Arboretum and others offer safe ways to get outside.
In time to see Texas wildflowers in bloom, the Ann Hamilton Trail at Indiangrass Preserve reopened this week. Located about 40 miles west of downtown Houston, the oneand-a-half-mile trail on Katy Prairie Preserve has limited hours and new safety guidelines in place to limit contact.
“People are looking for places to go outside, beyond their own neighborhood or backyard,” says Mary Anne Piacentini, president and CEO of Katy Prairie Conservancy. “I think nature really helps people.”
For a break in homeschooling and virtual officing, families are craving opportunities to “be more adventurous” outdoors, Piacentini says. “It makes people feel healthier and happier,” as nature can have a calming effect.
Bluebonnets were late to bloom this year, she points out, so families might spot the very last traces of the state flower. Indian blankets are in view, along with native grasses such as purple love grass and rattlesnake master.
From the preserve’s trails, wetlands and two-story Matt Cook Memorial Wildlife Viewing Platform above Warren Lake, visitors have the chance to spot ducks, geese, bobcats, migratory birds and other wildlife.
Trail maps are available for download to enhance nature walks (katyprairie.org/plan-your-visit).
“It kind of slows you down and makes you realize that there are things beyond our normal hustle and bustle,” Piacentini says.
31975 Hebert, Waller; katyprairie.org
A BERRY GOOD TIME
At Atkinson Farms in Spring, Michael Atkinson says parents are bringing their children for seasonal berry picking.
“They’ve been cooped up so long, they just want to get out and do something,” he observes.
The “hands-on experience for the family” doubles as “a learning experience nowadays,” he says, when parents are responsible for schooling.
At the family-run farm, it’s the final days of strawberry-picking. A small area allows for blackberry-picking — until the fruit is picked clean. Families pick their own berries that are weighed by the bucket.
Visitors can shop for kitchen and pantry staples, including produce and dairy products, at the farm’s on-site market.
3217 Spring Cypress, Spring; atkinsonfarm.com
CALLING MINI NATURALISTS
In recent weeks, the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center has seen an influx of “new faces,” says marketing and development manager Christine Mansfield.
First-time visitors to the urban green space’s walking trails are looking for a “respite,” she says.
“Nature can provide … psychological and physical health benefits” in times of stress, Mansfield says, giving people a chance to slow down.
Families can download naturalist-created Habitat Hikes that provide a map to the property’s five types of habitats: prairie, wetlands, ravine, savanna and woodlands. houstonarboretum.org/ habitat-hikes
Depending on how long a family spends at designated stopping points, each self-guided tour lasts between 25 and 45 minutes. Step-by-step directions lend tips for observing — by sight and by sound — along with fun facts, including how thorny bark acts as nature’s barbed wire.
Families might spy spring migratory birds, including magnolia warblers and indigo buntings.
They’ll also have a chance to see native plants such as horsemint, gaillardia, indian blanket, basketflowers. “It’s a nice way to see what Houston might have looked like in the past,” Mansfield says.
GIVE MOM A GIFT THAT GROWS
This Sunday, the arboretum is hosting a family activity designed for ages 5 and older. Adapting its annual on-site Mother’s Day event that had to be canceled, the facility is selling at-home DIY Pollinator Container Gardens.
For $65 per container ($40 for members), families can preregister for a kit and drive through the arboretum’s parking lot on Mother’s Day to pick up their materials.
The kit includes three types of pollinator plants, potting soil, a pot and kid-friendly decorations, including ribbon, glass pebbles, rocks and paper cutouts.
Instructions will walk participants through the steps of planting a mini garden, which is “something the whole family can get involved in,” Mansfield says.
“Kiddos really love it because they get to get dirty and be helpful.”
In the coming weeks, families can watch the flowers bloom in their backyard or balcony. Perhaps more exciting, the garden will attract pollinators, including bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, so it “keeps on giving after the class,” she says.
4501 Woodway; houstonarboretum.org