Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center, Botanical garden in Orange, Texas.

Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center covers 252 acres in central Orange, Texas, with mixed deciduous forest, cypress-tupelo swamp, wetlands and a large lake. Its formal gardens hold more than 300 plant species in five garden rooms and four sculpture rooms. A bird blind next to the gardens looks onto the heronry.

H. J. Lutcher Stark began work on Shangri La in 1942, and his azalea gardens opened to the public in 1946. Very cold weather destroyed them in the mid-1950s, after which the area closed and was kept on a very limited scale. Nelda C. Stark bequeathed it to the Nelda C. and H. J. Lutcher Stark Foundation, established in 1961, which restored the gardens and created the nature center.

The formal Botanical Gardens are laid out in five plant rooms holding more than 300 species, plus four separate sculpture rooms. The bird blind next to the gardens lets visitors watch nesting birds in Shangri La's heronry without disturbing them.

The gardens lie in the center of Orange, Texas, and are open every day of the year; an entrance fee is charged. A bird blind next to the formal gardens lets visitors watch nesting herons in the heronry without disturbing them. Allow time to walk between the swamp, lake and garden sections.

The property became the first project in Texas to receive Platinum certification under LEED standards. This recognition reflects a commitment to sustainable building and operational practices.