The Landa Community Garden is located on the west side of the grounds of the Landa Branch of the San Antonio Public Library. In the Fall of 2007, Landa Community Garden was started as the result of a series of community meetings facilitated by the Landa Gardens Conservancy.
The current design and medieval theme came from the existing geometric layout of the garden. A medieval garden has four components: beauty, fragrance, medicinal and culinary. The Landa Community Garden’s version of the medieval garden is comprised of the distinct areas of Beauty and Color, Herbs, Medicinal, Grasses and Culinary. Some flexibility was introduced to the design by allowing the mixture of culinary plants in with other beds and allowing a selection of plants agreed on by the Community Gardeners.
After many Saturdays of preparation by digging out the old beds and refilling with soil and the paths with gravel, the Community Gardeners planted the first seeds in early Spring 2008. The garden will change, every season and every year as some plants die or don’t do well, seasonal/annual plants that may change every year and as other community members become involved and incorporate their ideas into this community’s garden.
The Landa Community Garden is a place of creativity, education, relaxation, diversity, exercise and health. We welcome a variety of talents to maintain the best garden possible: Planners, Laborers, Waterers, and Weed-Pullers to name a few. The Community Gardeners meet the second Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. at Landa Library, either in the library or in the garden. If needed, “Work Days” are planned the third Saturday of every month at 9 a.m. The Community Garden is open to the public and welcomes all to enjoy the environment of what the Gardeners have sowed.
If you have comments, suggestions or questions about the Community Garden please email Landa.Community.Garden@gmail.com or write to:
Landa Gardens Conservancy
Attn: Community Garden
P.O. Box 12243
San Antonio, Texas 78212
November 2008 Highlights and Observations
at Landa Conservancy Community Garden
The winter garden is starting to take shape. The most striking plants are the native grasses planted in one of the central beds. They provide wonderful struc
ture, muted earthy colors and habitat for overwintering insects in the garden. Unless they get too unwieldy and flop over, they will be cut down in late winter before growth begins again in the spring. The 4 species of grasses planted in the garden represent some of the most common native grasses that existed in Texas prior to domestication of the landscape – these are Lindheimer Muhly, Indian Grass and Brushy Blustem and Little Bluestem – now we can introduce them back into our home landscapes for interest and beauty. The bed of herbs will also stand up to much of the winter weather of south Texas, as long as we don’t get too much rain.
The caterpillars have taken a toll on the Rue in the medicinal garden. Although not native, Rue is a preferred host food plant for caterpillars of the Eastern Black Swallowtail (see below) of two different ages. We will be sure to plant more of that next year so there will be enough to feed them all – this year they ate all the leaves on each of the 4 plants. The Hoptree or Wafer Ash is a native understory plant related to Rue that these butterfly larvae feed on can be found growing in Olmos Basin and Brackenridge Park.
Other butterflies that can still be found in the garden include some species of hairstreak and skippers on the yarrow that is continuing to bloom in the medicinal garden.
Over the next couple of weeks (preferably after the first frost) much of the garden will be pruned back for the winter to tidy it up until growth begins again in the spring. There will be plenty of perennial plants that will occasionally flower or show a green clump of leaves at the base during the winter months, but mostly they will be maintaining their root mass so that they can continue to thrive in the brutal summer months of south Texas.
native understory plant related to Rue that these butterfly larvae feed on can be found growing in Olmos Basin and Brackenridge Park.
October 2008 Highlights and Observations
at Landa Conservancy Community Garden
The October Garden’s most impressive display are the Texas Fall Aster and the native Maximillian Sunflower. Both are providing nectar and pollen to a large number of flying insects including honeybees other native bees and butterflies. The butterflies have included migrating Monarchs, Queen, Gulf Fritillary, Giant and Black Swallowtails, hairstreaks (seen on the Purple Coneflower), Texan Crescents and numberous skipper species. The rue in the medicinal garden is hosting a large number of larvae (caterpillars) of the Giant Swallowtail. They are in varying stages of development, but when they are mature they resemble bird droppings so that they will not be eaten. If you have a wafer ash tree in your yard you might also find this caterpillar feeding on the leaves. No monarch caterpillars have been noticed, but there do seem to be some eggs layed on the underside of their food plant, the milkweed in the Medicinal bed.
Also the native grasses are robust and in flower – they are particularly beautiful in the early morning and late afternoon. Unfortunately the Little Bluestem had to be cut back because it was not standing erect as hoped in the garden.
Other flowers in bloom are the Blackfoot Daisy which has performed well this entire year in the garden as has the Rock Rose. The Goldenrod is still showing some color and surprisingly the Standing Cypress seems to be blooming again next to it in the front bed. The Pineapple Sage is also making a comeback in the cooling days of October.
As for the vegetables, some beans are producing and the Thai pepper is quite full of ripe, orange fruit. Some green tomatoes can be found and a bit of the fall planting of lettuce and spinach are germinating slowly in the dry weather. Radishes are also progressing nicely as seen from the leaves growing above ground, but the actual radish has not begun to form at this time.