Visiting Yeya's Part Two: The Find

Yesterday I shared my recent visit and the new plants I picked up at Yeya's last week, but I saved something special for today. I'd been considering this faux bois planter with the bad paint job for a while and I decided to purchase it.

Walking the Walk: River Walk from Navarro Street to Houston Street

This is the fourth in a series of posts covering the San Antonio River Walk which is one of our country's top tourist destinations and the #1 destination in Texas. Most visitors spend their time along the small section downtown known as the Paseo del Rio.  There's much more to the River Walk and I've set out to show you the entire 15 miles that most tourists miss and local residents enjoy.  My posts are covering the San Antonio River beginning at the Pearl Brewery on the north end and heading south to the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

We'll begin today's walk at the Navarro Street Bridge and head south to Houston Street to the beginning of the popular Paseo del Rio loop through downtown.

The Navarro Street bridge is decorated with tile mosaics and is one of a series of pretty bridges crossing the river.

Fall vist to Yeya's

I took the opportunity to stop by Yeya's Antiques and Oddities recently.  The "yard" as Mario calls it gets very hot during summer months so I especially enjoy going once the weather turns cooler.

Lets see what's new; oh boy, a recently arrived stock of sign letters lining the aisles.  Can you spell F-U-N?

Walking the Walk: Museum Reach

Most visitors to San Antonio have seen the downtown section of the Riverwalk with all the restaurants and bars.  While that's a beautiful and fun spot, my favorite for walking is the Museum Reach to the north.

Also called the Urban Section, it was designed by local firm Ford, Powell & Carson.  Landscaping and public art were considered from the beginning of the planning process.  The result is an urban walking trail that integrates beautifully with its surroundings.
 
Opened in 2009, it's a great place to enjoy the river in a less crowded, more natural setting.  An important plus is that you can begin your walk at the beautiful Pearl Brewery complex where parking is plentiful and free.  I previously posted about The Pearl when I attended The Herb Market in October.  I recently stopped in to enjoy a walk and see how the drought had affected the plantings.

Starting in the parking lot, the great landscaping is worth taking in

Haunting Magnolia Pearl

The look of it always draws me in.  Magnolia Pearl, a shop just east of Fredericksburg, looks so cool from the highway that I must stop.  Every time.

Appears almost as a haunted house tucked among the oaks with its fanciful styling though it is newly constructed from old wood and vintage building materials.

The well-lit interior with large windows and glass doors quickly dispels the haunted house notion.



Every single thing here is just so cool.  Great accessories on the porch and ideas to take away.



Chicken coop on an old pickup truck.

No chickens today.

The incredible containers and succulent displays are literally mesmerizing.



I could spend a lot of time just taking in all the details.

An iron bed frame dangling by ropes and pulleys is a fascinating take on the day bed.

White painted faux bois graces the porch.

A few unpainted faux bois pieces for good measure.

There's even a tree through the porch roof

It turns out the merchandise is the most haunting part.

Inside you'll find an imaginative line of clothing designed by the owner.  Vintage fabrics and art are her primary inspiration though she draws from many sources.  The current collection is a tribute to Frida Kahlo rendered in surprisingly muted tones.  I didn't take any photos inside but their website shows the interior.  The style is a bit unusual for walking around the Texas Hill Country so most of their customers live elsewhere and they ship all over the world.

It's especially fun to go back through their gallery of past collections like this one from Winter 2016 which was on display when I first visited last fall.

Interesting to peruse but $95 for a tattered Lone Star Beer Tee Shirt?  $400 jackets with moth holes and patches?  Not for my closet but I do appreciate the artistry.

Enjoy haunting Magnolia Pearl as much as I do.

Watersaver Landscape Tour 2014: Rushing Street

There's just something about this spiky, green and gravelly garden that draws me in.  That's what I enjoyed most about visiting this garden on the Water Saver Landscape Tour in San Antonio last fall.  The tour is held each October to inspire San Antonio homeowners to ditch their water guzzling turf grass lawns in favor of native and adapted plants.  No sign of turf grass in this landscape and it wasn't missed due to excellent plant choices for our climate.  There are more photos than I typically show in a single post since I didn't want you to miss a single detail.

This first view along the front curb invites with repetition of form and texture combining soft perennials and spiky agaves.

Return to Yeya's

It's been a while since we visited Yeya's,  one of my favorite places to hunt for garden junk.  With the weather a bit cool and wet for gardening it's a good time to add to the collection for the coming gardening season and take you on another tour.

I haven't shown you what's new for a while but doesn't mean I have been shopping Yeya's!  A cool cloudy day is the best time to visit and take photos because it can get very hot out here in the sun.

So what's new at Yeya's besides that bright pink wall?  Here are just a few of the things I found last week when I visited.

Walking The Walk: Brooklyn Avenue to Navarro Street

This is the third in a series of posts covering the San Antonio River Walk which is one of our country's top tourist destinations and the #1 destination in Texas.  Most visitors spend their time along the small section downtown known as the Paseo del Rio.  But there's much more to the River Walk and I've set out to show you the entire 15 miles that most tourists miss and local residents enjoy.  My posts are covering the river starting at the Pearl Brewery on the north end and heading south to the missions.

In two previous posts I showed the Museum Reach section which ends at the locks and you can find those posts here and here.  Today we'll begin at the Brooklyn Avenue bridge just beyond the locks and dam and go south.  This section marks a transition from the newer Museum Reach to the older section at Navarro Street on the north side of downtown.

We start today by looking north from the locks at the section covered in my last post.

Rainy Day fun at the zoo

My garden club plans events for the second Wednesday of each month during the school year.  Rain or shine, we rarely cancel for weather.   In early November, on a rare rainy day, we gathered for a horticultural tour of the San Antonio Zoo.  The heaviest rain held off and we had a great time.  I'd never visited this zoo and I was so impressed I'm sure to visit more often now that I've seen the lovely lush gardens and fascinating animal exhibits.

Zoo Lights holiday display was set up and ready to welcome visitors each evening.

 

Despite the cloudy, damp look to these photos, the weather was cool but not cold making our visit very comfortable.  Since we were here to see the plants, we were properly welcomed by agave, sotol, yucca, cactus and a big cat sculpture just inside the entrance.

Panther, cougar, jaguar?  All can be found in Texas though sightings are rare.

A good caution necessary for visitors who may not have experienced what our sun can do to metal.  It can get very hot visiting the sights of our city in the summer so it's nice to be here on a somewhat cooler day.

Nicely done, we're off to a good start.  Watch out for the Coral Snake in the sidewalk though.  A few real ones have been spotted in my neighborhood recently though I haven't seen one at my place yet.

Setting the holiday mood with cyclamen in a container display.



The reptile house is all decked out.

 Tropical gardens benefit from the zoo's in town location where microclimates can be warmer.

Butterfly attracting Tropical Milkweed dominates a border.

Reindeer awaiting the big holiday show.

More cyclamen, one of my favorite sights around town during the holiday season.

Beautifully landscaped all around.  A gift shop doubles as the North Pole.

The North Pole looking especially tropical this year.

No bananas but with last year's mild winter there should be some fruiting bananas around.

Bright spots of color on a cloudy day.

The Mays Family Plaza is now home to the Johnson Family Light Show made famous after their appearance on ABC's "Great Christmas Light Fight" a few years ago.  As you might imagine, the attention the show attracted became too much for their neighborhood and they've set up at the zoo this year.

I don't remember the name of this Dr. Seuss looking tree but I think it's from Australia.  It's not cold hardy and we've had some freezes this year so I hope it's okay.

Our tour guide zoo horticulturist John Strickland and the group.

This exquisite carousel was added for "Zootennial" in 2014 and features local Texas animals like a Whooping Crane, Horned Toad, Whitetail Deer and Jackalope.  The bird's nest spins.  We were here on a weekday, I can imagine it's quite busy on weekends and holidays.

Hibiscus mutabilis flowers turn from white to deep pink as they mature.

Porterweed, makes a nice shade plant.  The wire tree is part of the light show.

Around the other side of the flamingo pond.

Lush and tropical with Philippine Violet (right) and Esperanza in bloom.

A garden parterre.

Get Dirty!  Zoo School, a full-time preschool on site gives children an opportunity to spend 50% of their day outside in the zoo.

Callistemon, tree form.

I like this, don't know the name though.

Frosty should be more at home this week.

Faux bois window trim stands out on this vintage stone building.  The placement of the front window indicates it might have been a ticket office.

Salvia cascades over "rocks".

In one area ornamental grasses dominated along walkways.  Native muhlys with the same pennisetum I'm pulling from my garden.

Pennisetum grasses were reseeding and taking over just as they do in my yard.  At least here they are contained by walkways.

A friendly serpent mosaic.

Nice job of repurposing what appears to be an unused exhibit into a sunken gravel garden.

Drainage is key and there's a runoff spot to one side.

Aloe World across the way on a small hill.

Heading over to "Big Cat Valley" our arrival coincided with opening day of a new lion exhibit.  Thick glass walls replace railings and moats.

Wow, that lion just walked right up to the glass and it was an amazing experience which I was too mesmerized by to take a photo.  There's a spot in the wall where you can play tug-of-war with the lions.

Next door a tiger dozes in the conventional enclosure which will likely be replaced as well.  The new lion exhibit cost $1 million so they may need to do a little more fundraising first.

Natural looking rock formations in the background courtesy of The Kleberg Foundation.  The Kleberg family owns the famous King Ranch and have given generously to projects all around South Texas for decades.

On to Australia and kangaroos

But what is that thatched shrub over to the left?

It's a sleepy bird, looks more like an emu instead of an ostrich.

Speaking of Australia, I've been enjoying wildlife posts from Sue at My Wild Australia.  Among my favorites are her posts on Rainbow Lorikeets and I was delighted to see these charmers in an aviary at the zoo.

Families can interact with the birds under zookeeper supervision (not pictured) by purchasing food in a small container which the birds are quite adept at opening.

It was a day of firsts since a new Jaguar mom was showing off her cubs to the public for the first time.  Her enclosure has the same thick glass as the lions.



Faux bois planter boxes along a walkway near the reptile house.



Chameleon inside and lots of big snakes too.

Another look at the spiky entrance garden.

A fun day at the zoo combining a tour of the established plants and new exhibits.  One member of our group returned in December with her family for the Zoo Lights show which they enjoyed very much.