Zilker Botanical Garden

So on the 9th I went to the Master Gardener presentation on taking care of roses.  I went because I have what I believe to be a Dr. Huey rose in the front yard that we don't really take care of, other than to cut back a little bit each year.  Some years the plant blooms prolifically, and some years it doesn't.  It only really seems to bloom once per year though, and it's super airy because the Dr. Huey is a climbing rose.  Now I'm debating on digging it up and planting a bush rose in its place instead.  ANYHOO, that's not what this post is supposed to be about - this was supposed to be about the fact that after the seminar, I walked around Zilker (in the rain, mind you) to get some photos for you, dear readers.  So without further ado...

Agave teeth silhouette on center stalk.

Flowering Quince.  I may need to find a place for this plant because of it's crazy bright and I love the crepe-y-ness of of the flowers.

Japanese garden bridge.  As I was taking photos I relized that I was mostly taking photos with a man-made aspect in every one...which made me really want to add more focal points to my yard...of course I'd need to plant plants first...

Blooming Rose...Old Blush if I remember correctly.

New plantings by the trail

St. Francis of Assisi statue.  I would hazard a guess that St. Francis is the 3rd most famous Catholic saint (preceded by Mary and Joseph).  Surprisingly, St. Francis is not the patron saint of gardeners - that saint would most likely be St. Phocas - patron saint of ornamental and flower gardens. (side note:  I wonder if his name is pronounced like "Focus").  St. Francis is the patron saint of animals (and animal rescue societies) as well as ecology.  However, the newly cannonized St. Kateri Tekakwitha is also a patron saint of the environment and ecology (and seeing as how we're all into plants that do well locally, seems to me like we should also choose the saint that is at least from the North American continent for that aspect).

Whale Tongue Agave