I just learned about the most amazing newly opened botanical gardens in Orange Texas called Shangri La Gardens and Nature Center. Below is some information from Wikipedia, but what they DO NOT tell you is that this botanical gardens and nature center in Orange, Texas was awarded the U.S. Green Building Council's Platinum certification for LEED®-NC, which verifies that design and construction reached the highest green building and performance measures.
Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center (252 acres) are private botanical gardens and a nature preserve located in the center of Orange, Texas.
H. J. Lutcher Stark began work on Shangri La in 1942. His Azalea gardens first opened to the public in 1946, but in the mid 1950s they were destroyed by very cold weather. The area was subsequently closed to the public and maintained on a very limited scale. It was then bequeathed by Nelda C. Stark to the Nelda C. and H. J. Lutcher Stark Foundation (established 1961), which has been working to restore the botanical gardens and create a nature center. As of January 2006, the Stark Foundation plans to reopen the gardens in Spring 2008.
Shangri La contains a mixed deciduous forest, cypress tupelo swamp, wetlands, and a large lake. Many of its trees were heavily damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Rita in September 2005.
Here are some beautiful pictures provided by the management of the nature center:
Their website is really gorgeous. I am really excited to have the opportunity to help get the word out about such a worthwhile endevor. With a bird blind where you can observe nesting herons, educational series for kids, various outdoor "rooms" of plant specimens, and cypress forest and unique ecosystems, this sounds like a super place to visit if you are ANYWHERE near Orange, Texas!
