DAILY NZ P A G E 1E COLOR P U B D A T E 05-21-05 O P E R A T O R RREINHARD D A T E // TIME:

SAN ANTONIO Spaces

EXPRESS-NEWS
A couple collected
SATURDAY Texas-anything and everything
MAY 21, 2005 to decorate their home
SECTION E PAGE 10E

In praise
of normal
August
1976 was the summer of the
bicentennial, the “Summer of
Sam” and the summer I got
screwed on my summer vaca-
tion. Almost 30 years later I’m
still bitter.
“What do you mean school
starts in mid-August?” I can still
hear myself asking. Moving to
Texas from California that sum-
mer was traumatic enough on
my 12-year-old psyche, but the
loss of cherished summer vaca-
tion seemed al-
most too much
to bear. August?
August is still
summer every-
where else.
Why isn’t Au-
gust summer
here?
It is a ques-
tion that has
bothered me
MICHAEL ever since. Kids
getting on
O’ROURKE school buses in
100 degree heat
is abusive.
When you see
Jerry Lewis on television for 24
hours straight you should be
preparing for school to start, not
already burned out by it.
Lo and behold, on the 30th an-
niversary of my worst summer
ever, injustice may finally be
righted. It looks like a bill
poised to become a law will re-
quire Texas schools to begin on
the Tuesday after Labor Day
and end by June 7th.
Yes!
The new, normal school year
has people deeply divided. The
pro-normal people say it will
save money on electricity, help
tourism and give families more
summer time together. The anti-
normal (pro-abnormal) people
claim the longer summer takes
away local control, will force old-
er students to take finals after
Christmas break and may im-
pede TAKS test preparedness. (It
always comes down to the TAKS
test doesn’t it?)
Bottom line: Students will still
have to go to school for 180 days
and they will still spend a dis-
A birthday crop
proportionate amount of their
lives preparing for the TAKS
test. They will lose a few days of
of abundant beauty
schooltime breaks, but that is
worth a longer summer.
What will be different is Years, like shears, shape a garden.

See O’ROURKE/4E Weeks introduce fresh buds, new leaves.

Months coax roots to settle into the soil.
Seasons instill maturity and character.
Decades plant delights.
G OOD TO Time is Mother Nature’s tool.
G ROW As the San Antonio Botanical Garden
celebrates its 25th anniversary, we explore
delights that have sprung up in a quarter-
century of growing and evolving. The 33-acre
center yields a bountiful crop of surprises.
Turn to Page 12E for the 25 we plucked.

STORY BY TRACY HOBSON LEHMANN

P H O T O S B Y L I S A K R A N T Z A N D H E L E N L . M O N T O YA

TRACY HOBSON LEHMANN

Prickly pear
(Optunia spp.)
With potentially vicious spines,
prickly pears aren’t invited into
too many residential landscapes.
But the sunny yellow blossoms
dotting the cactus pads in pas-
tures this time of year make the
plant tempting. Just opt for a
spineless variety unless you are
using the plant as part of your se-
curity system.
In 1995, Texas lawmakers
named prickly pear the state
plant, making the Lone Star State
the only state with an official
plant.
The light green color of the
pads and their sculptural shape
make the plant an asset in the
garden.
■ Light: Sun.
■ Size: 2 to 5 feet tall; 4 to 6 feet
wide.
■ Water: Drought tolerant.
■ Bloom: Spring.
■ Cultivation: Needs good drain-
age.

DAILY NZ P A G E 1E COLOR P U B D A T E 05-21-05 O P E R A T O R RREINHARD D A T E // TIME: