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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

TAKE A TOUR OF OUR COURTYARD ENTRY GARDEN

Yesterday the garden hosted a lot of visitors. First in the early morning a friend and her out of town guests and then in the afternoon Marty Wingate brought a group of garden enthusiasts from the Seattle area on a Texas Bluebonnet tour. In the morning they visited Tate Moring's garden, followed by lunch at the Grove and then on to visit our garden. Those of you who have visited this garden know that we always bring people in through the side entry off the driveway. Maybe you would like to follow them.


The entry deck is where many of my overwintered cactus and succulents get to spend the summer. Not too much sun and when the sun does reach this garden it is filtered by the large overhanging live oak.


How fortunate that the queen was out to add her greetings. She has been indoors for a while because I did get rather tired of her incessant waving and banished her indoors. She has help from a solar panel in her ever present handbag. I would never have a gnome in my garden unless I was given one, as I was with HRH. Just a bit of a joke.


The Whale's Tongue agave is going to make the first impression. You see her before you even walk up the steps. But then eyes will be drawn to the sound of water coming from the disappearing fountain.


It's a favorite place for the finches and cardinals to come for water. You may recall having heard the history of the fountain. We found it in the alley behind our son's house in Dallas. The hexagonal piece of concrete once held a post, so the square hole in the center, with a couple of cross nails, was just perfect through which to feed the water. We had always had a water feature here but it was just a piece of limestone rock with a well positioned hole we had found in our wild areas. This was enormously heavy but the two of them managed to get it into our truck and somehow David, single handed, got it in place.


To reach the gravel patio you have to cross the little stone bridge.


 Someone standing at the entrance yesterday said it was like Beth Chatto's gravel garden. What an enormous compliment that is.


Among the bluebonnets are pink and purple skull cap, Scutellaria wrightii, creeping germander, Teucrium cossonii Claret cup cactus, Echinocereus  triglochidiatus, square-bud primrose, Calylophus drummondianus and blackfoot daisy, Melampodium leucanthum. No irrigation here.


You must smell Zephirine drouhin. She is the most fragrant of roses and as you bend over you will catch a glimpse of the flower stalk on the Mangave 'Macho mocha' I hope this doesn't mean the end because I don't see any pups and this one, a pass-a-long form Pam Penick at Digging, has taken a few years to achieve this size.


Sit down for a minute in the shade of the umbrella. A humming bird may come by to sip nectar from the Texas betony, Stachys coccinea, behind you.


Texas betony
I am definitely going more xeriscape on this side of the garden. Partly to reduce the work and to enable me to remove all irrigation. These plants will have to go it alone.


As you turn back Lady Banks' rose comes into view. She will be getting a big trim back after she finishes flowering, to give more light to the understory plants.


It isn't the easiest of gardens to visit because there are all kinds of plants growing in the gravel and if you know me you know how protective I am of those little seedlings. After all, they may be next year's plants. Hope you enjoyed the tour of this garden.

30 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for this tour of your garden. It's so beautiful, so completely different from our wet and shady garden. Love it!
    Marian

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    1. You are welcome Marian. Drop by again to see the rest of the gardens and please bring us some rain.

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  2. I enjoyed this tour of how to approach your garden. What a compliment to be compared to Beth Chatto's garden. I also enjoyed seeing the views of the disappearing fountain since we are currently working on one with found rocks so we will see how it goes. Maybe concrete is in our future.

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  3. What a treat to tour your garden. It is lovely.

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  4. Oh I do hope I'll get to see your garden in person one day...

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    1. Come any time, but preferably spring or fall. I think you would find the summer too hot.

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  5. And to think I was so proud to have gotten rid of the last of the snow from my vegetable garden. Oooof.
    This "tour" was amazing. Your garden is so lovely.

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    1. Do you know I sometimes wished we got to enjoy a break. WHen we lived in a winter climate I could spend more time on the anticipation, enjoying my books and catalogues. No rest here. Glad the snow is gone and you can start planting.

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  6. So so wonderful. You are quite generous to open up your spaces to so many visitors, actual and virtual. I doubt you'd have any worries about me stepping on any of you baby plants. I have a feeling I'd plunk down on one of your large "pavers" and just stay there, gawking and sighing until you asked (insisted!) that I leave. Here's trowels crossed your macho mocha will be around for years to come.

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    1. You know I always think that gardeners would be careful about where they tread but often they are not. Maybe their eyes are looking around all the time and not at their feet. And maybe it is only people who love to see a seedling here and there who are cautious about where they put their feet.

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  7. Your gardens are lovely.
    Melanie in Ohio

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    1. Thanks for visiting, Melanie. Come back again.

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  8. I love your gardens, they are so inspiring to us. I 'm in total awe :) Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful gardens.

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  9. Thanks for another walk through it; my memories from 2011 are as good though not this flowery. But I can hear your accent in how you wrote about banishing the hand-waving queen statue!!

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    1. She is out there again today. I avert my eyes as I pass by. I certainly couldn't be doing a curtsy every time.

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  10. Thanks for the tour. So lovely.
    I do hope your macho mocha survives its blooming.

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    1. Yes, Linda, I hope so to. It filled a difficult spot in the garden.

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  11. I'm sure your visitors enjoyed their garden tour - I certainly did. You know how to make xeriscape beautiful!

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    1. Thanks Kris. Xeriscape is on my main agenda for the next few years. I wonder how I will do in the other gardens. I know people find the reseeding thing charming but it is so much work.

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  12. Thanks so much for the tour! Beautiful garden!

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    1. I'm glad you dropped by for a visit Cottage Dome.

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  13. Quite lovely and truly inspiring as I get my own garden going here at the edge of the Hill Country. I am documenting my own efforts on my new blog HillCountryhick.com

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  14. I can see why you take everyone through that side door, as the peek into the garden beyond looks so magical! I can just imagine the sound of the fountain. What a beautiful garden! Thank you so much for the 'tour'!

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  15. Sigh. So beautiful--I remember the tour you for my husband and myself--about the same time of year. Still so inspirational and special. Love the Queen!

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  16. Always beautiful. I put this post up on our garden club's Facebook page so folks can see how beautiful a xeric garden can be and how to live without grass.

    I'm going to beg for a visit to see your garden in person. We're finally on the way to a new home and studying your place would be a great help in designing the next one.

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  17. I always do enjoy a tour of your beautiful garden, but this one was enhanced by your eloquent evocation of the experience of strolling through the garden. You are so generous to share your garden as you do.

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  18. I love your garden so much! Thanks for sharing.

    -ella

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  19. Beautiful indeed! What a lovely rock garden you have! I would love to have something like this!

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  20. In a perfect world gray agaves would be hardy in Tennessee. How lucky you are. Your garden is not only beautiful, it is interesting.

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