Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center
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Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center (252 acres) are private botanical gardens and a nature preserve located in the center of Orange, Texas.
H. J. Lutcher Stark began work on Shangri La in 1942. His azalea gardens first opened to the public in 1946, but in the mid 1950s they were destroyed by very cold weather. The area was subsequently closed to the public and maintained on a very limited scale. It was then bequeathed by Nelda C. Stark to the Nelda C. and H. J. Lutcher Stark Foundation (established 1961), which has been working to restore the botanical gardens and create a nature center. As of January 2006, the Stark Foundation plans to reopen the gardens in Spring 2008.
Shangri La contains a mixed deciduous forest, cypress tupelo swamp, wetlands, and a large lake. Many of its trees were heavily damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Rita in September 2005.
