Medina Lake, Native Plants, and One Big Agave

A visit to the Hill Country and Medina Lake just west of San Antonio wouldn't be complete without a look at the lake and native plants along the way.  One of my favorite things on a trip like this is to observe native plants in their habitat.  You've already seen the huge Texas Madrone tree and the thrift shops we visited.  To finish off the series, we'll visit the lake and plants we saw there.

Like many lakes in this part of Texas, Medina Lake is very low.  "Normal" level would cover this exposed white limestone almost to where I am standing.  Even the good winter rains have barely made the lake usable for recreation.  On this Friday there were a few water skiers and fishing boats on the lake.

The lake is a beautiful blue, almost turquoise with the exposed white limestone in sharp contrast.

These native Texas sotols were seen growing all along the road on the way up to the lake, I took these photos near the state park.

Several Dahlberg Daisy plants growing nearby

Verbena, opuntia, and ashe juniper just to the right of the sotols.

This might be Blackfoot Daisy, slightly different than the ones in my yard.

A huge swath of Prairie Verbena on the side of road headed down to the lake was beautiful.

This 9 ft tall Agave americana was next to a real estate office in Lakehills.

I've seen a lot of large agaves, but none this big that I remember. Most of them bloom before reaching this size.

It wasn't the only large agave around, these were just up the road and easily 6 ft tall.  More typical in size since there are a few this tall in my neighborhood, but I liked this because there were so many together.

It was fun to see the Hill Country and our native plants doing so well after such a tough two years.

Garden Junking - Lakehills, Texas

The Texas Hill Country north and west of San Antonio has many unique aspects, from interesting plants, such as the Texas Madrone tree I posted about earlier, to plenty of little shops and small towns along the way.

Last week my friend Ragna and I headed west to Lakehills, TX about 45 minutes from San Antonio to enjoy a day of thrift shopping and views of the Texas Hill Country.  Today's post is for thrift shop and garden junk fans.  There are a lot of you out there because Yeya's in San Antonio has been my most popular post by far.

Our first stop was the Lakehills Trading Post at 12410 Park Rd 37, right by the sign for Hill of Contentment which I found quite fitting for this adventure.

The exterior fits the western style of most buildings in the area.

The owner, Sharon Spears, has put together great selection of vintage glassware, collectibles and plenty of other nice items.

Plenty of pretty options for garden stakes, fairy gardens, totems, and dish flowers here.

The prices are good and less than similar shops in San Antonio.

I was thrilled to find more green insulators to add to my collection in the garden.

Very nice Hill Country style iron and wood pieces on display.

The inventory changes daily and she also sells special finds on ebay as well.  Lakehills Trading Post has a facebook page and you can also reach Sharon at 210-771-0663.

After we loaded up our purchases from the trading post, we walked across the road to Cherokee's Shop.

Rozanne Martinez features lots of rust and old tools at her shop

I liked this floor inside the shop

A different approach to bottle trees

Rusty cultivator, tricycle and other items

Old signs, tools, and barbed wire displayed on the garage

Just in case you forgot we're in Texas!

You can reach Rozanne by email at cherokees99@hotmail.com

I enjoyed our visit to both these shops and came home with cool stuff for my garden.  We headed next to nearby Medina Lake and I'll share views of the lake and plants in a future post.