Carver Museum Butterfly Garden: The Report

Not long after we filmed our segment for Central Texas Gardener, the producer, Linda, got in touch with us about a gardening project at the Carver Library and Museum. The organizer, Faye, was looking for some help with the landscaping outside the East Side cultural center. Apparently, the city funding (and the water) for the outside landscaping had dried up. Which is really a shame, because obviously a lot of planning and money went into building, and doing the initial landscaping, for these relatively new buildings. The rest of the story is that it's really hard to get the city to give permission to do anything to the landscaping, and so you can end up with a bunch of dried up clumps of grass and weeds that you can't do anything about.

So Faye and her team at Carver had finally gotten permission to touch the landscaping, but still - no funds, no city employees to help. That's where the Garden Posse came in. We became responsible for installing a butterfly garden in an area outside the museum which was currently hosting aforementioned dried up clumps of grass and weeds.

The Great Outdoors provided us with a very generous donation of about 20 plants which are sure to prove irresistible to butterflies. And Shoal Creek Nursery gave us broken bags of dirt and compost. We set to work pulling up weeds.

Well, at leas some of us did. We had a pretty good crew.

Hilary arrived on her bike, proving that the Garden Posse is truly an environmentally friendly posse.

Allen and Gene proved very effective weeders. It was a hot day and we were all rewarded with the most delicious pizza from East Side Pies - conveniently located across the street from Carver! (I want to live there now.)

After lunch, we did not take a nap.

We had to cut through the black landscaping cloth that the city put down. We don't like that stuff - not only does it make it inconvenient to plant new plants, but it can't be a good thing to coat the ground in plastic.

If you ever run into this situation, use a pick-ax. Also pictured above: Our amazing Cobra Head with which we are still very much in love.

Hopefully the plants are happy in their new home, and lots of butterflies will fall in love with them.

The hardest part? Watering. As mentioned before, the city had turned the water off to all the exterior spigots, apparently due to a neighbor's complaint. So we had to kind of rig up a system involving a series of buckets, an Igloo cooler, and a library cart. We just hope the water gets turned back on soon!

In these photos we're missing some of our early-leaving crew, but they were in our hearts. As we finished the job, Faye told us that we all "belong" to Carver now.

All in all, we felt really great about the garden and helping out Faye and everyone else at Carver! It wasn't the most guerrilla garden we've put in, but it was definitely one of the most rewarding to dig.

Seed bombs from a candy machine?

They're better for your teeth than candy, that's for sure. And better for beautifying the spaces around you. Lucy of the Waller Creek is for Lovers sent us word of this seed-bomb dispensing project called Greenaid, based in L.A.

Apparently, the idea is that people would buy these for their neighborhoods. From the website:

Whether you're a business owner, educator, or just a concerned citizen we'd like to work with you to get Greenaid in your community. You can purchase a machine (or two, or ten...) directly from us and we will develop a seed mix as well as a strategic neighborhood intervention plan in response to the unique ecologies of your area. You then simply place the machine at your local bar, business, school, park, or anywhere that you think it can have the most impact. We will then supply you with all the seedbombs you need to support the continued success of the initiative.

I'd love to see these spread around downtown Austin! As the creators say, it makes guerrilla gardening efforts a lot more accessible. Not that it's hard to come to one of the Garden Posse's events!

Speaking of, I have been very bad at updating the blog with our guerrilla activities. Bad, bad, guerrilla gardening blogger. Last night we visited the mural garden at South 1st and Annie, and discovered that our sign had been stolen, but the garden itself was doing very well! There's a beautiful spread of blackfoot daisy, sage, mint, and another plant I can't identify but is growing very vigorously. (We'd appreciate an ID!) We planted a few more perennials on the sidewalk strip, having given up on the other side of the mural as three consecutive plantings have refused to breathe life into the compacted soil. And since the basil did so well last year (as you can see in our Central Texas Gardener segment, it is the one plant the camera chooses to feature), we planted four different kinds of basil! A passerby with child asked us where the beautiful basil had gone. This summer, we hope to have a more active caretaker at this site - and more rain.

If you're in the area, stop by the garden and peek behind the flowers to pick some of our mint. It's perfect for a refreshing summertime mojito!

Plant a garden at the Carver Library with us on Saturday!

The Carver Library needs our help! They have asked the Garden Posse to install a butterfly and herb garden as part of the effort to recover their landscaping. This is our first officially sanctioned garden, but that doesn't make us any less guerrilla. It just means we can do whatever we want with city property!

So meet us at the Carver Library (1161 Angelina Street, off Rosewood on the East Side) at noon this Saturday, April 24. We'll be pulling out old plants, and designing and planting a brand new garden! Please bring whatever tools ya got (no flashlights necessary this time), and donations of herbs and butterfly-attracting plants and seeds are much appreciated. Friends are appreciated too. Snacks will be provided! 

Here's a map to the Carver Library: 


View Larger Map

And here's a resource for the plants that Texas butterflies love.

See you on Saturday!

Help scientists track climate change, in your own yard!

Do you have spiderwort, red columbine, or common lilac in your yard or neighborhood? They're on a list of the "Ten Most Wanted Plants" of Project Budburst, a citizen science initiative that helps scientists track climate change. 

Scientists have observed that the date that flowers bloom is changing across the country, perhaps due to warming temperatures associated with climate change. The data provided by gardeners will be used to test the connection and learn more about how a warming environment affects plants. It's important stuff. So all you have to do is join the website to report observations in your yard - and boom, you're a scientist! It's way easier than getting a Ph.D. And it's also probably a fun way to get kids involved with gardening and science - at the same time.

Project Budburst has been going on for the past three years. For more information about how you can help, visit the website and/or read today's press release on the Ten Most Wanted Plants. 

Cherrywood Book and Plant Swap!

We were so happy to participate in the spring Cherrywood Book and Plant Swap this year! Organizer Jack Darby started the swap over a decade ago (I think) after he saw a neighbor host a small book and plant swap in her yard. The swap was moved to Cherrywood Green, a pocket park in the center of the lovely Cherrywood neighborhood, and expanded into a community event where people from all over Austin are invited to bring their propagated plants, saved seeds, and books to trade freely. It's a beautiful idea, and it's fun! Everyone comes away happy.

Last fall, we invited ourselves to do a seed bomb demo, and introduced ourselves to the Cherrywood community. We were extremely lucky to find a nearby spot that was perfect for a guerrilla garden, and we dug the garden a few months later (as seen on TV). The garden has been a welcome addition to the neighborhood by all accounts, and it's expanding and thriving! More on that in an upcoming post. 

We collected a small crowd to help us roll seed bombs. You definitely get your hands dirty in this activity.

Helpful books at the swap. Wonder who purchased this book first, and needs it no longer? 

At the end of the demo, we had 3 trays full of seed bombs! We had some from previous demos to give away to our helpers, and we'll have more for wildflower planting next fall.

Thanks to Jack for inviting us. We met so many wonderful people, made great gardening connections, had a fantastic time, and now we're rich with plants!

For more photos, visit our flickr group!

Happy Hour at Sao Paulo!

Tomorrow, have $2.50 margaritas and bottomless Brazilian chips (cross between tortilla and wonton) with us at Sao Paulo! We'll be meeting there around 5:30 pm on Tuesday to make merry and make plans for upcoming events. If you'd like to help formulate those plans, offer new ideas, or just see how a guerrilla gardening group does happy hour (do we try to plant the table? we might), please join us. San Paulo is north of the UT campus at 2809 San Jacinto Boulevard. (near the intersection of Dean Keeton & San Jacinto)


Photos of the Cherrywood Book and Plant Swap, and the gorgeous and successful Cherrywood Garden will be coming soon. 

Get your plant, book, and seed bomb on this weekend!

It's been a beautiful week and I know many of us are spending time in our gardens, trying to put all our work in before the hot months of summer. Perhaps you're thinking of buying more plants? No need to buy! You need to swap!

Come to the Cherrywood Book and Plant Swap this Saturday, at Cherrywood & 34th (near our Cherrywood garden). It runs from 9 - noon. You and the neighbors can trade plants, cuttings, and seeds you've propogated, and books you don't want anymore! We will be doing a seed bomb workshop, back by popular demand. Other features include: Master Gardeners on hand to answer your questions, and a performance by the Maplewood Yukelele Choir. It's sure to be a worthwhile event in a wonderful neighborhood. Now, let's hope for sun.

For more information, visit the event website.