters in my garden I  checked out Jerry Baker's bug off! : 2,193 super secrets for battling bad bugs, outfoxing crafty critters, evicting voracious varmints and much more! All of his books offer simple and effective suggestions for combating common gardening problems.

What are your favorite places to visit in Houston?  Do you have a gardening book that you can't live without?  It would be great to hear what others enjoy.

 Photo Credit: Christine Turner (Writtersrightword on Flickr)