Houston's Garden Hot Spots

Submitted by Christine Turner [1] on Wed, 09/23/2009 - 4:40pm

[2] [3] [4] [5]

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 [6]. 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:

[10]

If you only want to check out one gardening book, I would recommend A Garden Book for Houston and the Gulf Coast, [11]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.

[12]

The Hummingbird Book : The complete guide to attracting, identifying, and enjoying hummingbirds, [12] by Donald and Lillian Stokes

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.

[13]

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! [13] 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)

gardens [14]
Nonfiction [15]

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[1] http://hcpl.net/users/christine-turner
[2] http://www.flickr.com/photos/writtersrightword/3944775031/
[3] http://www.flickr.com/photos/writtersrightword/3944813705/
[4] http://www.flickr.com/photos/writtersrightword/3944761847/
[5] http://www.flickr.com/photos/writtersrightword/3945505062/
[6] http://www.ask.com/bar?q=mercer+arboretum&page=1&qsrc=19&ab=0&title=Mercer%20Arboretum%20&%20Botanic%20Gardens&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hcp4.net%2Fmercer%2F
[7] http://www.ask.com/bar?q=houston+botanical+gardens&page=1&qsrc=0&ab=4&title=Houston%20Arboretum%20and%20Nature%20Center&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.houstonarboretum.org%2F
[8] http://www.houstonaudubon.org/
[9] http://www.hcp4.net/jones/
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[14] http://hcpl.net/category/tags/gardens
[15] http://hcpl.net/taxonomy/term/34