As sure as bluebonnets are blue, every spring azaleas deck parks and gardens in the eastern third of Texas with shades of pink. (And red, white, purple, even the occasional yellow and orange.) These evergreen shrubs love the mild weather and acidic soil of East Texas, and each year the city of Tyler hosts a festival to show off its public and private azalea displays.
The 2013 Azalea and Spring Flower Trail opens today, March 15, and extends through April 7. Outdoor flowers being capricious creatures, I drove to Tyler last Tuesday to check on the blooms. Along most of the mapped eight-mile trail, azaleas were just starting to open, and a few days of this warm weather should have brought them out.
I took the picture illustrating this post at the Tyler Municipal Rose Garden -- not on the official trail but worth a side trip both for early-blooming azaleas and a gorgeous display of camellias. (Rose bloom is expected to start about April 1, although some antique roses are already flowering.) For Rose Garden information, see www.tylerrosemuseum.com/.
Besides azaleas, Tyler bursts with activities during the annual festival -- home and garden tours, historical tours, and arts and crafts fairs. Blooms on East Texas’ many dogwood trees are also expanding, and nearby Tyler State Park offers a Dogwood Days driving and walking tour to enjoy them.
Of course you’ll take pictures, and there’s a photography contest, with a chance to win cash for your favorites and see them featured on the festival’s Facebook and Flickr sites.
Tyler is located about ninety minutes east of Dallas, a few miles off I-20. The trail begins at the Tyler Convention and Visitors Bureau, 315 N. Broadway, open daily during the festival except on Easter, March 31.
There are actually two routes, the Dobbs Trail and Lindsey Trail, partially overlapping and well marked. For a brochure of activities and trail map, or to download a free azalea blossom screensaver, see www.tylerazaleatrail.com/.
For information about other attractions in and around Tyler during your visit, see
www.tylertexas.com/.
(Next Friday -- a selection of spring festivals around North Central Texas.)
Showing posts with label Tyler Municipal Rose Garden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tyler Municipal Rose Garden. Show all posts
Friday, March 15, 2013
Monday, January 30, 2012
Totally Texas -- Expedition to East Texas
Even if it’s not First Monday Trades Days, my family stops at the Dairy Palace in Canton on every expedition to East Texas. Located at the junction of I-20 and Highway 19, the Dairy Palace is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It offers more than hamburgers and serves shakes and cones made with a multiplicity of Blue Bell ice cream flavors. Take quarters so the kids can play video games while they wait (but not long) for their orders to get cooked. For a complete menu, see www.dairypalace.com/.
This coming weekend, though, is the First Monday flea market in Canton. A quick review for anybody not from around here -- despite the name, the market runs Thursday through Sunday BEFORE the first Monday of each month. This month, that’s February 2-5. Crowds are lightest on Thursdays, with about seventy percent of vendors already in town by then, according to at least one site, www.cantontradedays.com/.
Canton is just off I-20, about an hour’s drive east from Dallas. You can reach it from exits off I-20 to Highway 64 or Highway 19, which is the main drag past the market. Vendors in most of the covered buildings take credit or debit cards, but bring cash for parking (most convenient sites start at $5) and for vendors in the open areas. I go with goals in mind, but keep my mind open for wonderful surprises.
For more information about Canton’s First Monday Trades Days, see my post of June 27, 2011. Fortunately, the discussion of dehydration is less likely to apply at this time of year.
Trades Days, however, are not all the near end of East Texas has to offer. I’ll blog more next week about the Second Saturday Art Trail in Ben Wheeler and Edom. But shops are open in both towns Thursday through Sunday, year round. (Usually 9-5, but hours can vary.) Take Highway 64 east from Canton to FM 279. (You’re nearly there when you see the billboard for Edom blueberries -- not ripe at this season, alas.)
In Ben Wheeler recently, the whimsical art at the Blue Moose and Flying Fish galleries, among others, caught my eye. In nearby Edom, make time between shopping for art and
antiques to pick up a pie from the Edom Bakery & Grill. The restaurant made County Line magazine’s Upper East Side of Texas Hall of Fame for its pies in an array of flavors. See
www.edombakery.com/
Gardeners will want to travel still further east on FM 279 to Blue Moon Gardens,
www.bluemoongardens.com/ or to FM 279’s eastern junction, rejoining Highway 64, all the way to Tyler. The grounds of Tyler’s Municipal Rose Garden, 420 Rose Park Drive, are open year round, from dawn to dusk. In winter, check out its camellia garden. The weather channel predicts possible showers in Tyler Friday and Saturday. But if the weather is fair, bring a picnic -- maybe a pie. See www.texasrosefestival.com/
This coming weekend, though, is the First Monday flea market in Canton. A quick review for anybody not from around here -- despite the name, the market runs Thursday through Sunday BEFORE the first Monday of each month. This month, that’s February 2-5. Crowds are lightest on Thursdays, with about seventy percent of vendors already in town by then, according to at least one site, www.cantontradedays.com/.
Canton is just off I-20, about an hour’s drive east from Dallas. You can reach it from exits off I-20 to Highway 64 or Highway 19, which is the main drag past the market. Vendors in most of the covered buildings take credit or debit cards, but bring cash for parking (most convenient sites start at $5) and for vendors in the open areas. I go with goals in mind, but keep my mind open for wonderful surprises.
For more information about Canton’s First Monday Trades Days, see my post of June 27, 2011. Fortunately, the discussion of dehydration is less likely to apply at this time of year.
#
Trades Days, however, are not all the near end of East Texas has to offer. I’ll blog more next week about the Second Saturday Art Trail in Ben Wheeler and Edom. But shops are open in both towns Thursday through Sunday, year round. (Usually 9-5, but hours can vary.) Take Highway 64 east from Canton to FM 279. (You’re nearly there when you see the billboard for Edom blueberries -- not ripe at this season, alas.)
In Ben Wheeler recently, the whimsical art at the Blue Moose and Flying Fish galleries, among others, caught my eye. In nearby Edom, make time between shopping for art and
antiques to pick up a pie from the Edom Bakery & Grill. The restaurant made County Line magazine’s Upper East Side of Texas Hall of Fame for its pies in an array of flavors. See
www.edombakery.com/
#
Gardeners will want to travel still further east on FM 279 to Blue Moon Gardens,
www.bluemoongardens.com/ or to FM 279’s eastern junction, rejoining Highway 64, all the way to Tyler. The grounds of Tyler’s Municipal Rose Garden, 420 Rose Park Drive, are open year round, from dawn to dusk. In winter, check out its camellia garden. The weather channel predicts possible showers in Tyler Friday and Saturday. But if the weather is fair, bring a picnic -- maybe a pie. See www.texasrosefestival.com/
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