To submit a garden-related public event for the e-gardens calendar, please e-mail details to events@sperrygardens.com. Deadline is the 15th of the month prior to the event date.

Austin/Travis County
Shop for gifts at the 19th annual Wild Ideas Holiday Event at Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on Dec. 4, 5 and 6. (Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon – 5 p.m.) Special happenings include book signings, truffle tasting, and an Artists and Artisans Fair on Saturday and Sunday. Free admission and special discounts. Find details at www.wildflower.org.

Enjoy the gardens of Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center lighted for the holidays at “Luminations,” Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 12-13, 6-9 p.m. The gardens will feature more than 3,000 luminarias, 5,000 twinkle lights and hammered copper torches, plus the music of the season from local bands and choirs. Other attractions: a display of trees decorated by local community groups, camera ops with the kids and Frosty the Snowman, and a holiday menu in the café. Admission is free with two canned food items for the Capital Area Food Bank. Members-only event is Friday night. Details at www.wildflower.org/luminations/

Blanco and Gillespie Counties
Travel back to the time before rural electrification in Texas, when the Boyhood Home of President Lyndon Baines Johnson is open for lamplight Christmas tours each Saturday, Nov. 28, and Dec. 5, 12 and 19, 6 – 9 p.m., in Johnson City. This park event is complemented by the stunning lighting display at the Pedernales Electric Cooperative, across the street from the Boyhood Home, with majestic live oaks resplendent in hundreds of thousands of tiny white lights. The Blanco County Courthouse, just two blocks north is the centerpiece of the town’s seasonal celebration, "Lights Spectacular." Call 830-868-7128, ext. 245 for information. Click here  for a link to LBJ State Park and details of special seasonal events there.

Corpus Christi
Shop for gifts at Kristie Kringle’s Garden Shoppe Open House at the South Texas Botanical Gardens and Nature Center, Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 5-6, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Books, gardening gifts, plants, Mesquite Bean Santas, Trumpet Vine Santas, Gourd Santas and much more. Santa on site 2-4 p.m. both days. Complimentary refreshments. Free admission to the Visitors Center. Visit www.stxbot.org/index.htm for details.

Dallas and Collin County
Celebrate “Holiday at the Arboretum,” Nov. 27- Jan. 3, at the Dallas Arboretum. Various weekend activities range from live reindeer and horse-drawn carriage rides to Storytime with Mrs. Claus. Holiday exhibits in the historic DeGolyer House include the sought-after crèche collection of Broadway actor and world traveler George Dvorsky and more than 300 unique nativities from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. M. Ray Harrington. (The house is also open Tuesday evenings during December, with the last tour beginning at 8 p.m.) The Arboretum’s popular Holiday Teas continue Nov. 28-Dec. 31 (excluding Dec. 24-25) in the DeGolyer Garden Café and Tea Room. Reservations are required. Specialty holiday dinners are available fireside at the DeGolyer Garden Café by reservation. No reservations required for the wine, cheese and desserts served in the Dann Talley Kincheloe Courtyard on Tuesday evenings. Call 214-515-6610, or find festival details at www.dallasarboretum.org.

Hike the Holiday Trail of Lights at the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 18-19, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. The event features thousands of twinkling holiday lights along the Dinosaurs Alive! nature trail. Other festival events include an Artisan’s Market, live entertainment, food concessions, free photos with Father Christmas and Mother Nature, and hayrides, weather permitting. Visit www.heardmuseum.org.

Enjoy the grounds of Texas Discovery Gardens and the newly opened Rosine Smith Sammons Butterfly House and Insectarium (open year-round except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day), 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Admission (Butterfly House and Garden Exhibit combined): $8 adults, $6 seniors, $4 ages 3-11. See the exhibit “Global Swarming:  Reflection and Exploration of Colony Collapse Disorder” now through Jan. 3. www.texasdiscoverygardens.org.

Fort Worth/Arlington
Bring the kids to the Birds’ Christmas Tree celebration, a Fort Worth Botanic Garden tradition for many years, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5, 11 a.m. Festoon the trees with bird seed "ornaments," see Santa and BG Squirrel, and enjoy the other festivities.  Recipes for “tweets” for the birds available on the garden’s website: www.fwbg.org.

Houston
Learn all about “Planting Bulbs,” Wednesday, Dec. 9, noon - 1 p.m., at the Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens. This Lunch Bunch program offers information about bulbs that will add color and interest to any garden. Bring a sack lunch to enjoy during the program. Please call (281) 443-8731 for reservations.
 
Earn Gardening CEU at “Ornamental Grasses,” Tuesday, Dec. 15, 10 a.m. – noon, at the Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens. The program covers all the benefits of these water-smart, decorative, easy-to-grow and often-overlooked grasses. Please call (281) 443-8731 for reservations.

San Antonio
Join the fun at Holiday Family Day Saturday, Nov. 21, at the San Antonio Botanical Garden, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Activities include holiday photos, rides on the Wiggle Waggle Train ($3 per ride), kids’ crafts and more. Special attractions include David Rogers’ Big Bugs (as tall as 25 feet with wingspans up to 17 feet) on exhibit daily, now through Jan. 3, and the new exhibit of metal geometric sculptures by John Henry, on display through June of 2010. Regular admission rates apply: $7 adults, $5 seniors, military, and students, $4 children. Visit www.sabot.org.