I'm a garden girl.
One who is happiest in a garden,
be it mine or someone else's.
Gardening genes run through our family.
My grandmother's garden is one of my
favorite childhood memories.
Sweet peas climbing up a trellis,
snapdragons in candy colors,
stock, and a wealth of other bloomers.
My mother and all three of her sisters were also gardeners.
I'm happy I inheritated the gardening gene too.
Spring arrived early in Austin this year, and the
redbud trees all over town offered up deep pink blooms.
Our ever blooming knockout roses, with their
backdrop of blue plumbego,
welcome guests just about year round.
As do the firecracker ferns and
the brilliant yellow of the golden thryallis.
I'm a serious fan of this wonderful shrub.
I cut it back at the end of winter, and by spring it rewards us
with these delicate yellow blooms right into the next winter.
Iceberg roses with their sweet fragrance
welcome you as you come up our front steps.
A staple in our garden are hardy iris in a rainbow of colors.
All of our iris were "pass along plants" given to
us by other gardeners who had an abundance.
The day lilies are just beginning to
put out blooms, but it won't be long before
we'll have a sea of these pretty blooms to greet the day.
Gerber daisies and petunias
give the sun garden annual color before the
dreaded triple digit heat of summer arrives.
Oh, and before I take you to the shade garden,
Sadie wanted you to see our crop of bluebonnets
that bloomed earlier in the spring.
Bluebonnets grow wild along the roadsides in Texas,
but many of us Texans have them in our gardens too.
We can follow this foot path
to move on to our shade garden in the back.
The shade garden is my favorite outdoor space because
the shades of green with occasional white blooms offer the
feeling of a cool oasis, even if it's just in my imagination.
Do you see the tall ginger plant to the left
that grows under a large live oak tree?
It's a shell ginger.
Most winters it freezes back to the ground and
wouldn't yet be tall and full of leaves, but there was no freeze
here this past winter. The odd years with no freeze
means we'll get to enjoy the beauty of these amazing blooms.
Truly they are the
most exquisite blooms!
You might come across a
bunny here or there.
My garden bunnies like to hide
among the holly ferns . . .
Or frolic beneath the canapy
of the oak leaf hydrangeas.
Oak leaf hydrangeas are native to the US,
and they seem to thrive here while most hydrangeas find
our summers too hot. They don't require a lot of water like most
hydrangeas, nor do they need much attention.
Perfect for a Texas shade garden!
Our shade garden is a quiet space except
for the sound of bird calls and the occasional bark
from Sadie as she chases a squirrel up a tree.
It's also basically an evergreen
garden so it can be enjoyed year round.
I'm trying something new this spring.
I moved this table from the upper terrace
down to the lower terrace and brought out my topiary plants
from the sunroom to see if they will flourish outdoors.
Image here from Tone on Tone
My inspiration is my blogging friend, Loi @ Tone on Tone.
I've been a fan and avid reader of Tone on Tone
for many years. If you don't know of this exquisite blog,
then head over and prepare to spend some time.
He has an amazing eye for beauty, and as you can see
Loi is an expert gardener. Aren't these myrtles amazing?
Image here from Tone on Tone
I'd like to add some myrtle topiaries if
I can find a source and perhaps
do the table exclusively with myrtles
as Loi has done in the photo above.
~ Gardens ~
Happy Earth Day 2016!
Happy Earth Day 2016!
I'd love to hear about your spring garden.
Joining
Also Joining
Garden Tour @ Chatham Hill on the Lake
Joining Share Your Cup and Thoughts of Home
on Monday, April 25 for a Garden Party
Also Joining
Garden Tour @ Chatham Hill on the Lake
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