LUCINDA'S GARDEN

On the Saturday and Sunday of this year's Austin Garden Bloggers' Fling I joined the group of 93 flingers to visit a broad selection of Austin gardens. Both days began with a cool sunny morning and progressed to hot sunny afternoons. Visitors were often seen taking advantage of the homeowners' swimming pools by dipping their toes. It seems it has become quite a tradition at the Fling to see this kind of happening.
I loved all the gardens we visited but have to say that there are some gardens which positively announce the vibrant personality of their creator. "Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are" the words written long ago by the English poet Alfred Austin.  This photograph of Lucinda Hutson outside her front door says it all.

In an area of Austin that was once a grove of pecan trees, on a pleasant leafy street with many pretty cottage homes, built in the 1930s and 40s, is one particularly charming house. I remember the first time I visited it was quite easy to pick out the 'purple house' of Lucinda Hutson.  Not quite so easy today as the ginkgo tree has grown taller and fuller casting some welcome shade, and a kumquat, which shades a delightful seating area in front of the house, soften the brightly colored purple walls of her house.

It truly was the most perfect morning for our visit.

A delightful seating area beneath the kumquat tree.

Her front garden is cottage style with an amazing variety of plants and herbs, the ginkgo tree casting just enough shade to make a comfortable place for them to grow well. I couldn't help but marvel at how Lucinda's selection of plants knitted together so well with not the least air of untidiness.

And the hell strip is similarly planted with native heart leaf skull cap, Scuttelaria ovata, hesperaloe and spineless opuntia. In the Mexican tradition the name of her precious cat has been carved on one of the cactus pads.

Hesperaloe flowers in the hell strip

I asked Lucinda if she had any schooling in art and was surprised to hear she had not. She certainly has an artists eye. Look at this pretty selection for her lavender pot.

Years ago there was a driveway alongside the house which led to a garage at the back. (That garage today is just used for overwintering tender plants). A gardening friend suggested Lucinda should build a wall across from the house to create a private area. They built it together.

And leading up to the archway to the side garden several Tuscan pots with, of course, Salvia 'Amistad' in her signature color.
I remember years ago there were iris growing here, which she shred with us. I think every gardener in our group now has that iris and we refer to it as Lucinda's iris. We may have to share it back as she now sh has only one small patch at the end of the driveway.

Through the gateway looking back outside is a reminder of times in Lucinda's youth which she spent in Southern California at her grandmother's.

 And now the story really begins and Lucinda is there to share, with bountiful joy, all the special areas of significance in her garden. She grew up in El Paso and with travels into Mexico with her father and subsequent travel on her own she came to love the Mexican culture and particularly their use of color.
Behind the wall lies the mermaid grotto and mermaids will feature not just in this part of the garden but also in her house.

Mermaid grotto

And the the shrine to Our Lady of La Tina was once a claw foot tub, now decorated and set in stone. La Tina is a play on words as la tina means bath in Mexico.

Look up, look down, with every glance something new. How many things did I miss? Plenty I am sure. And in so looking I ended up missing taking photographs for many things.

Haitian steel oil drum carvings

In her surprisingly spacious back garden there is room to sit, a colorful serving area and a log cabin work retreat.

No doubt she spent many hours in her 'creative cathedral' writing her books, The Herb Garden Cookbook and Viva Tequila!

And things didn't stop with a garden visit. The back door of the garden opened onto the 'stairway to heaven'. Notice Sancho's special doorway. He must walk theses stairs many times. But we were requested to enter the house by the front door.

I don't think I have been on many garden tours where a house tour was included, but Lucinda has an unusual and very special house. Her collection of Mexican folk handicrafts may rival that of any museum. It put me in mind of Charles Wade who bought Snowshill to house his incredible collection of exquisite handicrafts.

Every inch of her house is decorated with the utmost care and creativity.

And time in the kitchen being very close to my heart, a few photographs of where Lucinda perfected her many recipes.

And libations!

After all Lucinda is an expert on Tequila.

Thank you Lucinda for inviting 93 Flingers and their cameras into your garden and home. It was a special and memorable morning for us all.

FRIDAY AT THE FLING

The itinerary for the first real day of 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling was, The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the garden of Diana Kirby, ( Sharing Nature' Garden), The Natural Gardener nursery, with a talk from owner John Dromgoole, followed by lunch in their tented pavilion, and two afternoon tours at the Mirador garden and my garden (Rock Rose).

What can I say? How foolish of we Texas gardeners to have been praying for weeks for rain because this was the day it arrived and while we are at it, why not show our visitors what a real Texas rain looks like. That means 3 1/2" in a matter of 3 hours. I know they were rained out at the WFC, but heard the shop was doing a brisk business, and at Diana's they took shelter in the house. Thank goodness for the ponchos that everyone got in their swag bag.

Because my garden was on tour in the afternoon I was unable to go to the earlier events. I had anticipated going to Diana's and I probably would have if I had not been standing at the window staring out at rain sheeting off the roof. All the anticipation of showing this great group of garden bloggers my garden washed away in a matter of hours. I watched the radar intently but that system was moving so slowly. I made lunch and I don't usually have a glass of wine but this day I did. Then as the rain tapered off we got out the wet vac and began a clean up job on the patio where the waterfall had carried with it a sea of muddy soil. I felt a lot better after that. At 2:00pm a quick text from Pam told me the first group of 50 was on its way and David and I prepared to meet our guests. I gave David strict instructions to take photos because I knew I never would. This week when I asked him about the photos he said they were awful and had deleted them. Thanks goodness we could recover them because they are the only record I have that anyone came here. Apart from this photograph of Jenny Peterson brightening a dreary scene.

Jenny Peterson in her cheerful rain jacket

My garden does not show well in the rain partly because the current cottage garden-type flowers hang their heads and sulk when it rains. Not to mention my inability to control what is growing At least until they have set their seed. That means a lot of pushing plants aside to walk by plus places to plant feet are small. Did I worry that some of my little seedlings would be trampled? Absolutely not. Everyone was completely respectful of every little seedling and not a plant was damaged.

The group is gathered around me holding the branch with the praying mantis egg case and a tiny mantis is just hatching, running up and down the branch and onto my finger. I have a feeling he must have been terrified being ogled by a bunch of camera-toting poncho-wearing faces.

 That's it, the sum total of my photos.

But someone took a photo of the two of us as they were leaving. We look very happy don't we? But not as happy as I would have been if I could have shared my garden in better weather conditions.

So I am going to do that now. Come on in and notice how important shadow play is in the entrance to the garden.

The wet weather creek is dry now as sunny skies pervade once again.

Before you crossed the creek did you spot the hypertufa trough I made? I love the flap jack plant Kalanchoe thyrsiflora, because it grows quickly and takes on great color when stressed.

And the little seating area, also in the breezeway, which may have been hidden by the door. It's a favorite winter afternoon place to have a cup of tea because the sun shines right in here. Or we sometimes sit here in the shade in the morning.

The little table is just a plant pot with a piece of sturdy cardboard supporting years of shell collecting on beaches far and wide.

The wet weather creek continues across the path into the corner of the house.

Beneath the bird-planted yaupon holly, Ilex vomitoria,  as far as the 'I didn't plant that' Texas flowery senna tree, Senna corymbosa. They pop up everywhere but are not long lived. There are always more waiting in the wings but will they plant themselves so perfectly? It's a great place for the bird bath because and a hanging feeder because the tree affords them some shelter.

We used to have some Indian hawthorn plants here but I opted for a cleaner look with the A. desmettiana  'variegata' in the pot. Of course I can't help but add a few plants and a few seedlings are popping up.

When I walk to the end of the garden I like to glance back through a haze of Englemanns daisy.

I wonder if you noticed the water feature. The repurposed post support from a basketball stand dumped in the alley behind my son's house in Dallas. I knew immediately what its second life would become. Good job we were in the truck with a couple of strong backs to heave it up.

Now out through the front gates and around the back into the Secret garden.

And through the Gulag into the English garden. So much more inviting on a sunny day.

And then passing thought the Sun and Moon archway and down into the sunken garden.

And if you don't sit and linger for a while

 down into the herb and vegetable garden which on a sunny day is a hive of activity.

There! I feel so much better now that the rainy Friday is over with. Visits to gardens on Saturday and Sunday will be in the full sun, I can promise.