Scavenger Hunt at Zilker Botanical Garden

Zilker Botanical Garden is a wonderful place to visit in the summer.  The cool, relaxing ponds in the Oriental Garden melt away the heat and the overhanging foliage blocks the hot summer sun.  My boys love following the stepping stones through the water, the dark cool tunnels, small bridges and the splashing fountains.

We love the pre-historic garden, with its

Jurassic plants.  I have long known that dinosaurs ate ginkos, but never exactly knew what one was until today!  And the first glimpse of the Ornithomimus makes us smile every time!

So, when we saw that one of the challenges in the Texas Nature Challenge was a Scavenger Hunt at the Botanical Gardens, we added it to our list.  We counted the number of different color roses in the Rose Garden; we listed the insects we saw flying in the butterfly garden and we identified native Texas plants.

The boys sat for about 15 minutes to watch a snake crawl through the ferns with the sound of a the stream bubbling in the background. 

It was a fun way to spend a few hours of a hot Texas afternoon.