delphinium

Cottage garden entwined with beautiful edibles highlight of Houston trip

We saw lots of interesting, beautiful and creative gardens when my friend, Pam, of Digging, and I visited Houston for the Garden Conservancy’s Open Day Tour two weeks ago.

My very favorite — a cacophony of color, texture and layers so entwined that taking it all in was a project in and of itself.  But a delightful one, not to be missed.

It wasn’t on the tour; it was recommended by Pam’s sister.  We had high expectations for the house at 605 Peddie Street, and we weren’t disappointed.  The owner, landscape consultant, Terry Gordon Smith, was hand watering the garden with a hose when he found us oohing and ahhing over  his creation.  He was very welcoming and proud of his garden and we enjoyed learning about the garden’s evolution and the weather and conditions in his Houston garden.

No lawn in sight, this garden is filled with evergreens, perennials, annuals, fruits, vegetables and herbs.

The bottle brush trees were pruned very high, making a dramatic statement towering over all the other plants.

Up close and personal – I almost can’t count how many plants are encapsulated in this close-up photo.

With so many plants filling the garden, the view from every angle is unique.

The delphiniums were gorgeous.  I love blue in the garden and there just aren’t that many good choices for us to incorporate it into our gardens.  I’ve had delphiniums, but the deer thought they were tasty!

Even the edibles make beautiful examples of perfect color combinations.

Tight shots like this make the veggies look like abstract art.

 Pam’s working on some of those close ups, too.

 Love the color combo of the delphiniums against the brightly colored house.
This was a delightful garden and, like the garden at 1514 Banks that I posted about, helped to give us a broader perspective of Houston gardens than just those one the tour.  Our weekend was totally garden-licious.  More to come soon about another cool destination nursery and restaurant combo.

Sweet Surprise …

What a lovely surprise. The deer ate a few of the first native and cutting garden-type plants I put in what I’m calling my wild bed.

I was most saddened by the loss of the tops of my three delphinium plants. There’s just something about Delphinium and Larkspur that I find so beautiful and free-spirited (as if all flowers weren’t free spirited!).

So imagine my surprise this weekend when the Delphiniums were back — more blue and beautiful than before.

I didn’t capture the rich blue hue very well because I took the photo too late in the day, but I like it nonetheless.

And their neighbors, the mail-order Rudbeckia Prairie Sun with no brown are blooming and multiplying profusely. And they’ve been joined by Texas Betony blooming red and Mexican Oregano with it’s lavender blooms.

It’s so exciting to see something you’ve sweated and toiled over come to fruition. And while the Blackfoot daisies don’t seem to be happy there and several of the 5 transplanted Lantanas failed to come back, I’m calling it a huge success.

And Ms. Artemis is oh-so-happy to have the pretties for company!

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