Mercer Botanic Gardens

Mercer Botanic Gardens (180 acres) is a public botanical gardens that includes landscaped garden beds and natural areas located at 22306 Aldine Westfield Road in northern Harris County, Texas, United States. The gardens are managed by Harris County Precinct 3 and open daily with free admission.

The mission of Mercer Botanic Gardens is to establish and maintain a versatile botanical facility for the greater Houston and Gulf Coast region that serves the public, horticultural industry, and scientific community.

Features

The gardens feature several themed areas:

• Endangered Species and Native Plant Garden
• Herb Garden
• Prehistoric Garden
• William D. Lee Iris Collection
• Pollinator Garden
• Vegetable Garden
• Seasonal Color Gardens
• Tropical Garden
• Ginger Garden
• Children's Garden
• Shakespeare Garden
• Pocket Prairie
• Shade Garden and Boardwalk
• Formal garden

The grounds contain a variety of water features (including ponds, a waterfall, and a large Cypress pond called "Storey Lake"), walking paths, a primitive loop, greenhouses, a tea house, and a visitor center with a classroom.

Mercer Botanic Gardens is also home to the Mercer Botanical Center (MBC), which maintains an herbarium, botanical library and illustrations collections and databases; a seed bank for the Center for Plant Conservation; labs and garden sign shop; and associated conservation nursery. MBC staff manage an off-site prairie preserve for the protection of a local federally listed species, Texas prairie dawn (Hymenoxys texana).

History

The gardens are named after Thelma and Charles Mercer, who purchased 14.5 acres (59,000 m2) in the late 1940s for their home and garden. They preserved native trees such as dogwoods, cabbage palmettos, rusty blackhaw viburnum, and hawthorns, and introduced camellias and exotic tree species such as ginkgo, bauhinia, philadelphus, camphor, and tung oil. The property was purchased by Harris County in 1974, and now includes 180 acres (0.73 km2).[1]


See also

References

30°02′17″N 95°22′52″W / 30.0380°N 95.3812°W / 30.0380; -95.3812


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