Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Texas Natives & More

Long time customers of Schumacher’s Hill Country Gardens in New Braunfels weren’t sure what to expect when it was sold last year. Turns out they didn’t need to be concerned, now known as Hill Country Gardens there have been a lot of positive changes in the last year.



Natives and drought tolerant perennials remain the stars of the show. Andrea Sanger, the new owner, has done an impressive job restoring the gardens and bringing new ideas to this local favorite. On October 1st Andrea held a one year anniversary celebration. My friend Ragna and I joined the fun on a beautiful day in the hill country.


 Andrea welcomed visitors to the new Pumpkin Patch and introduced staff member Eric (left) who discussed the process of growing pumpkins as well as identifying and defeating squash vine borers.
 
Time to admire the new Pumpkin Patch

Tagged pumpkins will stay on the vine for a few more weeks


Broken pottery shards make great reusable plant tags

Wood pallets recycled as fencing

 On to a tour of the gardens starting with this very natural fountain of hill country limestone.



The old travel trailer will be renovated into a snack bar


Pathways to follow and a glider just right for a Texas style garden
This Pink Turk's Cap is such a soft and pretty color

A new bridge over the large pond at the far end of the gardens




Latest garden art arrivals on display
  
Pecan hulls mulch a stepping stone path by the greenhouse

Plenty of natives and drought tolerant plants


 
Bob Fitzsimmons conducted a seminar on what to plant now.  Bob is on Radio FM 92.1 in New Braunfels at 8 am every Saturday morning answering questions and sharing his extensive knowledge of plants for our climate. He’s also the owner of  Bob’s Organic Landscaping.

Bright colors in front of the sales office

Ragna shared this great photo of Andrea ringing up sales


Andrea has plans to bring back the propagation classes popular here in the past and to extend the gardens.  A new website is in the works and will be up and running soon.

Good job Andrea! Thanks for the great day, we'll definitely be back.

October is Support Your Independent Nursery month sponsored by Pam at her Austin blog Digging.  Next in the series is Rainbow Gardens #3 on Bandera Road in San Antonio.

4 comments:

  1. It's great to learn about this independent nursery, Shirley. I'll definitely check it out the next time I'm in New Braunfels. Thanks for joining in Support Your Independent Nursery month!

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  2. I've never heard about this nursery. I'm definitely going to have to make a trip to New Braunfels to visit it.

    PS I'm so happy to find your blog. I love Rainbow Gardens as well.

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  3. Thanks Rambling Wren. I'm glad you found my blog too. Enjoy Hill Country Gardens when you get a chance.

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  4. Hi, I am from South Texas and I would like to know about your native plants. I too work at a nature center and grow native plats that are drought tolerant but they are native to Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy counties.

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