Our speaker on November 4th was Tanya Zastrow, Director of Programs at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Tanya gave us the history of the Wildflower Center. Its mission is inspiring conservation of native plants through education, demonstration, and collaboration. The Center was started by Lady Bird Johnson and actress Helen Hayes and is on 284 acres in SW Austin. It is State Botanic Garden of Texas. There are 9 acres of gardens and a 16-acre arboretum. There are 11,000 members, 250 active volunteers, and 200,000 plus guests per year. The Center contains the largest online database of native plants in North America as is part of UT Austin’s School of Architecture. It is a self-supporting unit through earned revenues, contributed income, and endowment. The Arboretum displays our great Texas trees and tells the history of Texas through its trees. The Center has added the Luci and Ian Family Garden (4 acres) for families to connect to nature. It also has expanded programs through youth programs and summer camps and expanded adult programs to include programs all year round. Tanya described some of the many programs of the Center including Dog Days, Twilight Tuesdays, and Fortlandia (building forts). The Luminations will start at the end of the November with timed entry spacing everyone out and will be throughout the arboretum. As a response to Covid-19, the Center has set up timed entries and limited number of guests; there is hand sanitizer throughout the park. Classes have also gone virtual and people from all over Texas and other parts of the country and the world are taking some of the virtual classes. For more information go to www.wildflower.org.