Texas Discovery Gardens

What a wonderfully delightful wallet-friendly way to enjoy God's beautiful creation on a Sunday afternoon! All 3 of our children experienced butterflies landing in their hand. We were fortunate enough to be there for a Snake Encounter where we saw 2 snakes & 1 lizard up close! The keeper was very knowledgeable about each specimen.Most surprising may have been the reasonable prices found inside the quaint gift shop that offered a nice variety of take home treasures.A lovely way to spend 2 hours with your family.

First time here, mid-December. Because of this season that it is, you won't see many blooms, but I'm sure it's absolutely alive with color in the spring and summer. It smells heavenly and there are many paths for people of all ages to enjoy and it is pretty handicap accessible from what I could see. I was quite sad to see that be snake and reptile habitats were much too small for the animals on exhibit. I'm hoping that they have a much bigger place to rest and play when the gardens are closed. It wasn't terribly crowded which was nice but I feel that the coolest stuff was inside - the butterfly room and insects in the lobby. There was too much noise to be able to just sit anywhere outside and enjoy a garden Ambiance. Will try coming again at a different time of year.

We actually stumbled on this place by accident. This was the address given for an event that was happening for a Native Texas Plant show and sale. Odd bit of marketing, but, it was on their website. I don't hold that against them in the review, they were sponsors I guess, but the show was elsewhere... regardless, they allowed us in for the inconvenience. They were a lot of cool butterflies in the exhibit. Didn't see Monarchs, but there was a lot of others. These were all in the greenhouse area which oddly needs a LOT of work. The spiral walk is a great touch, there area a lot of cool plants inside, sadly there is a lot of brown dead leaves and branches everywhere which is a big turn off. A location that is supposed to be taking care of plants and trees in an ideal environment and they can't take the time to prune and pick up the debris and trash laying everywhere. It was really distracting for me and my wife, as a Landscaper and a Johnson County Master Gardner, they really need to clean the unhealthy vegetation hanging from the living parts of the plants. The outside area as nice and well kept, much better than the greenhouse. The snake exhibit, if you want to call it that, is a small building with about 8-10 small glass containers with a few snakes and frogs. Disappointing.

Came to the butterfly garden with an 18 month old who enjoyed what an 18 month old would enjoy & the rest of us older folks were happy to get out of the incessant Dallas heat, see the butterflies (not too many varieties, from what we saw) & walk along the winding path that loops from top to bottom. There are also resident quails here, which act as "guards" for the butterflies & call to each other every so often. There is a gift shop on the first floor as well as tanks holding frogs & other reptiles situated in the hallway that leads to the outdoors gardens, a senior citizens rate, & a very nicely maintained garden with walking paths just outside the butterfly house with signage telling you about the plants. Our grandson enjoyed his meander on the paths. Parking is convenient & plentiful.

I visited the Texas Discovery Gardens with my brother a week or so ago when we were visiting Fair Park for a few hours. We had never been before - I'm not even sure we knew it was here until I found it on a map of Fair Park. Admission is $10 for adults, which was a little steep considering the state of the gardens. It was fall - but fall in Dallas was still 70 degrees, so it wasn't full winter frost-y weather or anything. We visited the butterfly house, which was okay. We did see some butterflies, but not a ton. But really what struck me about the butterfly house is that the plants were not doing well. We also wandered around the gardens for a bit, which were nice, but not as large as at the typical botanical gardens I have visited. Overall, I think it has the potential to be really great but feels a bit like it's fallen on tough times. I considered our admission (which we paid even though we couldn't stay long) a donation to the gardens. I hope to visit again and see the plants and butterflies flying. Definitely consider visiting and supporting them.

Beautiful spot to spend the morning. Lots of butterflies in the butterfly house, plus MASSIVE moths, and the opportunity to witness all stages of growth, from egg laying to chrystalis to newly hatched butterfly. Very neat! The snake house has 10-15 snakes. The gardens are gorgeous, the playground is open for kids, and there are plenty of picnic tables if you want to bring in your own lunch. We did not see any hummingbirds in the hummingbird garden, but perhaps you'll have better luck.Wednesday's are "community days", which I thought meant admission was free... but actually means admission is "pay what you want." You name the price and they ring up the tickets for whatever you say. Honestly I found that to be a little awkward. I didn't want to be cheap, and I know they depend on ticket sales to maintain the garden, but I also came on Wednesday specifically because we can't afford to buy 7 regular admission tickets on a weekend (or don't want to, anyway). A more comfortable arrangement would be to make Wednesday's free admission and then ask for donations (they could even offer a suggested donation to guide us). Anyway, take it for what you will: Wednesday's are "pay what you want."The gardens are partially shaded, but still pretty hot. I think it was 85-90 degrees this morning and we only lasted a little over an hour outside. Of course I'm 8 months pregnant, so my tolerance might be a tad lower than usual. I would plan on spending 2 hours total here, with some of that being inside the butterfly garden, but more if you pack a lunch and/or if it's cooler.The entire place is stroller friendly, but it's not large, so you probably don't need one unless you have a non-walker. My 2 year old was able to walk the entire thing. Getting there was quite confusing for me - the iPhone maps app led me to a closed gate. I just circled the area until I found a gate that was open. People who have visited the state fair before will probably find this process less complicated. In any case, a great morning in a beautiful place. Do go see it!

Fun Family funGreat for a date Great place to take picturesAutism Friendly #KickinitwithCurincy

It's cute for what it is. The butterfly house was my favorite. I went in the winter so everything was dried out hahaha I just needed to get the baby outside for some fresh air. This place is meh. It's not that big. Maybe a tour in the spring time would've made it amazing. But anyways it's off the checklist.

Pretty abysmal garden. I don't know if it is even fair to call it a garden. Very unkept and most of the flowers on display are not real. Butterfly exhibit was only nice part, and even that seemed like it hadn't been cleaned in years. Spider webs everywhere and very limited animals. For a price of $12 it's not bad, but not worth most people's time. I felt more sad after leaving. Do not come here.

Saw the butterfly house on an Instagram post and decided to visit. We were honestly very shocked at the state of the butterfly house. The entire place looks extremely unkept, dead plants everywhere, dirty windows and the fish tank is disgusting. This place needs some real help and tlc. I can see the beautiful potential it has. Outside of the butterfly house in the lobby are some other houses creatures who I feel really bad for! They are in extremely small, gnat filled enclosures. Two snakes as well who have literally barely any room to move around.Someone please save this place.