Axe ’Em, Jacks!
SFA Gardens Admission and Hours
Our beautiful gardens are free and open to visitors daily, from dawn to dusk. For details of each garden, see the Facilities and Resources section on our homepage.
As SFA Gardens are on the SFA campus, guests are encouraged to visit SFA's Parking and Traffic Office to obtain a free visitor’s parking pass.
There are small parking lots for visitors at Ruby Mize and Gayla Mize Gardens. You can access the Mast Arboretum and Kingham Children’s Garden from the Ruby Mize Garden lot by crossing the bridge over Lanana Creek. Access to SFA Recreational Trails can be found in Gayla Mize. The Pineywoods Native Plant Center (PNPC) has a visitor parking lot as well, and you can access Hinds Park from the PNPC’s Tucker Woods trails. SFA Maps with details can be found here and here.
Community events are always in bloom
SFA Gardens offers a wide variety of outreach and education events throughout the year, from our popular native plant sales to our guest lecture series and special events. Check out some of our most popular offerings below:
2024 Garden Events
Fruit Research Field Day - Friday, September 27, 2024
Mark your calendars now. More details to come late summer.
Plant Sales - spring and fall
Hard-to-find, Texas-tough plants grown by staff and volunteers. Proceeds from plant sales support SFA Gardens staffing and operations. Both sales run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2900 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches. Parking will be available at SFA’s Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center.
2024
Spring
- Garden Gala Day
April 6-7, 2024
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Garden Gala Day Plant List
Fall
- Fabulous Fall Sale - 2024 date is TBD
May be the first or second weekend in October 2024. We will confirm the dates as we get closer to the Spring sale.
Azalea Gardens Seasonal Guided Tours
Our Ruby Mize Azalea Garden tour season is mid-March through mid-April (timing of blooms, weather conditions and tour availability permitting). Guided tours are available to groups of ten or more and must be reserved with a one-week advance notice. Tours are $5 per person.
To check availability: Email sfagardens@sfasu.edu with the date, the number of people in the group and if you would like a morning or afternoon tour.
Lunch Bunch
Monthly social for garden-minded individuals where a variety of themed topics are presented. Bring your own lunch. Each event is noon to 1 p.m. at the Brundrett Conservation Education Building, located at 2900 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches.
- January 17, 2024 - Tree Planting - Dr. David Creech, SFA Gardens
- February 21, 2024 - The Science of Soil Samples - Wayne Weatherford, SFA Soil, Plant and Water Laboratory
- March 20, 2024 - Spring Plant Sale Preview and a Trip to the Greenhouse - Jordan Cunningham, SFA Gardens
- April 17, 2024 - Gardening for Pollinators
- May 15, 2024 - Landscape Tour - location TBD
- June - Summer Break
- July - Summer Break
- August 21, 2024 - Introductions and Welcome Back
- September 18, 2024 - Fall Plant Sale Preview
- October 16, 2024 - Saving for Spring with Cuttings
- November 20, 2024 - Leaves for the Garden
- December 18, 2024 - Winter Collaborations
The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series
The SFA Gardens Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, located at 2900 Raguet St. The presentation will begin at 7 p.m. and is followed by a plant raffle.
- Jan. 11, 2024 - “It’s a Brand-new Day at SFA Gardens: What’s New and What’s Not”
Dr. Andrew King, SFA Gardens assistant director
- Feb. 8, 2024 - “Muscadine Madness is Making Mayhem in the Piney Woods”
Dr. Justin Scheiner, Texas A&M University AgriLife Extension Service viticulturist
- March 14, 2024 - “Plant Sale Preview: Plants You Shouldn’t Live Without”
Jordan Cunningham, SFA Gardens greenhouse/nursery technician
- April 11, 2024 - “Everything you Wanted to Know about Crape Myrtle Bark Scale but Were Afraid to Ask”
Dr. Yan Chen, LSU research scientist
- May 9, 2024 - “Pines, Pawpaws and Pocket Prairies”
Greg Grant, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist for Smith County
- June 13, 2024 - “Unleashing the Flower Fairy: The Evolution of the Southern Garden Girl”
Dawn Stover, longtime former SFA Gardens research associate
- July 11, 2024 - “Plants and People: Gardens Making a Difference”
Dr. Tina Marie (Waliczek) Cade, Texas State University professor of horticulture
- Aug. 8, 2024 - “The Art of Growing Plants Where Plants Don’t Want to Grow”
Whitney Griffin, Aspire senior product owner
- Sept. 12, 2024 - "Am I Tired or Just Retired? Gardening as a Lifestyle and Not a Hobby"
Steve Chamblee, retired Director of Horticulture, Longview Arboretum and Nature Center