Remember the Alamo (and its gardens)
When I was 10, we moved to San Antonio, Texas, for less than a year. During that time, my fifth-grade class took a school field trip to see the Alamo.
Maybe it was my age, or the fact that it was a long time ago, that I remember the Alamo as a huge fort standing alone in the city. I learned the history of the battle between a small group of Texans who held off the army of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna for 13 days, eventually sacrificing their lives. The death of the Alamo defenders symbolizes courage and sacrifice for the cause of liberty. The Alamo is a historic site that’s a memorial to those heroes.
Returning to San Antonio and the Alamo as an adult and a Master Gardener, I viewed the mission differently. Due to urban sprawl, the Alamo is now enveloped by this busy city. My focus during this trip was on the gardens and plants that make the Alamo the destination of 2.5 million visitors each year.
The gardens cover 4 of the 4.2 acres. Behind a stone wall, the courtyard is covered by a huge stately southern live oak that was transplanted there in 1912.
This live oak, (Quercus virginiana), is a semi-evergreen tree and 60 feet tall. It was 40 years old when transplanted to the Alamo. Live oaks are planted in the south as landmarks due to their size and longevity. Leaves are oblong and the fruit produced are acorns. Toward the back of the Alamo grounds is a red oak, (Quercus texana), planted in 1939. The red oak can reach 70 feet tall and have a 70-foot spread. It is beautiful in the autumn when the leaves turn shades of red, orange and yellow. Both female and male flowers are borne on the same tree. The leaves are five inches long and 3 inches wide.
What’s unusual is the papaya trees, (Carica papaya), planted in the shrub beds. They are native to tropical America and need both male and female plants to produce fruit, which looks like an orange, oblong melon. Papaya trees grow 8 to 10 feet tall with leaves that are deeply lobed and fan like on 2-foot stalks. They provide autumn interest and color to the garden.
Lady Bird Johnson was instrumental in promoting the Texas bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) and it is the Texas state flower. Growing at the Alamo, are six species of bluebonnets, two are perennials and four are annuals. They grow from 10 to 15 inches with a 12- to 15-inch spread. The seeds are sown in the fall and develop throughout the winter. Growing in full sun, the bluebonnet is a legume.
A Mexican olive tree (Cordia boissieri) grows next to the Alamo facade. The wild olive is a small tree, densely branched and has distinctive trumpet-shaped white flowers, which last for months. The flowers are about 3 inches long and have a yellow throat. It grows in full sun with well-drained soil and gets no supplemental irrigation. The fruit is lemon-lime in color and has a dense, dark seed.
The beautyberry shrub (Callicarpa americana) is a perennial that grows to 5 feet. It is in the verbena family and a native of the eastern United States. In the spring, it has light pink flowers that turn to clusters of magenta berries in late summer.
The purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a showy plant that grows at the Alamo. The dark pink flowers with brown centers have been planted in borders throughout the gardens. Growing to 3 feet, they are an easy, carefree perennial that is native to central and eastern North America.
Cenizos (Leucophyllum frutescens) is a low-growing, silver-gray leafed, densely branched shrub. It is also known as the Texas Ranger or Texas sage. The showy flowers are pinkish purple and bloom several times throughout the growing season. It is native to the Southwest and northern Mexico. Like most of the plants at the Alamo, it is drought tolerant.
Pomegranate trees (Punica granatum) date back to Biblical times and an artist has painted pomegranates on the frescoes inside the mission. The pomegranates grow to 15 feet and have deep red-orange flowers that turn into delicious, edible fruit in the fall. Planted in front of the stone walls in back of the borders, they add color to the gardens most of the year.
Mexican buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa) is a small multi-branched deciduous tree. Drought-tolerant, it grows in the gravelled area next to the shrine. It has leaves that turn yellow in the fall and flowers that resemble those of an eastern redbud tree. Pioneer children used the Mexican buckeye seeds for marbles.
The word “Alamo” means cottonwood in Spanish, so the cottonwood (Populus deltoides) are planted in various places around the Alamo. A fast-growing tree that can reach 80 feet, they normally grow along creeks and rivers, but can be considered drought tolerant. Cottonwoods have invasive roots that are surface-exposed. The cottonwoods at the Alamo are male trees and are “cottonless” or seedless. Cottonwoods were a wonderful site to early settlers because they indicated water was nearby.
Yellow bells or esperanza (Tecoma stans) are a popular ornamental in and around San Antonio. They have showy, bright yellow flowers with a funnel-shaped corolla 2 inches long. Yellow bells are also known as the yellow trumpet flower or yellow elder. These shrubs are native to the Southwest and Mexico and can reach 12 feet in height. Yellow bells are easy to propagate and can be seen throughout the gardens.
The snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) is an annual that adds splashes of color in front of the garden borders. It is planted in the autumn and blooms sporadically until spring when its flowering becomes quite spectacular. Snapdragon forms are dwarf, intermediate and tall and they make beautiful cut flowers.
The Alamo gardens enhance the beauty of the shrine, long barrack museum and gift museum. The gift museum has exhibits telling about the Texas revolution and Texas history.
The Alamo is located close to the beautiful River Walk and definitely worth a visit. Remember your camera.
Sharon Rico is a Master Gardener with the University of California Cooperative Extension office in Fairfield. If you have gardening questions, call the Master Gardener office at 784-1322.
Short URL: http://www.dailyrepublic.com/?p=133444
Posted by Sharon Rico
on Feb 12 2012.
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