Today was the perfect day – 81 degrees and a gaggle of garden bloggers came to my house for our second monthly “DesignA Go Go” brainstorming session.

We did have one non-blogger interloper, who came to greet the guests and snag herself some lemonade. While she was doing that, her Dad was taking these great photos so I could post about our party before they headed off to the movies together.

We toured the gardens, talked about plants and compared notes about what’s still dormant and what might be dead in our gardens after our harsh winter.
After some visiting and chatting,
…and some eating and drinking,

…we set about looking at the area that I designated for my design brainstorming session. (Scroll down to my last post to see the area.)

Everyone asked great questions about what I like and what I don’t. What I’ll plant and what I won’t. And most importantly, what are the dogs gonna do with it all?!

The first component is an area along the wrought-iron fence that allows them to look out and watch the deer off into the woods behind the fence. In front of that, I had visions of a garden area — maybe a little like a secret garden — with some neat features you have to walk into to actually see and experience.

Bloggers sketched and drew and wrote and walked and looked. And I was giddy with anticipation. We all talked about lots of great ideas. And then each gardener shared with me his or her unique perspective.

And honestly, I think I am going to be taking ideas from many of the plans that were laid out – and there were so many good ideas – stock tanks, seating, fencing, plants — you name it, nothing was left off the table.

They even convinced me to try some plants and a stock tank (for plants), that I’d previously rejected. I was really trying to keep an open mind.

And then we had our plant swap and we all got loads of great new plants to try in our gardens.

It was a delightful day – a perfect Austin spring day – for relaxing and enjoying the garden instead of working in it for a chance.

THANKS to everyone who came and spent the afternoon sharing your great ideas with me.

Tomorrow I am off to the Zilker Garden Fest — our biggest garden festival of the year — where I hope to fill my wagon with more goodies to plant. Enough of this resting stuff!