Mercer Botanic Gardens is drying out once again
Mercer Botanic Gardens was again underwater June 2, just a week after it reopened following a massive cleanup and replanting effort to repair damage from April’s Tax Day Floods. Harris County Precinct 4 spokesman Mark Seegers said the park closed last Thursday morning as Cypress Creek, which runs along the park’s northern boundary, again spilled far over the high banks and approached Mercer’s volunteer cottage. The gardens hold the region’s largest collection of native and cultivated plants, with more than 10,000 species. Director Darrin Duling said the park’s crews had done all the preparation they could to prepare for this round of flooding from Cypress Creek. Furniture and plants that could be moved were taken to higher ground. He had also cut off power to Mercer’s greenhouses and fountains. “It’s a standard preparation now,” Duling said. “Unfortunately, we’re all too familiar with it. It seems like we get up from the mat and get knocked down again.”