Designating Nacogdoches as the official Garden Capital of Texas for a 10-year period ending in 2035.

89(R) HCR 93 - Enrolled version - Bill Text

H.C.R. No. 93

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The Lone Star State is renowned for the beauty and

diversity of its many public gardens and parks and for the

dedication its residents have demonstrated to preserving and

sustaining these oases of greenery; and

WHEREAS, While outstanding gardens can be found in many

communities throughout the state, the city of Nacogdoches has

distinguished itself for the number and variety of its green and

flowering public spaces; and

WHEREAS, Nacogdoches is located on a site once occupied by

members of the Nacogdoche tribe, a group of the Caddo people whose

culture was based on farming; a Spanish mission was established

there in 1716, and the town has been a civil settlement since 1779;

as early as 1853, the city's gardens were noted in the diary of a

famous visitor, Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who

later designed New York's Central Park and numerous other iconic

public spaces around the nation; and

WHEREAS, Today, Nacogdoches helps to preserve the state's

horticultural heritage through re-creations of traditional gardens

at the Durst-Taylor Historic House and Gardens, the Sterne-Hoya

House Museum and Library, Millard's Crossing Historic Village, and

the Old Nacogdoches University Building; and

WHEREAS, The city's splendid green spaces also include

Eugenia Sterne Park, Margil Park, Zion Hill Baptist Church

Cemetery, Oak Grove Cemetery, and the Pocket Park and the Plaza

Principal in the historic downtown; moreover, Liberty Memorial

Garden commemorates with dignity and grace the lives lost during

the tragic events of 9/11; and

WHEREAS, Nacogdoches is home to Stephen F. Austin State

University, which is landscaped with overstory and ornamental trees

to maintain the Pineywoods ecosystem and the natural beauty of the

campus; the university's 138 acres of gardens include the SFA Mast

Arboretum, the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, the Gayla Mize

Garden, the Jim and Beth Kingham Children's Garden, the Plantery,

and Jimmy Hinds Park; in addition, the Baldcypress Collection and

the Crape Myrtle Collection are renowned for their impressive

display of those species; each year, SFA Gardens hosts programs

that provide information on sustainable gardening and the

preservation of native plants, while the Nacogdoches Independent

School District supports initiatives that encourage students to

maintain and study gardens on the grounds of their schools; and

WHEREAS, Home of the annual Nacogdoches Azalea Trail each

March, the community was the first to be recognized as part of the

Azalea Society of America's Azalea City Program in 2004 and was

recertified in 2012; the Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden on the SFA

campus is the largest such garden in the state, with more than 7,000

evergreen and native azaleas on display; another of the city's

notable sites is the Nacogdoches County Master Gardeners

Demonstration Garden on the former site of Aqua Vitae Park, which

was developed by the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service in

cooperation with the city and Nacogdoches County; and

WHEREAS, The thoughtful cultivation of the splendor of nature

is one of the most sublime expressions of the human spirit, and the

skill and devotion with which the city of Nacogdoches has showcased

its lovely trees and flowering plants is indeed deserving of

special recognition; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the 89th Legislature of the State of Texas

hereby designate Nacogdoches as the official Garden Capital of

Texas; and, be it further

RESOLVED, That, in accordance with the provisions of

Section 391.003(e), Government Code, this designation remain in

effect until the 10th anniversary of the date this resolution is

finally passed by the legislature.

Shofner

______________________________

______________________________

President of the Senate

Speaker of the House

I certify that H.C.R. No. 93 was adopted by the House on May

1, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 0, 5 present, not

voting.

______________________________

Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.C.R. No. 93 was adopted by the Senate on May

14, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________

Secretary of the Senate

APPROVED: __________________

Date

__________________

Governor