NATURE NIGHTS FALL 2010, FROM 6 P.M. TO 9 P.M. $1 GENERAL ADMISSION; FREE TO WILDFLOWER CENTER MEMBERS AND ECOEXPLORERS.

Friday, September 24: Plants & People– Celebrate the wonderful connection people have with plants. From dyes to jellies, from medicines to our daily meals, discover how native plants are an important part of our daily lives. Check out exhibits featuring dying, crafting, and food sampling with native plants. Make your own recycled paper to take home. Explore the gardens and grounds to find plants that produce shampoo, soap, fibers, and so much more.

Friday, October 15: Spiders– What has eight legs, fangs, and lived 386 million years ago? Come to the Wildflower Center to find out! Search the gardens and grounds for spiders with “Spider Joe” Lapp. Get up close and personal with some of Dave Moellendorf’s eight-legged friends. Go on an insect scavenger hunt with Val Bugh.

Friday, November 12: Hill Country Astronomy– Are the stars out tonight? Come find out with astronomers from UT’s McDonald Observatory. Listen to an engaging discussion of the cosmos. Take a peek at the stars and planets through field telescopes. Make your own flashlight constellation canister to take home.

For more information, click here

Every week we will be showcasing installments from a special artist discovery series for bands playing the Austin City Limits Music Festival this October from local websites hand-picked by the ACL Festival faithful.

• When: October 8-10, 2010
• Where: Zilker Park, Austin, Texas

Austin Museum Day is coming up on Sunday, September 19, 2010!
The day features free exhibitions and activities at more than 30 participating museums. Check out the list of participating museums and plan your day’s activities

We invite you to honor our founder, Lady Bird Johnson, at our free admission day Sunday, July 25, during extended hours from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Lady Bird Johnson Tribute Day features a sculpture-in-progress of Mrs. Johnson, storytelling for children, a pottery demonstration, a remarkable display of Mrs. Johnson’s memorabilia, book signings and more. The first 200 visitors will receive a free packet of wildflower seeds. Children can also make their own seed packets from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This day remembers July 26,1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson presented his first lady with 50 pens used to sign environmental legislation that she inspired.
Join the Wildflower Center on Sunday, July 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in honor of Lady Bird Johnson and all she has done for our nation’s treasured environment.Admission will be FREE for visitors during extended hours on this day. Activities for adults and kids include:

• A sculpture-in-progress of Lady Bird Johnson by Joe Kenney, noon to 3 p.m.
• An exhibit of Mrs. Johnson’s personal memorabilia including her treasured wildflower field guide
• Children can make seed packets to take home and plant in the fall, 10 a.m . to 2 p.m.
• Story telling for children, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• A pottery demonstration by Susie Fowler, The Shade Tree Potter, from 1 to 4 p.m.
• Book signings by John Kelso, author of “Texas Curiosities,” and Nan Booth Simpson, author of “Texas Gardening for the 21st Century,” from noon to 3 p.m.

Claudia Alta Taylor was born in Karnack, Texas on December 22, 1912. Stories say that she earned her life-long nickname when a nursemaid said she was “as purty as a lady bird.” She met the then Congressional secretary Lyndon B. Johnson while he was in Austin on official business and she was studying at the University of Texas. The couple married in November of 1934.
Ms. Johnson felt close to nature and its beauty throughout her life, from Caddo Lake near her childhood home to the well-manicured lawns of the White House. Known as the “Environmental First Lady,” she spent much of her life conserving the country’s landscapes.
We honor her close to the date, July 26, 1968, when President Johnson presented her with 50 pens he used to sign environmental bills inspired by her work.   Because of her, we have more wildflowers along highways and fewer billboards and junkyards as a result of “Lady Bird’s Bill,” or The Highway Beautification Act of 1965. This law cut back on roadside advertising and required that junkyards along highways be removed or screened.
Mrs. Johnson also created the First Lady’s Committee for a More Beautiful Capital, planting azaleas and trees around the White House and cleaning up and replanting parks and areas all throughout the District of Columbia. She worked to control the rat infestations in the Shaw area, planted flowers in parks all over the city and prompted businesses and citizens to get involved in beautification.
Lady Bird Johnson’s impact on the nation was enormous and continues today in places like the Redwood National Park, the Grand Canyon and here in Austin. Although Mrs. Johnson passed away on July 11, 2007, we continue to remember her life and contributions, because, in her own words, “The environment is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest; it is one thing all of us share. It is not only a mirror of ourselves, but a focusing lens on what we can become.”
http://www.wildflower.org/tributeday/