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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Garden Tour San Antonio Style: Texas Eclectic Garden

The second garden on The San Antonio Herb Society garden tour is the "Texas Eclectic Garden" located in a tree-filled older neighborhood northeast of downtown.  The brochure promised a bit of everything and we were not disappointed with lots of ideas to add to our garden.

A welcoming Texas-style porch and shady front garden greets visitors from the street.






This colorful, San Antonio style fall vignette greets us at the entrance to the back garden




Concrete block planter with nursery pots for herbs



Deck for relaxing.  I liked the colorful outdoor rug and everything else too.



A second "TexZen" style seating area with chiminea







Gravel and flagstone pathways lead you through the garden



Clay pipes used as planters



The potting bench is inspiring, I think I need to plan a larger area





Faces in an old window frame




The owner, a graphic artist, creates these beautiful angel faces with molds she makes at old cemeteries







The herb garden





Bougainvillea and cactus by the back gate





Bright color on the lamb's quarters (Chenopodium album), we saw this plant at several gardens



Striking euphorbia on display


Variegated grapefruit look almost like a gourd.  Grapefruit is a bit hardier than most citrus.  This one is from Fanick's nursery and I'm putting it on my list.




The owner's pet tortoise was entertaining vistors. the pen is temporary.






On the way out we paused to admire this stunning oak tree by the driveway.



The San Antonio Herb Society tour benefits culinary scholarships to St. Philip's College here in San Antonio. The San Antonio Herb Society also holds is one of the sponsors of the popular San Antonio Herb Market event held each year by the Herb Market Association. This year the market is on October 20th at The Pearl

We visited six gardens on this tour and tomorrow I'll share the "Urban Chic" garden in Southtown, a neighborhood near downtown undergoing revitalization.  For a look back at "Cactus Marty's" stunning cactus and palm garden click here.

15 comments:

  1. Great and funky garden! Of course, I love all the faces and plan on borrowing the window sash on the fence idea.

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    1. Yes, those faces were exquisite. I'll probably do something similar on my fence. An art professor told us early on "never borrow an idea, steal it and make it your own". It's something that has stuck with me.

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  2. Nice SA-style landscape, thanks for the tour. I had no idea grapefruits were ore hardy than many citrus, so no wonder someone tried them in Las Cruces, z 8a. Though 4000'+ is probably a challenge even in z 8!

    The porch always grabs me, though flagstone or any pavers in gravel when the gravel suffices, always bugs me.

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  3. Shirley, wasn't this a lovely garden! The one word description that comes to me is "cozy". The coziness sprung from all the little rooms that the large shrubs through out the back yard created. It was like a forest in miniature with little glades here and there. The paths led from one to another and there was always a nice surprise around the bend. It made me want to do more of that. That feature also made it more difficult to photograph because you couldn't stand back very far and take in the whole scene, but you got some great pictures even though the sun was very bright.

    Ragna

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  4. I love the concrete block planters! What a great idea! And the rug is wonderful. Love the color. I have not heard of lamb's quarters, but I'm going to be looking that one up. Love the touch of pink on it.

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  5. What a beautiful garden - I like that winding shady path A LOT - as well as the Bougainvillea and cactus combo.

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  6. My schedule kept me from going on the tour but I'm enjoying the homes through your photos. Thank you! Looks like I missed out big time. Coincidentally, I met the owner of this property at an event for work where she was the speaker. After getting to know her personality, I'd say her garden suits her perfectly.

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    1. The tour was special in that the gardens shown were created by the owners to their own personal style and they were all on hand to share their experiences.

      This was the "first annual" tour and it went so well with such beautiful gardens and interesting gardeners that we all look forward to next year.

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  7. Thank you for the virtual tour - a wonderful collection of really eccentric gardens.

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    1. You're welcome Croftgarden, I'm thinking eccentric is a good thing in the UK. They did represent gardening in our city quite well.

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  8. Shirley, thanks so much for the wonderful commentary and the photos of our garden - you described it the way I wish I could have! My art professor told me the same thing about stealing ideas, so steal to your heart's content. Since I didn't get to go on the tour, I especially like your photos of other people's gardens. And the comments will be useful when we critique this event and make it even better next year.
    Come back soon!
    Lyn (and Mike and Dudley the tortoise)
    PS I will have my earthenware faces at the Herb Market this year on October 20th at The Pearl - hope to see some of you there :)

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  9. Thank you for stopping by Lyn, we did enjoy your garden so much. We met briefly, but you were understandably quite busy that day.

    The tour was wonderful and we look forward to seeing what you have for us next year. I'll post the Herb Market to my facebook page and mention you'll be there. I can't attend this year, perhaps I'll see you at another event soon.

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  10. Just a clarification, Shirley. The San Antonio Herb Society does not put on the October Herb Market; that is put on by the Herb Market Association. We do help out at their t-shirt booth and have a booth of our own to sell our publications and to education the public about herbs but we are not the driving force behind Herb Market.

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    1. Thank you Eileen. I will make a correction note on my posts later today. The San Antonio Herb Society members are always so active and helpful at the market I did not realize the difference.

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    2. It's a common misconception. And since one of our founding members is part of the Herb Market Association, the dividing lines are blurred even further.

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