Monday, March 5, 2012

Scene on the Street - Sunset and Broadway

Some places make you want to slow down and take another look.  San Antonio has many such places and this is one of them.  Even in San Antonio, where the agave is a common landscape plant, this place stands out for its abundance of them.  I drive by here often and today became the day to stop for a few photos.  As impressive as this looked driving by, it's even more so from the sidewalk.


I don't know the origin of the buildings or if they are currently in use.  This is on a busy commercial street, but there are no signs to indicate it is currently occupied.  A quick check shows that it was an antique store for a while.  We'll walk along the sidewalk from west to east.  The Texas Mountain Laurel and other large plants offer a hint of the impressive view beyond.


Just on the other side the scene changes dramatically to agaves on a berm in front of the driveway.  The rocks, while looking random, are well placed.


Back along the sidewalk there's a great mailbox, agave, ocotillo, and a Retama tree.  The agaves were planted close to the sidewalk and the lower leaves are trimmed back.


Up above the plants include bear grass, yucca, and we get a glimpse of the buildings



Along the way there's enough of a clearing to get a good look at the front entry and the stonework around the door.


Matching stonework around the window on a small building to the right.


Back to the street, the agaves create quite a jumble at eye level



A look at the decorative painting around the windows to the left of the entry


An up close view of the agave jumble

 
Nearing the end, more agave and yucca


One last peek over the fence before I go on about my errands.


Those are our beautiful native Texas Mountain Laurel flowers to the right.  The flowers are intensely fragrant and smell like grape kool-aid. 

If this place ever re-opens as a business I would love to see inside.  Now on my way....

24 comments:

  1. Those agaves are gorgeous! And the mountain laurel is too. I like the painting around the windows. I hope someone makes this into a fun and profitable place of business!

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    1. Me too Holley! If that happens I'll probably be one of the first to check it out.

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  2. This is a really interesting place.....I'd love to fix that place up and call it home. The Agaves are fantastically ginormous! And the Mountain Laurel. You know? That is the number one hot topic this week on my blog. Everytime this year, the purple flowers grab people's attention and it gets its 15 minutes of glory before fading into the background again. Last year, I didn't get any blooms because of the freeze.....this year.....I have blooms, birds, and a bath all together as one:) Nice pics around the property!

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    1. Thanks Chris, the TML blooms are definitely beautiful. They also provide a hardy, drought tolerant and sculptural evergreen focal point all year in my garden.

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  3. Agave jumble indeed! Wow...I want to open a nursery there.

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    1. Wouldn't that be a great welcome for the front of a garden center and a ready made source of xeric plants.

      There is a very nice garden center nearby which is how I manage to go by there on a regular basis.

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  4. The first photo is classic...tough plants, no care. That just needs some editing and clean-up, and that is one nice-looking retama...the ones in El Paso and Las Cruces look so ugly by comparison. I bet being S TX natives, they at their prime in SA and maybe even more past Laredo, etc?

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    1. These plants have weathered freezes and drought with zero attention for at least two years. That definitely gives me ideas.

      There are Retamas growing in the utility strip across the creek, they aren't nearly as pretty as that one but I should check for seedlings sometime.

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  5. I love these photos. The agaves are so structural. This is such an interesting collection of plants. I can see way you had to stop for a closer look.

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    1. I'm learning to appreciate the sculptural qualities of the agave. A number of those plants are local natives that are easily found around here.

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  6. I always notice that place too when I am on my way to Shades of Green. I wonder how many people have stopped in and offered to dig and buy some of their agaves.

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    1. You guessed it Abbey! I had just left Shades of Green and was in blogging mode so I decided it was time to actually stop and take photos.

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  7. Great post, Shirley. I love those buildings and the garden plants complement them perfectly--a very appropriate regional look. The last photo caught my attention, both because of the Mountain Laurel (so beautiful this year) and also the detail work around the windows. Nice!

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    1. Thank you Tina. I had never seen the detail on the buildings before. I did stay on the sidewalk but it was hard not to walk up closer.

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  8. Lovely photos! We don't have any landscaping like that around here, even though yucca and agave will grow here. Most of the time I just see them as specimen plants among more temperate, rain-loving species.

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    1. Most places around here use the agave and yucca the same way. The use of agave at this place is unusual. There are several other places in the area planted this way that I will profile over time too.

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  9. I really enjoyed that walk. Those agaves are amazing. Love to see them growing to full size rather than the puny specimens we grow here as houseplants.

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    1. There are varieties of yucca and agave that would be hardy outside there, but the rain would be a problem.

      The agaves in the photos have been frozen and even covered in snow a few times.

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  10. Replies
    1. If you can't be in San Antonio, I'll send SA to you greggo.

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  11. Beautiful images of San Antonio garden beds. I love the agave with its form and strength.

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    1. Thank you, they do make great living sculptures in the garden.

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  12. Doesn't look like there's any grass there -- and it still looks great. I admit, it's taken awhile for me to get out of "must have full green lawn" mode. I grew up in Chicago, where "drought" was not in our vocabulary. Great pics, thanks!!

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    1. It does take a while even for those who are from this area. The best place to start is the Austin blog "Digging" because Pam has many posts about replacing the lawn and be sure check out her "Lawn Alternatives" Facebook page.

      Today Pam has a post on a great native sedge.

      http://www.penick.net/digging/

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