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Sunday, April 24, 2016

FINALLY THE TOUR HAPPENS

Let's face it I'm a bit of a fretter. It can't be helped. I will always be this way. This last week I spent many anxious days watching the weather.

On Thursday we were supposed to have a garden tour. It was the Westlake Hills Garden Club; the same group that I had to cancel last year because of the devastating hail event 4 days before their visit. We reset the date for Thursday this year and although we left the decision until the last minute we had to cancel again: thunder, lightening and heavy rain. The last time I offered them a tour of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, this time I offered them to come the next day. Friday was to be a glorious day and we were not disappointed.

Westlake Hills Garden Group with the Undergardener.

We always meet on the driveway where I can introduce myself and David to the group and give them a little history of the garden as well as share a few anecdotes. I began by showing them one of the branches from my Felica rose, bearing the enormous damage from that hailstorm. A storm that resulted in us removing many woody plants. The 6' rose had tried admirably to mend itself, even putting out a nice display this spring, but the time has come to cut back down to the ground and see if we can build up new, undamaged growth.
It is always wonderful to give a tour to garden groups because everyone is so interested to hear every detail of the garden and the plants. Our garden has small spaces so it isn't easy to show it to a large group and share things with them at the same time. So with warnings to watch their feet, because of uneven surfaces, they entered the garden.
I had taken a walk around the garden just before they arrived because I knew that even though I had my camera with me it would be dormant, and so it was. An hour later the visitors were following this same route.

Side entry to the garden

Side entry water garden
Into the front courtyard


A favorite place to eat lunch
Tiptoe through the bluebonnets


Looking back towards the gate.
Out through the main gate

Yesterday a wren began building a nest in the Huernia

Down the side of the house
Into the Spanish Oak garden

Lots of stories to tell here about the making of the pavers, the head on the wall and the hypertufa trough.
Out into the gulag

Into the English garden with more stone building stories


Through the sun and moon archway into the sunken garden
Sunken garden

Sunken garden

Succulents and cactus on the hearth
The group gathered here for a photograph before visiting the herb and vegetable garden.



The herb garden

The stock tank
And finally the tour came to an end. But wait! There is no harm in asking is there? One of the ladies asked me if I did private tours. Her reason; several of the ladies could not come on the Friday and were so disappointed. "How about tomorrow morning?" And so on Saturday, another glorious Texas day, bright and early, the second group arrived.


What a lovely tour we had and I was able to point out to them the lovely gift of a willow garden ornament. I haven't quite decided on its permanent home yet but you can be sure it will be in the English garden.

 
Thank you ladies for all your kind words about the garden. David and I really enjoyed your visit.

11 comments:

  1. What a wonderful tour, and how nice of you to do it twice...your garden is beautiful!

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  2. What a treat it must be to see your garden in person! I don't think I could pick a favorite area if I tried - everything looks beautiful.

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  3. Everything looks so beautiful!!! What a fun tour!!!

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  4. What a wonderful garden. Thanks for the tour.

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  5. And just when I think I understand the layout of your beautiful garden then you go and do a post like this and I realize I have no idea! Someday...someday I will see it in person...

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  6. Beautiful and inspirational! Thanks for the virtual tour as well!

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  7. So beautiful..
    I was sorry I didn't get to see more last year. I wasn't handling the heat well that day.

    I know how you fret, but the only thing your guests see, is the beauty.

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  8. You are so generous to open your garden to groups and individuals, as I know from being a lucky visitor in your garden myself. I love the poppy seedheads in the gate-mounted ceramic piece, by the way.

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  9. Your garden photos always inspire me. So many individual elements in harmony. I love the whimsical touches like the suns and moons of the arch. Someday I'd loveto join one of your tours and see it all up close.

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  10. Generous is indeed the word that springs to my mind. You are so generous with your lovely garden, with your time, with your energies...both online and in person. What lucky wild creatures to have access to these wonderfully crafted spaces, not to mention the slightly more tame gardeners who arrive for your tours!

    And as you admit to the fretting (I'm empathetic) then I celebrate with you the fact the tours are finally behind you so you can relax as you so richly deserve! Well done, well toured, and well documented. Time for some serious unwinding!

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  11. I'm so glad you "walked" us through your garden along with your tour guests, because obviously I haven't got a firm grasp of its extent. What lucky, lucky people they are to see it in person!

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