LBJ Relatives Give $1 Million for New Wildflower Center Garden

By Joanie Ferguson in 40 Acres, Special on April 25, 2012 at 2:30 pm | No Comments

Luci Baines Johnson and Ian Turpin have donated $1 million to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to develop a Family Garden that will bear their name.

President Bill Powers joined Susan Rieff, Wildflower Center executive director, this morning in announcing the gift.

The Luci Baines Johnson and Ian Turpin Family Garden’s creative design will feature a “metamorphosis maze” and giant birds’ nests to inspire creative play and learning in children exploring the 4.5 acre garden.

“Mother’s dream was that the Wildflower Center would inspire future generations to take care of the environment,” said Luci Baines Johnson, the younger daughter of Lady Bird and President Lyndon Baines Johnson, in a Wildflower Center press release. “By providing this gift, Ian and I have the chance of a lifetime to help Mother’s dream come true, just as she did so many of ours.”

The Family Garden, designed by landscape architect W. Gary Smith, will be a model of green landscaping as a pilot project of the Sustainable Sites Initiative.

“The Wildflower Center is deeply grateful to Luci and Ian for helping us create a magical garden world for children and families as well as a showcase for sustainable landscapes,” Rieff said.

A groundbreaking for the garden will occur in the next year as part of celebrating the centennial of Lady Bird Johnson’s birth.

Photo courtesy Barbara Rodriguez

Tags: Family Garden, Ian Turpin, lady bird johnson, LBJ Wildflower Center, Luci Baines Johnson, lyndon b. johnson, Wildflower