Haints, Lubbers, and the Blue Moon
This spring, the 6 o’clock weather forecast of “cloudy to partly cloudy with a 60% chance of thunderstorms, S to SW winds gusting to 30 mph” had started to sound like a broken record.
Then last week, we finally caught a much-needed break with back to back bluebird days and a light northeast breeze. Mother Nature had granted us a narrow window of opportunity, and I didn’t want to waste it. All options were on the table. Fishing, crabbing, a beach trip, a day in Galveston?
But, not so fast! Sabine Lake and the ship channel were fresh and dirty from the recent rains, and a check of the Crystal Beach and TxDot webcams showed the beachfront surf lapping against the dunes and a mile long ferry line. Sea Rim Park had been loaded with flotsam and seaweed on our previous visit, and Cattail Marsh was still choked with hyacinth. I put the kibosh on yard work and (yikes!) a ride along to Dillard’s. We were running out of ideas.
But then it came to me in a hail-Mary epiphany…What about Shangri La? We hadn’t been over to the Botanical Garden and Nature Center since the Scarecrow Festival last fall, and it was a perfect day for a road trip! We geared up—grabbing some sunscreen, the Off, a couple of waters and a tumbler of coffee—and after a quick stop at Rao’s Bakery, struck out for Orange.
Two kolaches and a pecan sticky bun later, we turned off MacArthur Dr. onto 16th street and then hung the first left, at W. Park Ave. Public parking is about a half mile on the right and tour groups, handicapped, drop-offs and staff take the main entrance drive to the left.
Just stepping through the gate is an “ahhh” moment. The wildflower-lined walking paths are cloistered from the street and lead through the trees to the beautifully designed main entrance and welcome area. Once there, you are greeted by friendly staff members who take your zip code and offer helpful advice to enhance the enjoyment of your experience.
We normally take an unstructured approach and wander through the gardens guided by flora, fauna, and installations that catch our eye, but on this trip, we picked up a map and plotted a counter-clockwise route from the visitor center. The raised bed plantings around the perimeter of the courtyard offered summer color from indigenous coneflower, white rose of Sharon, and black-eyed Susan. I had my camera and hoped to get some pictures of the colorful dragonflies that patrol the area or maybe even a butterfly or bumblebee visiting the spikelets and blooms.
I spotted the Monarch just as it lit on a coneflower, maybe ten feet down the pathway. With some stealthy tai-chi-style sneaking, I was able to get pretty close and then squatted down for a better perspective, extendeding my camera with both hands and using the rear screen to frame the butterfly and flowers. I took a shot, and as I was recomposing for another, a rustle in the dry leaves and pine straw just to my right gave me a start, and I lost my balance sitting back hard on the concrete walkway. Since I had my camera strapped to my right wrist, I couldn’t use both hands to push myself back up, so I had to half-roll on my side to get up on my knees and then stood up. My pride was bruised, as well as my rear end. I dusted myself off, quickly glanced around to see if anyone had witnessed the debacle and then, trying to be nonchalant, strolled on down the path. Thankfully, my wife had her back turned and missed the whole thing. I would never have heard the end of it. ”Let me get this straight…so you hurt yourself when a lizard scared you while taking a picture of a butterfly?” I’d have to turn in my man card.
Soldiering on from the courtyard, we turned right, passing full-bloom yellow cosmos, sage, firebush and, lantana at the Bee Scene pollinators garden and then stopped to marvel at the stunning Dancing Sisters guarding the entrance to the Children’s Garden. The four seventeen-foot Blue Bottle Tree sculptures were designed by noted Southern metal artist Stephanie Dwyer to celebrate bottle tree folklore which has a long history as an element of religious, cultural, and artistic significance in the Deep South.
In African American Hoodoo culture, bottle trees were thought to guard the home and trap roving night spirits called “haints,” that are drawn to the bright indigo blue-colored bottles and then once inside the spirits are destroyed by the morning’s light. Bottle trees have come to symbolize nature, good luck and rebirth and the Dancing Sisters are the perfect metaphor for Shangri La’s resilience and renewal since Hurricanes Rita and Ike and the deluge of Tropical Storm Harvey.
Next, we walked through the Epiphyte greenhouses that showcase ferns, bromeliads, air plants, and orchids and rainforest tropicals. Then onward through to the massive archway framing the beautiful caladium-banked Tree Ring Plaza, where we lingered for a few minutes by the reflecting ponds and enjoyed the bald cypress and Spanish moss-draped view of Ruby Lake.
Beyond the plaza, the path winds through the shade of massive live oaks hung with gigantic staghorn ferns and then splits. I took a left to the Perennial Garden strip and my wife the right through the Hanging Gardens.
That’s when I discovered the eastern lubbers on a canna lily leaf. Exited, I circled back around and found my wife. “You’ve got to come over here and see these lubbers!” I said.
“Who is it?” She asked. “How do you know they’re lovers?”
“Not lovers, lubbers…giant grasshoppers. You know, like landlubbers? They don’t hop or fly like regular grasshoppers; they are too big and clumsy.”
We found dozens of the mega hoppers on black and green cannas, confederate roses, and agapanthus. I wished the grandkids had been with us. They would have totally freaked out.
After the entomology jackpot, we pressed on to The Pond of the Blue Moon, where we found a bench and rested. The azalea-ringed pond and towering Cypress Gate easily form the most beautiful and zen spot in Southeast Texas. The perfect manifestation of H.J. Lutcher Stark’s vision of an Eden-like refuge for all to enjoy.
It was a trek back to the pond, and of course, I had endured a “camera roll,” so we decided to save the perimeter pathway Garden Rooms for another visit and headed back before they put out a Silver Alert!
A great way to end the story with the perfect Led Zeppelin lyrics!
Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center is open Tuesday-Saturday, 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Admission is free. For more information call 1-409-670-9113 or visit their website: www.starkculturalvenues.org