The Detours series celebrates lesser-known locales worth visiting across the state. For fifty years the gates of Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center were closed. A bitter freeze in 1958 killed much of founder H. J. Lutcher Stark’s plantings, including his prized azaleas. Decades later, reopening plans spearheaded by his namesake foundation were also thwarted by nature, first by Hurricane Rita, in 2005, and then by Ike, in 2008. Finally, in 2009, the 252-acre park opened once again to visitors. Gravel paths wander alongside some three hundred plant species, and everywhere are contemplative spaces that feel far removed from the surrounding city, which lies just across the Sabine River from Louisiana. At the placid Pond of the Blue Moon is the towering Cypress Gate, a platform designed…
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