Austin gardens Archives | Diana's Designs Austin

Colorful cottage garden explodes with color and plants

One of my favorite Austin gardeners, Lucinda Hutson, welcomed busloads of Garden Bloggers Fling guests into her carefully crafted garden. Surrounded by an explosion of color, gardeners wound through her sanctuary, taking in a rainbow of plants, benches, and ephemera designed to delight.

Lucinda’s garden reflects her love of the Mexican culture which permeates every corner of her garden and home.

Multiple seating areas offer welcoming areas for entertaining family and friends.

Her cat, Sancho, presides over his domain and took the time to pose for his guests.

Garden rooms are dedicated to different themes like the mermaid grotto.

Our gracious hostess joined us at the Fling closing BBQ Bash at Articulture, enjoying the live music and treating us to a dance.

Word can’t fully convey our appreciation for the Flingers and their kind words about the Austin Anniversary Fling. We loved inviting them into our gardens and sharing some special pieces of Austin with them.

Of course we needed a shot of tequila to start the Fling off right!

By Diana C. Kirby|2019-01-25T08:21:04-06:00January 25th, 2019|animals, Austin bloggers, Austin gardens, color, cottage garden, Fling, garden bloggers, garden bloggers fling, Garden Bloggers Fling Austin 2018, garden rooms, garden tour, GBF2018, seating, Sharing Nature's Garden|7 Comments

Tour of Austin Garden Bloggers Fling’s beautiful gardens

I’m not sure I could pick a garden favorite at last May’s Austin Garden Bloggers Fling. The itinerary included a taste of unique ecclectic, xeric, formal, contemporary, and cottage style gardens — a smorgasbord of landscaping styles to delight the senses.

My favorite shot, this picturesque view of the Austin skyline served as the backdrop of a bed running along the back of the Burrus garden.

This rustic stone water trough at the front of the house is surrounded by lush shade plantings.

A quaint cottage-style garden house was built using rock from the property, incorporating vintage windows, and serving as home to beautiful climbing roses.

This sweet dog quietly sat guard throughout our tour.

Flanked by a long driveway peppered with structural agaves and native trees, visitors get a glimpse into the xeric garden that awaits them above.

The Jamison garden, with its cottage ambiance, provided a winding path along the sides and the back of the garden. Filled with ephemera, water features, seating areas, and secret spaces, it’s charm was enchanting.

After running out of room in her own garden, Burrus began beautifying the land that divides her street that runs by an elementary school. With no means of irrigation, she filled it with xeric plants and provided seating areas for neighbors and school children to enjoy.

When we arrived at this garden, the torrential rain that drenched everyone at the Wildflower Center and at my garden had abated and slowed to a light sprinkling. Special thanks to Laura Wills , Austin Fling co-planner, for the insight to order colorful ponchos for this rainy day.

The weather didn’t slow the tour as bloggers walked toward the contemporary xeric garden filled with sculptural yuccas and agaves and Cor-ten steel elements.

Stay tuned for more Austin Garden Bloggers Fling garden tour highlights.

By Diana C. Kirby|2019-01-20T10:55:11-06:00January 20th, 2019|2018, 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling, Agave, animals, Austin gardens, bench, bloggers, Cor-ten steel, dog, garden tour 2018, GBF2018, seating, shade plants, Sharing Nature's Garden, Uncategorized, water feature, water features, whales tongue agave, Wildflowers, wildlflower|4 Comments

Contemporary, xeric garden showcased at Garden Bloggers Fling

As Pam Penick, Laura Wills and I planned the recent 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling in Austin, we aimed to showcase a wide variety of garden styles that would provide inspiration to participants.

Located in southwest Austin, this spacious garden highlighted many native and adapted plants in a stunning contemporary setting.

Armed with rain ponchos, 92 gardeners braved the rain, and it was well worth it.

In the vegetable garden, edibles and ornamentals spill out of contemporary Cor-Ten steel planters.

Using raised planters makes gardening much easier here in Central Texas, where our inhospitable clay and limestone soil presents a real challenge.

Even with regular amendments to the soil, the weather extremes of drought and flood here require serious elbow grease to bring forth vegetables without a raised bed.

While we were hoping for sunshine during our visit to this garden, the crops were relieved to have the rain.

Rain droplets on the yucca bloom add another dimension.

One of the quintessential plants of our region, the yucca provides structure, evergreen color and beautiful blooms in the garden.

The semi-soft form of the bloom provides a contrast to the seriously spiky leaves.

This one must have been missed by deer passersby, left for bloggers to admire.

But, when the inevitable heat and drought arrive, and the deer are searching for food, they love to nibble on these blooms.

The clean lines of the pool contrast with the soft and spiky collection of native plants beyond the edge.

We surveyed the garden under the watchful eye of this little guy. I’m sure he wondered what all these people were doing in his garden while he was left inside.

I think he was ready to get his yard back to himself.

This clean and simple arrangement was the only decor on the patio overlooking the pool and the vista beyond, creating a lovely focal point.

Around the corner of the house, tucked away out of sight against a wooded area, the gorilla awaits any intruders.

Or eager grandkids.

I imagine most little kids would be thrilled to share their secret hiding space with this big fella.

The perfect setting for some make-believe play, a collection of trucks and other toys are carefully parked, waiting for the next play day with King Kong.

A striking garden in a beautiful setting, this one was a real gem.

By Diana C. Kirby|2018-08-17T15:27:55-05:00August 17th, 2018|2018 Garden Bloggers Fling, Austin bloggers, Austin gardens, garden bloggers, garden bloggers fling, garden tour, Sharing Nature's Garden, Uncategorized, xeric, xeric plants|2 Comments

Inside Austin Gardens tour showcases an oasis in Texas heat

Last week I got a preview of the wonderful gardens that will be on the popular Master Gardeners Inside Austin Gardens Tour 2015 on Saturday, October 17. The tour provides a rare look inside six private gardens and a public experimental garden.

With the theme of For Gardeners, By Gardeners, the tour showcases 7 gardens with distinctly different garden styles. Each garden focuses on practical beauty, plant variety, and native or well-adapted plants.

Flashy Natives – bright and colorful
Sunbathing Natives – brutal, full sun
Shady Natives – shade and under trees
Death-Defying Natives – especially hardy, minimal water
Cottage Natives – Texas tough classics
Oh Deer! – deer-resistant, not deer-proof
Native Testing Ground – new varieties and proven winners

Tickets for all 7 gardens are $19 in advance or $20 at any garden location on the day of the tour. Single garden tickets for $5 can also be purchased at each garden. Purchase advance tickets here.

Shady Natives at 4603 Palisade Drive
This lush garden feels like an oasis in our Texas heat. With great garden bones and a hardy plant palette, a wide variety of plants play off one another, incorporating contrasting textures, forms and colors. The garden is very colorful, but even when plants aren’t blooming, the array of interesting foliage makes this a beautiful garden year-round. This garden was started in 1980, and the owners had their work cut out for them as the property was overrun with Asian jasmine ground cover and had to treat for oak wilt 3 times. It’s a stunning garden – one of my favorites of the tour. Don’t miss this one!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:38:50-05:00October 4th, 2015|Austin gardens, Blog, bottle tree, contrast, foliage, garden art, garden tour 2015, pots, shade, Sharing Nature's Garden, succulents, Sue Nazar, tropical|0 Comments

Beautiful Austin gardens on Wildflower Center tour inspire with details and structure…

One of my annual Mother’s Day treats — the day before Mother’s Day — is to spend the day on the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s annual garden tour with my garden blogging friends.

This year’s tour included exceptional gardens that were previously featured during past tours. Since I had previously seen three of the gardens, it was a great opportunity to see how they had evolved over time.

Our first stop was an early invite to catch the morning sun in Tait Moring’s garden before the crowds arrived. Situated on a hilltop with an amazing canyon view, this garden is always a treat to visit. It includes classic elements and eclectic focal points — finely-honed view corridors and magnificent vistas. Several water features and a range of plants from xeric to native to tropical fill garden rooms with unique appeal.

This beautiful iron gate – which matches several others around the property, is the gateway to the beautiful view.

Strategically placed pottery and other objects serve as focal points around the garden.

Pots decorate patios, too.

I remembered the wonderful sculptural pruning of this pittosporum and after several more years of growth – it was even more beautiful than before.

More simple, understated pots with lush plants made a perfect match with the clean lines of the house.

Along the side of the house, these dramatic pots planted with yellow hesperaloe grab your attention.

In another vignette – this hardscaping elevates these pots with oversized agaves, both in height and in interest.

This ornate gate mirrors the other iron work on the property.

This wall was created with stones from Moring’s childhood rock collection and other memorabilia and art.

Pieces of glass are interspersed with the rocks in the wall, and a trio of pots adds more color to the display.

We couldn’t decide if this carving was Aztec or Southeast Asian in origin — but it was very cool.

And a field of native plants and wildflowers cascades down the hill.

Wonder what my tour mates are laughing about? I know!

This fence was definitely not meant to keep these beautiful blooms on one side of the fence or the other.

Pops of spring color.

I’m not sure this guy paid for a tour ticket!

This hammock, hidden down in the woods, called to my blogging buddy.

Intricate raised stone beds in the potager were filled with vegetables and flowers.

Artichokes on tour.

A small pocket of sun in a secret sitting area in the woods illuminates a blooming cactus.

After a long trek down the hillside and through the woods (no river), we found a beautiful Texas madrone tree. The Texas madrone is known for is its distinctive exfoliating bark. When the older layers come off, the new bark is smooth and can be white – like this one – or orange or even red. The madrone needs a xeric climate and very good drainage.

Another addition since our last visit – a beautifuldark-bottomed swimming pool. Subtle and simple, it fades into the backdrop of the garden.

A collection of tropical plants lines the stone wall and wood fence that serve as the backdrop for the pool.

This made me feel like I was in the Yucatan!

A delightful and fascinating garden, I left feeling peaceful and inspired.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:07-06:00May 13th, 2014|Austin bloggers, Austin gardens, bark, Blog, focal point, garden decor, garden tour 2014, pots, pruning, Sharing Nature's Garden, stone work, Tait Moring, trees, tropicals, Wildflower center tour, wrought iron|0 Comments

Hues of green evoke serenity in Austin garden on Open Days tour

The Yvonne Tocquigny and Tom Fornoff garden, featured on this weekend’s Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Tour, evokes a sense of serenity as you stroll through its simple combinations of grasses, vines and water features.

Simple yet strategic views draw you into the garden with a series of gates, paths and courtyards.

The beautiful gray-green hues of Dichondra, Silver Ponyfoot, create a gentle contrast for the other lime and grass-greens of the garden.

The entry courtyard includes this simple, Zen-like water feature, surrounded by strappy crinum leaves and fine gravel.

The garden was full of berkley sedge – providing a caress of beautiful texture throughout the vignettes.

More contrasts with the berkley sedge – younger, smaller plants, and the silver ponyfoot.

The garden is also full of a variety of trellises – like this metal and wood one, set out 8-10 inches from the wall. It supports the rosebush, but it’s also an artistic focal point on its own.

Beautiful lanterns were mounted right onto the wood and metal trellis.

More contrasts surround this inviting bench — both in textures and in hues of green, and a Japanese Maple thrown in for a pop of color.

The water feature in the back courtyard has an old-world charm, and is surrounded by simple plantings of t=ferns and irises and papyrus. Ferns also dot the decomposed granite pathway, growing up out of the ground at our feet.

Another trellis creates a wall of plant art to add to the sculpture of the courtyard.

Peering into the fountain through the fronds of the papyrus creates another combination of contrasting hues of green.

This was a beautiful and intentional garden – complex, even in its simplicity – a peaceful place to while away the hours.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:39:33-05:00November 4th, 2012|Austin gardens, Blog, Garden Conservancy, Garden Conservancy Open Days, garden tour, garden tours 2012, Open Days, Open Days 2012, serene garden, Sharing Nature's Garden, water features, Zen garden|0 Comments

Austin gardens

Colorful cottage garden explodes with color and plants

Tour of Austin Garden Bloggers Fling’s beautiful gardens

Contemporary, xeric garden showcased at Garden Bloggers Fling

Inside Austin Gardens tour showcases an oasis in Texas heat

Beautiful Austin gardens on Wildflower Center tour inspire with details and structure…

Hues of green evoke serenity in Austin garden on Open Days tour

Escape in the garden