Grow with Us - Native Texas Park at the George W. Bush Presidential Center

The George W. Bush Presidential Library, located on the SMU Campus at Bush Ave. and SMU Blvd., was completed in 2013 and includes a 15-acre Native Texas Park. The park is FREE and open to the public 365 days a year, from sunrise to sunset. The park offers visitors an opportunity to experience President & Mrs. Bush's love of the Texas landscape and their commitment to environmental conservation and restoration.  This program will take you on a 1-mile virtual tour of the park. It will highlight three Texas ecoregions: the Blackland Prairie, Post Oak Savannah, and Cross Timbers.  A few hydrology concepts for use in landscape design will be introduced, and many of the over 53 varieties of wildflowers, 36 varieties of grasses and 32 varieties of trees on the 22 acre campus will be highlighted. You will learn about the state flower, insect, tree and grass, and why planning for biodiversity in the landscape is so important. You will also learn the answer to the most frequently asked question about the library’s landscape. “What is going on with the grass in front of the Bush Library?” And much more…

After this presentation it is hoped you will download the pdf file of the Native Texas Park Self-Guided Tour Map and Information and plan a visit to enjoy a little bit of our state’s beautiful natural environment located right in the center of Dallas.

Presenter Lois Diggs is a Certified Master Gardener class of 2012, George W. Bush Presidential Library Native Texas Park Docent/Guide since 2014, Native Plant Society of Texas/ Dallas Chapter Board Member, and Certified Master Naturalist class of 2020. Lois continues to learn and share how to be a good steward of the Texas landscape, and the importance of using native grasses and flowers in our urban landscape. 

This program is available online only.

Grow with Us is a series of online sessions from the Dallas Public Library - Seed Library and Dallas Environmental Quality and Sustainability hosting expert speakers to share practical, informative, and inspirational information about growing and urban agriculture in Dallas.