LONGVIEW, Texas (AP) — By many accounts, Steven Chamblee is a big name in the Texas horticultural world.

The Longview News-Journal reports the Longview Arboretum and Nature Center Foundation has brought not only his big name to its soon-to-open gardens, but his desire to transform what will be the city's outdoor home.

"I was out there (at the arboretum) the other night, and the lights had come on — it was the first night that the lights had come on — and I had just dedicated a little tree out there," the horticulturist and storyteller said.

"I had planted two little trees and was consecrating...