The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at 4801 La Crosse Ave. has several fall programs running at once, and three of them end on the same Sunday. The Fall Native Plant Sale closes on Nov. 1. The Texas Pollinator BioBlitz wraps up that afternoon at 5 p.m. Fort Night runs that same evening from 5 to 8 p.m. Fortlandia, the program that gets most of the attention, is open through Jan. 31, 2027.
If you live in Circle C Ranch, the garden is a few minutes from home, and that changes how to plan. The nursery has a deadline. The forts don't. With the sale down to its last two weekends, Oct. 23–25 and Oct. 30–Nov. 1, the plants come first, and the climbing can wait for a cheaper weekday later in the season.
The sale with a clock on it
The Fall Native Plant Sale is set up in the Nursery. It runs Fridays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and last entry is 12:30 p.m. You need garden admission to get into the sale. Every Friday is for members only, and members also get Saturday and Sunday mornings to themselves from 8 to 9 a.m. The Center's description of the stock includes Texas native flowering perennials, grasses, vines, shrubs and trees for both shady and sunny gardens.
Here is the calendar for the final two weekends, starting Friday, Oct. 23:
| Day | Date | Who can shop | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Oct. 23 | Members only | 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. |
| Saturday | Oct. 24 | Members 8–9 a.m., then everyone | 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. |
| Sunday | Oct. 25 | Members 8–9 a.m., then everyone | 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. |
| Friday | Oct. 30 | Members only | 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. |
| Saturday | Oct. 31 | Members 8–9 a.m., then everyone | 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. |
| Sunday | Nov. 1 | Members 8–9 a.m., then everyone | 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. |
Prices go by pot size. A 4-inch pot is $4.25, a 1-gallon is $12, a 2- to 3-gallon is $27, and a 5-gallon is $40. Members get 10% off along with first dibs.
The pickup setup works well for anyone who lives close by. Staff will hold what you buy while you walk the grounds, but everything has to be picked up by 2 p.m. When you're ready, you can drive up to the pickup area, and staff will help load your car. The Center also suggests bringing your own cart, water, a hat and sunscreen.
Why the calendar favors two trips
The sale is open only Friday through Sunday, and those are the Center's higher-priced days. According to the Wildflower Center's visit page, general admission for adults is $15 Monday through Thursday and $18 Friday through Sunday. Seniors 65 and older and military with ID pay $12 on weekdays and $15 on weekends. Youth ages 3 to 17 pay $9 on weekdays and $12 on weekends. Children 2 and under get in free, and so do members.
Take two adults and two kids in that age range. A weekend visit costs $60 at the gate, and a Monday-through-Thursday visit costs $48. Non-members have to come on a weekend to shop the sale. Fortlandia is included with general admission, though, and it's free for members, so families have two reasonable options. One is to do the forts on sale day, since you've already paid weekend admission. The other is to keep the sale trip short and save the forts for a weekday afternoon in November or December.
Daily hours from September through May are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and entry ends at 4 p.m. If you're coming from Circle C, a weekday visit after school can still fit before last entry.
Eight new forts, and no rush to see them
This is Fortlandia's ninth season. According to the Center, the 2026 exhibit has eight handmade, climbable structures, themed to encourage creative play and appreciation of the natural world. They're in the Family Garden. Every fort is new for this run, and a team of Texas architects, artists and builders is behind each one:
- Calliope, by Dave Threlkeld, designer and maker, and Mary Wendel, maker, of The Art Mines
- Armadillo Alebrije, by GEM
- Adaptive Tree-Use, designed by Webber + Studio Architects with Monkeyhouse Tree Nets, Red Dog Welding Co. and Skelly Build
- Bats in the Attic, designed by Mikaela Meyering and built with Bes Builder, Bes Roofing and Juan Lopez
- Geometry of Play, by DLR Group and Joeris
- Welcome Home, by Nicole Mwei and Sneha Subramanian of Steinberg Hart
- Sundrops, by LPA Design Studios, Emily Eisenhart and Joeris General Contractors
- Bluestar, by Nicholas DeBruyne and Wevolve Labs
Webber + Studio's project page describes Adaptive Tree-Use as six sculptural forms built from Ashe juniper logs and netting on steel frames. It's meant to let children experience a tree the way an animal does, as a shelter and a hiding place. If you've spent time clearing cedar from a yard around here, you'll know the wood.
One older fort is also still on the grounds. Prairie Schooner, which debuted in the 2025–26 exhibition, now stays on as a "Forever Fort," so a family that climbed it last year will find it there again. Tribeza's preview of this season also names it as the returning fort alongside the eight new ones.
Because the run is long, you have plenty of chances to go, with a few gaps. Fortlandia is closed Nov. 27, Dec. 24, Dec. 25, Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. The Center's general visit page also lists Dec. 18 as a closure date. That date doesn't appear on the Fortlandia page's own list, so check the calendar before planning a mid-December visit.
Sunday, Nov. 1, from first light to flashlights
The grand opening party planned for Oct. 1 was canceled because of anticipated weather. The Center pointed visitors to Fort Night instead, and people who had registered for the opening got the choice of Fort Night or a refund. So Nov. 1 is now the one evening this season built around the forts, and it lands on the sale's final day. Here is how that Sunday runs:
- 8 a.m. Members-only shopping opens at the Nursery.
- 9 a.m. The sale and the gardens open to everyone with admission.
- 12:30 p.m. Last entry to the sale, and the sale closes at 1 p.m.
- 2 p.m. Deadline to pick up held plants.
- 5 p.m. The BioBlitz closes, and Fort Night starts.
- 8 p.m. Fort Night ends.
Fort Night tickets are $15, children 0 to 2 are free, and you have to register in advance. The Center asks guests to bring a flashlight and see the forts after dark. The evening includes live music, face painting, a raffle for Wildflower Center tickets and swag, and food trucks. Food and drinks are for sale, including alcohol for guests 21 and older. For Circle C households, that could mean a morning at the Nursery, an afternoon at home planting, and a short drive back for the evening.
Your own yard counts for the BioBlitz
The Texas Pollinator BioBlitz runs Oct. 16 through Nov. 1, so it overlaps the sale's last weekends. It's a statewide effort that asks Texans to observe and record pollinators and the plants they visit. The Center invites people to look for butterflies, bees, moths and other pollinators in its gardens, in their own backyards or in a neighborhood green space. To take part, share photos or videos with #TXPollinators, or submit observations to iNaturalist. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's BioBlitz page has the details on taking part and on registering.
The timing lines up. Native plants you bring home from the Nursery on Oct. 24 or Oct. 31 can be in the ground in time for you to photograph whatever visits them before the count closes at 5 p.m. on Nov. 1. The same Sunday afternoon that ends the sale also ends the count.
If you'd like a local's take on fitting the Wildflower Center into your fall, or you're thinking about a native garden for a Circle C yard you may sell someday, Victor Barrios is happy to talk it through, in English or en español. Let's Connect, and maybe we'll run into each other at the Nursery before Nov. 1.
