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Flowers, friendship, food and fun with Austin garden bloggers

On Sunday, a growing group of Austin garden bloggers gathered to tour two gardens and socialize and swap plants. We started with a lovely tour of noted author, Jill Nokes‘, garden and she entertained us with stories of the history of her house and her garden’s evolution.

Her rock wall and archway are filled with memorabilia like fossils, bits and pieces of other things she’s collected and whimiscal items.

After the tour at Jill’s — we wandered through the neighborhood and snapped some pictures of interesting plant life along the way.

Then we ventured south for a tour of Jenny — Lancashire Rose’s garden — along with appetizers and drinks and a plant swap to top off the day.

The architecture of their angular house set against the myriad of rock formations and seeminly endless spring blooms blowing in the breeze was amazing.

I’ve read her blog for some time, but this is an instance where a camera and photos are simply no match for the personal visit and the human eye. Even the best of equipment cannot capture the breath-taking views and rooms she and her husband have created in their Hill Country oasis.

I just had to take a few pictures to remind myself how lovely and peaceful it all was.

After our tour and social hour, we had a plant swap.

What an interesting array of plants. Irises, agaves, salvias, tomatoes, trees, datura, roses, seeds, red wine vinegar mother — you name it, we had it to share.

I felt like a kid in a candy store!

A perfect spring afternoon in Austin, surrounded by friends, and sharing our love of gardening and nature.

Special thanks to Pam of Digging — our fearless leader (!) — for organizing, and to Jill and Jenny for inviting us into their gardens.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:46-06:00April 28th, 2009|Blog, garden tour, Jill Nokes, Lancashire Rose, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Blogging Buddies….

What a wonderful treat we Austin Garden Bloggers had on Sunday. We toured two local bloggers’ gardens and enjoyed delightful refreshments and great company. The first garden was Lee’s, of The Grackle

It was so … zen. It was simple and elegant and peaceful. The clean lines drew my attention from one interesting feature to the next. From the cut limestone linear path to the bench and unique wooden screen in front of the AC and then onto a little cedar fence (all of those features hand made) on either side of a rustic pathway and garden.

I just loved the tiny split rail-like fence — it was delicate and rustic at the same time. I don’t have more photos to show because I just got busy visiting and learning about the garden. And even though I don’t have a photo of it, I loved the brick decorative patio area with pea gravel. I hope some of the other Austin bloggers got photos of it.

Then we moved onto Phillip’s garden of East Side Patch

Jam-packed with beds and paths and nooks and crannies and stock tanks and water features, this garden was a lush Utopia of unique plants and interesting combinations. Not a patch of grass in sight! Just an endless creative cosmos — which, if you’ve read Phillip’s blog, is an appropriate analogy! (He’s got the wildest, most creative stuff on this blog — it’s gardening and oh-so-much more.)

We were all enthralled with this relatively new garden bed and its unique succulents. We were particularly taken with the Donkey’s Ears Kalanchoe on the right side with it’s long leaves (are they leaves?) and its speckles.

Lots of Agaves and tropicals side by side. And then a huge tank with goldfish, lilypads, and a Cypress Tree — yes, that’s right, a Cypress tree.

And this beautiful squash plant was tucked right in with flowering perennials. I love those little surprises!

Lee and Phillip, our two hosts, stop to pontificate over critical gardening information…or maybe they were talking about the Sangria – I’m not sure.

The garden had several beautiful towering Amaranths — a stunning fuchsia.
Mexican Bush Sage, Firecracker bush, grasses and a treasure trove of other perennials call this garden home.

So, this is the story of the day. Apparently Phillip had a Century Plant flower and produce a 6-8 foot bloom – full of THOUSANDS of Agave pups, and he put our names on paper spread down the length of the bloom for each of us to take a handful, or two, or three! I know how it works, the mother plant dies and this is how they go on, but I’d never seen it up close and there are almost no words to describe how amazing it is.

THANK YOU to Lee and Phillip and their families for inviting us into their homes and gardens. They were all delightful hosts, dogs and kids included, too.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:51-06:00October 20th, 2008|Austin bloggers, Blog, garden tour, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Peeping bloggers…

With a little luck and a lot of planning, I was able to check out 4 of the amazing gardens on the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days. My neighbor and gardening friend, Maria and I set out on our excursion early this morning, hoping to fit in 3, and we managed to see 4.

I have some nice pictures, and I’m not going to try and guess plant names, so I’ll just share some of the wonderful views. This first photo was the first garden we visited in East Austin — called Fatal Flowers. It was a beautiful blend of desert and lush plants. Lots of rock paths and walls, shade and sun plants, all mixed in a lovely layered garden. And who should I run into at the first garden, but Pam of Digging and Annie of the Transplantable Rose. We had fun looking at everything together and trying to ID things!

There were so many beautiful succulents – many growing out of rock crevices and cascading down.
The most stunning focal point in the garden was this Agave. It was at least 9-10 feet tall.
The dappled shade pathways gave me lots of ideas and inspiration for shady beds.

This garden, on West 12th, was called Stone Palms, and that’s what was at the entrance to the property. Not a species of palm, but rather art — tall trunks made all of rock, topped with Sago palms. Not sure how they water up there!
This gardener is also an artist who uses shells to create her art. This is a gazebo in her front yard, complete with a shell-covered fireplace in the background.

Then on the other side there was a grotto-style waterfall, lush and tropical, with art made from shells in the middle of it. The water trickled into a concrete tank surrounded by plants. Beside this was a bed – yes, a bed, in her front yard. I supposed it was intended to be a sleeping porch, just without the screens or the porch!
This is the entrance to the back yard.
Along the side of the house.
And another piece of her striking and unique art holding an agave.

We saw two other gardens, the G. Hughes & Betsy Abell garden, designed by Scott Ogden, but we were not allowed to take any photos there. I’m not sure why, once you’ve let the city come in and walk around, what you protect by doing that, and it was lush and interesting. Lots of shade plants, a cactus garden and interestingly, the beds had pine needles instead of mulch. You don’t see that much around here.

Then we went around the corner and saw the Granger Garden, which had beautiful lake views and some lovely beds. Sadly, I had put my camera away and didn’t get it back out. And the garden, while pretty, wasn’t as unique — not a gardener’s garden, like the first two clearly were.

All in all, a lovely day, spent with a good friend and basking in the beauty and inspiration of others. We both went home wanting to stick our hands in the dirt.

Thank goodness, because now I can say that the two Mystic Spires and the new Celsii Agave are in the ground!

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:52-06:00October 4th, 2008|Blog, garden tour, Sharing Nature's Garden|19 Comments

garden tour

Flowers, friendship, food and fun with Austin garden bloggers

Blogging Buddies….

Peeping bloggers…

Escape in the garden