8/14/2019 Garden 25

1/1

DAILY NZ P A G E 1E C O L O R P U B D A T E 05-21-05 O P E R A T O R RREINHARD D A T E // T I M E :

DAILY NZ P A G E 1E C O L O R P U B D A T E 05-21-05 O P E R A T O R RREINHARD D A T E // T I M E :

SAN ANTONIO

EXPRESS-NEWS

SATURDAY

MAY 21, 2005

SECTION E

SpacesA couple collected

Texas-anything and everythingto decorate their homePAGE 10E

1976 was the summer of thebicentennial, the Summer ofSam and the summer I gotscrewed on my summer vaca-tion. Almost 30 years later Imstill bitter.

What do you mean schoolstarts in mid-August? I can stillhear myself asking. Moving toTexas from California that sum-mer was traumatic enough onmy 12-year-old psyche, but theloss of cherished summer vaca-

tion seemed al-most too muchto bear. August?August is stillsummer every-where else.Why isnt Au-gust summerhere?

It is a ques-tion that hasbothered meever since. Kidsgetting onschool buses in100 degree heatis abusive.When you see

Jerry Lewis on television for 24hours straight you should bepreparing for school to start, notalready burned out by it.

Lo and behold, on the 30th an-niversary of my worst summerever, injustice may finally berighted. It looks like a billpoised to become a law will re-

quire Texas schools to begin onthe Tuesday after Labor Dayand end by June 7th.

Yes!

The new, normal school yearhas people deeply divided. Thepro-normal people say it willsave money on electricity, helptourism and give families moresummer time together. The anti-normal (pro-abnormal) peopleclaim the longer summer takesaway local control, will force old-er students to take finals afterChristmas break and may im-pede TAKS test preparedness. (Italways comes down to the TAKStest doesnt it?)

Bottom line: Students will stillhave to go to school for 180 daysand they will still spend a dis-proportionate amount of theirlives preparing for the TAKStest. They will lose a few days ofschooltime breaks, but that isworth a longer summer.

What will be different is

In praise

of normalAugust

See OROURKE/4E

MICHAELOROURKE

Prickly pear(Optunia spp.)

With potentially vicious spines,prickly pears arent invited intotoo many residential landscapes.But the sunny yellow blossomsdotting the cactus pads in pas-tures this time of year make theplant tempting. Just opt for aspineless variety unless you areusing the plant as part of your se-curity system.

In 1995, Texas lawmakersnamed prickly pear the stateplant, making the Lone Star Statethe only state with an officialplant.

The light green color of thepads and their sculptural shapemake the plant an asset in thegarden.

Light: Sun.

Size: 2 to 5 feet tall; 4 to 6 feetwide.

Water: Drought tolerant.

Bloom: Spring.

Cultivation: Needs good drain-age.

GO O D T OG R OW

TRACY HOBSON LEHMANN

Years, like shears, shape a garden.

Weeks introduce fresh buds, new leaves.

Months coax roots to settle into the soil.

Seasons instill maturity and character.

Decades plant delights.

Time is Mother Natures tool.

As the San Antonio Botanical Garden

celebrates its 25th anniversary, we explore

delights that have sprung up in a quarter-

century of growing and evolving. The 33-acre

center yields a bountiful crop of surprises.

Turn to Page 12E for the 25 we plucked.

A birthday crop

of abundant beauty

S T O R Y B Y T R A C Y H O B S O N L E H M A N N

P H O T O S B Y L I S A K R A N T Z A N D H E L E N L . M O N T O Y A