Dallas Arboretum Reopens

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Dallas Arboretum Sculpture
Celebrating the Familiar at the Dallas Arboretum

How do you ramble in the midst of a pandemic? For me, it’s finding uncrowded outdoor spaces. Dallas summer heat adds to the challenge, but, with a little pre-planning, Dallas Arboretum suits. The quintessential garden reopened to the public June 1. Though some areas, like the Rory Meyer Children’s Adventure Garden remain closed, much of the Dallas Arboretum is open for a leisurely stroll and even a picnic. Best part, the garden is ablaze with color from blooming annuals.

Dallas Arboretum summer color
Summer annuals add bursts of color

What’s Changed

Pre-purchased tickets, procured by phone or online are needed for entrance …even for Arboretum members. The timed reservation allocates four hours garden admission to the ticketholder. I reserved online, printed my tickets at home, and swapped them at the entrance for color-coded wrist bands. While the garden recommends wearing masks, almost all visitors dispensed with face coverings once inside the grounds. Everyone was respectful of social distancing. Please note, however, masks are required in public restrooms.  

Not all gardens are open. The tram isn’t running. What is available is a mile loop around the garden. To prevent crowding, the trail is directional, with arrows and signage guiding visitors. I thought I’d find this too limiting. It wasn’t. The loop takes you along the entire perimeter of the Arboretum and includes the Woman’s Garden. Much of the route meanders through shade and past water features, a wonderful respite from the heat.

Seward Johnson Summer Sculpture

You won’t find the seasonal playhouses for children that graced the Dallas Arboretum in previous summers. What you will find are twenty-five, bronze statues from Seward Johnson’s Celebrating the Familiar. When I spied the first statue, I mistook it for an actual person. Johnson’s art are life-sized sculptures ‘dressed’ in painted bronze … almost like store manikins. Most had me taking another look to determine if it was a garden visitor or a Seward Johnson sculpture, like the young girl sitting on the park bench with a rabbit in her lap. The exhibit opens on June 22, though most of the sculptures were already in position during my visit this week.

Seward Johnson Celebrating the Familiar at the Dallas Arboretum
Seward Johnson – Celebrating the Familiar

Seward Johnson, grandson to a Johnson & Johnson founder, died at 89 this past March. His sculptures have been described as ‘hyperreal’ and some art critics consider them ‘kitsch.’ I found them delightful snippets of everyday life and a treat to discover during my garden walk.

Consider a Membership

Timing is everything. If you want to beat Dallas heat, the earlier in the day you visit, the more pleasant the experience. The Dallas Arboretum opens at 9 am. Through November, however, Arboretum members can reserve a 7 to 11 am admission ticket. The early entry option is a wonderful perk with even fewer people around, and best of all, less heat to contend with. My family’s favorite is early admission, walk, and then a breakfast picnic. Members have an additional option to enjoy a twilight garden walk, Thursdays from 4 to 8 pm.

Picnic

Unlike other formal gardens, the Dallas Arboretum encourages picnicking. Under the current reopening, dining locations are limited. I strongly urge bringing your own food and drink. There is a water refill station at the main entrance, but other drinking fountains are not available. During our visit, we found folks using benches, ubiquitously located along the pathway, for al fresco dining. Magnolia Glade offers tables under massive trees. My favorite spot, the cabanas at Three Sisters Overlook, even has rotating fans to cool you off.

Three Sisters Overlook

When you go The Dallas Arboretum is located at 8525 Garland Road, Dallas.  Garden admission is daily 9 am to 5 pm. Pre-purchase tickets by phone at (214) 515-6615 or online. Seward Johnson’s Celebrating the Familiar will be on display June 22 through July 17. As Dallas Arboretum reopens to the public, expect changes. Please consult their website for the latest updates and guidance. Virtual garden tours are also available right from your home computer.

Green Anole

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Texas Backyard Critters

Harry, my backyard green anole

The amount of wildlife that inhabits my garden beds continues to amaze me. I’m not a big reptile fan, but I have formed an attachment to one green anole, a lizard, that enjoys soaking up sun rays on the brick ledge outside my bedroom window. I’ve named him Harry after the anole in the BBC series, Death in Paradise.

I find Harry taking up his sunbathing perch most afternoons. Sometimes he clings to the brick facing outside the front door. Other times he’s positioned on a wrought iron butterfly sculpture. And, if feeling particularly private, I’ve found him snugged up in a Rose of Sharon bush.

Battle Royal – Green Anoles

I’ve always thought of Harry as a peaceful, quiet sort of guy. Imagine my surprise, that while trimming up some overly exuberant trumpeter vine, I encountered Harry in mortal combat with another green anole. This was a pitched, dinosaur-style battle. The lizards circled each other and bobbed up and down. At different intervals the anoles took turns puffing up their dewlap, that’s the pinkish-red neck flap under their chin. It didn’t take me long to discover the reason for the skirmish. Clinging to a nearby rainspout was a female anole, oblivious to the fight taking place three feet away. Alas, Harry did not fair well in the battle, and retreated.

Female Anole waits patiently

The battle I witnessed is common in springtime. Green anoles jealously guard their territory, fighting intruders, especially when a female is involved. Another interesting tidbit, green anoles change colors, sometimes with incredible rapidity. During Harry’s battle royal, the two lizards transformed from forest green to brown and back again. In retreat, Harry shifted back to the bright grass-green skin I’m accustomed to. Scientists believe humidity, mood, temperature and health trigger color shifting, not a camouflage adaption. I’d always believed green anoles were a type of chameleon and was surprised to learn that they are more closely related to iguanas than chameleons.

I’ve discovered more green anoles in the yard. There is one little fellow who suns itself on my compost bin – a great place to catch a few rays and snatch a bite to eat (lots of ants around the bin). Harry’s opponent, in the side yard, likes to hide within my trumpeter vine. And there is a baby anole in the front yard who suns on a low rock in the afternoon. I’m sure, if you look closely, you, too, may have a few lizard friends in your own backyard.

More Anole Tidbits

Green anoles are diurnal, which means they are daytime critters

Great for the garden, anoles eat bugs, slugs, moths, and worms

Another species, the non-native brown anole is an invasive species out competing its green anole cousin in our area

Anoles live two to eight years

Green anoles can be kept as pets

Eastern Cottontail

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Texas Backyard Critters

Hoppy, an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit

Exploring my backyard has replaced day trips, as we all do our part to stop the spread of covid-19 and stay home. I am amazed and entertained by the microcosm of life around me. One frequent visitor to my garden oasis, consistently maintains at least the CDC prescribed six-foot distance – an eastern cottontail rabbit my family named Hoppy. This little guy … could be a gal … it’s difficult to sex a rabbit … lives under a tool shed in the corner. The yard is fenced, offering Hoppy protection from most predators, though I’ve noted he’s beginning to foray out in the evenings. And while he does prefer to dine on black eyed susan plants, he’s discovered that seeds, dropped by squirrels raiding the bird feeder, are mighty tasty, too.

While many view the rabbit as a pest, I admire its adaptability.  The eastern cottontail is ubiquitous adjusting to North Texas’ changing landscape and creating habitat for itself in among suburban subdivisions.  On my neighborhood walks, I frequently spy at least one fluff-tailed critter. An herbivore, the rabbit dines on lawns and makes its home in shrubs. An opportunistic vegetarian, the eastern cottontail will gladly switch from its native diet of grasses to other garden plants, like my black eyed susan, when available.

These small mammals weigh just two to four pounds. They are crepuscular, meaning they’re active during dawn and dusk, generally resting during the day. I often find Hoppy catching a little afternoon sun and taking a nap nestled in the garden bed mulch.

In the wild, rabbits live just a little over a year contending with predators like bobcat, fox, coyote, owls, and hawks. To survive, cottontails possess exceptional eyesight and hearing.  If they sense danger, the rabbit will freeze in place or dash for cover.  Backyard naturalists likely have seen both behaviors.  Cottontails can jump up to 15 feet and often will flee in a zigzag pattern – done to throw a predator off its scent.

Life is tough for the eastern cottontail, even in suburbia. Backyard bunnies, like Hoppy, have to contend with predatory dogs and cats, but most are killed by cars. Still, rabbits thrive in North Texas often birthing several litters of kits each season. Unlike their cousin the hare, rabbits are helpless at birth, born both blind and hairless. The new kit (baby rabbit) will quickly grow its fur and open its eyes, leaving the nest within about two weeks. Kits mature to full grown adults within four or five months. I’ve watched Hoppy grow from small kit to full grown rabbit over the past several months. He continues to captivate me with his cuteness.

More Rabbit Tidbits

  • Eastern cottontails are not social animals and prefer to live singularly.
  • The female cottontail is larger than the male.
  • Cottontails rarely drink water, getting most of their water from the plants they eat.
  • In winter, if green plants are not available, the cottontail will eat twigs and bark.
  • Cottontails will sometimes eat their own droppings to get all the nutrients from the food they ate. 

Eisenhower Birthplace

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Denison touts Dwight D. (Ike) Eisenhower, as its most notable son. Located 70 miles northeast of Dallas, you can visit Eisenhower Birthplace State Historical Site and discover the town’s connection to our thirty-fourth president.

1890 Denison

I’m fascinated by the wealth of history hidden away in our North Texas towns. Denison owes its origin to The Missouri Kansas Texas (KATY) railroad. The railroad arrived first, followed by the town in 1873. At that time, the settlement of about 3,000 people named itself after KATY President, George Denison. The new township, grew to almost 10,000, and soon found itself a hub for five railroads moving the area’s primary commodity, cotton. David Eisenhower, Dwight’s father, came to Denison to find work with the railroad after a failed business venture in Kansas. Having secured a job as a wiper, a worker cleaning steam engines and equipment, he sent for his family.

The Eisenhower connection

The Eisenhower family rented a small house. Feet from the railway, the home must have vibrated with the rumble of each passing train belching its black smoke. The family stayed just three years, returning to Abilene, Kansas, when baby Dwight was only eighteen months old.

Jennie Jackson

Eisenhower had no knowledge of his North Texas roots. For him, Abilene was his boyhood home and birthplace. Ironically, it was a retired Denison school teacher, Jennie Jackson, who uncovered the Texas connection. General Eisenhower had gained international fame as Supreme Allied Commander Europe, instrumental in World War II efforts and D-Day success. Jackson wondered if this famous general might be related to the family she knew in her youth. She combed through old city records and wrote Ida Eisenhower, the general’s mother. Suspicions confirmed, the local community bought the house where Dwight Eisenhower was born and restored it. Eisenhower visited Denison for the first time as an adult in 1946 having breakfast with city leaders, including Jackson, at his birthplace home. A newsreel of Dwight Eisenhower’s visit to Denison can still be found on YouTube.

Eisenhower Birthplace Historical Site

The Texas Historical Commission now operates the site. The Eisenhower Birthplace possesses a small collection of memorabilia including a painting by the President, but most Eisenhower artifacts are on display at the presidential library in Abilene. A film in the visitor’s center provides a short history of President Eisenhower’s life and legacy.

Near the Eisenhower home, a larger than life bronze statue stands atop a marble base. This is one of five Robert Dean sculptures of Eisenhower in military uniform. The other four statues are at West Point, the London Embassy, Normandy, and at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library.

Guided tour

The docent-led tour is an absolute must. Tours are led, roughly, on the hour. The only way to gain access to the actual birthplace, the house, is by joining a tour. The knowledgeable guides paint a picture of Denison life in the 1890s, and share a wealth of information about the challenges Eisenhower’s parents faced in those early years when David, Ike’s father, worked for the KATY railroad.

When you go.

Eisenhower’s Birthplace (609 S. Lamar, Denison, 903/465-8908) is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Sunday from 1:00 until 5:00 p.m. Access to the park and visitor center is free. Tour tickets are $4 for adults and $3 for students. There are picnic grounds and restrooms next to the visitors’ center. If you prefer to lunch in town, let me suggest the Best Burger Barn (100 W Chestnut Street, Denison). The restaurant and bar boosts it has the best burgers in Texas. I’m not sure I’d go that far, but they do serve a fantastic burger.

Did you know Dwight D. Eisenhower first applied to the Naval Academy but was rejected for being too old? He was 21-years-old at the time.

Did you know The inspiration for Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway System came from his wartime experience with the German Autobahn?

Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum

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What do a World War II hero, Hunt County, and cotton have in common? They are the focal points of exhibits at Greenville’s Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum.

I confess. I’m drawn to a town’s heritage museum. Texas towns, like Greenville, offer day-trippers antique shops, boutiques, and interesting cafes – all a superficial experience of the town today. Visit the city’s heritage museum to go beyond the surface, to find the depth of personality and history each of these fabulous towns possess.

Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum

The museum is on the Interstate 30 access road. The military memorial at the entrance signals the community’s commitment to tell Audie Murphy and other veterans’ stories. As you drive up to the museum, you pass historic buildings, often open for events like Frontier Day (held the first Saturday in November). The museum plans to operate a Blacksmith shop on premise – a fun, upcoming addition. Inside, the museum is loosely divided into three sections: Hunt County history, Cotton, and Audie Murphy.

Hunt County history

The area’s history begins with the Caddo and Shawnee, the indigenous people of the region. More could be done to expand this section as you quickly move into European settlement beginning in 1830. County notables, like White Sox pitcher Monty Stratton; diplomat, Fletcher Warren; and middleweight boxing champion, Reecy Davis all retain their own museum display. I found the street front exhibit enlightening. Combining visual display with audio storytelling, you gain an appreciation of the lifestyle and issues of 1920 Greenville.

Cotton

American Cotton Museum display

I think of this region as as a cattle and then oil center. But, from about 1850 through 1920, cotton was king with cotton mills in McKinney, Greenville, and other East Texas towns. The railroad allowed places like Greenville a means to move large quantities of cotton. In fact Greenville had the largest cotton press in the world in 1911. Much of the cotton was raised and harvested by sharecroppers and sales managed by cotton brokers. The Depression and decline in the cotton industry, heralded hard times for many of these cotton-dependent towns. Farmers, both white and black, became part of the Great Migration north. By 1950, over six million southerners left rural life for jobs in northern factories. The museum provides good background of the cotton tale — how it was produced, milled, and sold.

Audie Murphy

Portrait of Medal of Honor recipient Audie Murphy

The last section of the museum is devoted to Audie Murphy and other local veterans. Murphy is a fascinating man. He was born in 1924, the third son of seven children. Murphy’s father was a tenant/sharecropper farmer, requiring the family to move frequently for work. In 1940, his father abandoned the family. Audie, for his part, worked from age 14. From these humble beginnings, Audie Murphy became a World War II hero, earning every combat medal, including the Medal of Honor, by age twenty-one. After the war, he wrote his memoir To Hell and Back, which later became a movie, starring, you guessed it, Audie Murphy. He continued his Hollywood career acting alongside greats like Jimmy Stewart.

Despite his talents and success, Murphy suffered from what we now know as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). The museum speaks to the combat fatigue he battled. I was particularly struck by Murphy’s words: “After the war, they took the Army dogs and rehabilitated them for civilian life. But they turned soldiers into civilians immediately and let them sink or swim.”

When you go

Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum (600 I-30 East, Greenville) is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $6, with discounts for seniors, veterans, and students. Be sure to visit the museum website to learn about special events like Frontier Days, brown bag lectures, and golden oldie movie nights.

Quote from Greenville Military Monument: “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation” –General Douglas MacArthur