December 21, 2022
Every fall through winter, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center entices kids and kids at heart to explore a handful of creative “fortresses” built by Austin landscape architects, architects, designers and artists. It’s called Fortlandia, and I always go see it. This year, as the Center’s arboretum was taken over by thousands of fiber optic lights for Bruce Munro’s A field of lightthe Fortlandia exhibit can be found in the family garden.
Chrysaline
Chrysaline by artist Jamie Spinello is my personal favorite this year. Transparent windows in colorful colors shine in an aluminum chrysalis, with openings in the front and back. I watched the two little girls burst in with squeals of glee. Fun!
Mars Base
Mars Base by Austin Design Lab was a hive of activity and seemingly a favorite among the older kids. I mean, first of all, on name. Second, it looks like a human gerbil tube. What child could resist?
Inside, the small rooms are decorated with wild abandon. This one has beautiful woodcuts of astronauts, fantastical animals, flowers and… prickly pears?
In another room, a rich science lab mural adds color.
Tree Free Fort
Landscape architecture firm Studio Balcones designed this farm Tree Free Fort of hay bales on top of a bamboo hut. Good old-fashioned fun.
There were a few more forts that I didn’t get pictures of, plus the ever-popular fort-building area, where kids can build their own hideouts out of wooden blocks, bamboo poles and branches. Fortlandia runs until January 29, 2023.
Wildflower Center Gardens
Of course I walked around the gardens while I was there. Planting in a meadow of liatris that had gone to seed provided a wintry but beautiful scene.
And the red-berried arch holly glistened red against the corrugated steel administrative buildings. Wonderful!
Inside the gift shop — ta-da! — my books were on display, front and center! How cool is that? And yes, wouldn’t they make a great holiday gift for the lucky gardener in your life?
Merry Christmas, Hanukkah or Solstice to all my garden loving friends and readers! I hope you are warm and cozy, and I wish you peace and joy this holiday season.
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Digging Deeper
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