The kid's museum with a grown-up landscape

The DoSeum, a kid's museum in San Antonio, opened in June 2015 and the landscape has been catching my eye ever since.  For the last two years I've passed this landscape on Broadway just north of downtown and intended to stop.  A few weeks ago I did just that.  This may be a children's museum but the landscape is fun for grown-ups too.

Impossible to miss a bright red wall along Broadway, a major north-south artery connecting downtown with close-in suburbs.  San Antonio's Lake|Flato Architects, the museum's designer, and Austin's Ten Eyck Landscape Architecture collaborated on the project.  The two firms have worked together on several local sites recently and the results are always excellent.  See my post on landscapes at The Pearl here.

A block-long striking red wall (bright as it looks) gets attention on busy Broadway which also serves as the gateway to our Museum District and the Pearl Brewery mixed-use redevelopment area.  Gabions filled with aqua glass cool that hot red wall color.  Texas sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) sits on a filled slope behind the wall.  Spots of bright red color show through softening trees.

Gulf Muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris) softens sidewalk edges and should be spectacular in full cotton-candy mode during fall bloom.  I'll try to return to see how all the fluffy pink works with the red wall.

The bus stops here.  Our Via bus system has a museum route plus a Trolley for visitors.  Mexican Olive trees and a bright yellow Esperanza are there to greet you.  Imagine that wall as seen from the bus.  I'd ride out from town to see this.



Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition' looks best against a bright, solid background.

A peek inside the gabion revealed the center is filled with rubble rock but there still seems to be plenty of shine on all sides.  Four-nerve daisy  (Tetraneurus scaposa) is thriving in a west-facing location.

A curving hillside seems the perfect location for gabions.  Matching aqua recycled glass granules pressed into concrete at intervals repeat the color and a mix of textures make this a decidedly not boring sidewalk.

A few of the grasses are struggling on the slope.  Still looks good with dots of gold lantana.  I'd follow the aqua spiral up the hill but it's getting hot out here!

We'll turn to the cooling welcome of the museum entrance and the "place-based" design of Lake|Flato which draws inspiration from traditional buildings of South Texas.  With this approach, even the firm's earliest projects (now at 30 years) don't seem outdated.  Hesperaloe parviflora 'Brakelights' punching in more red accents brought over from the streetside wall.

Thoughtful architecture includes a walkway for families to safely navigate the parking lot.



Stroller and wheelchair-friendly access with shade sails to help beat the Texas heat.  Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) in raised planters with softening effects of Mexican Feather Grass and Salvia greggii alongside.

Back the other way, planning ahead for our inevitable deluges.

This is how it's done.  One of my favorite things about Christy Ten Eyck projects is most of these plants are already in my landscape or readily available at local nurseries and are a main reason for stopping: plant massing, repeating colors, varying textures--all good ideas to consider.

We won't have to wait long for Ten Eyck's next project which is expected to open just around the corner at the San Antonio Botanical Garden in October.  Looking forward to seeing what she does to follow this wonderful DoSeum effort.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day February 2017

What blooms in South Texas in February?  Quite a few plants, especially this year with above average temperatures most days.  And this year one of my favorite plants that usually doesn't bloom until March is already in full bloom.  That's why I'm joining in with Garden Blogger's Bloom Day this month.

Texas Mountain Laurel (Sephora secundiflora) surprised with early blooms despite a couple of deep freezes and a long run of cloudy days.

Love those grape-scented blooms.

Still emerging

Cooler weather should help the blooms last for a while.  Some years the heat does them in.

Covered with bees ....

.....even though the camera could only get one at a time!

More blooms on this pretty February day

Blackfoot Daisy is a reliable survivor of hard freezes.  It barely slows down and begins blooming quickly again.  Even better is seeing this native plant shrug off our summer heat while blooming away through July and August.

 Ditto Four-Nerve Daisy

Golden buds on a red barrel cactus promise the first blooms on this plant since I planted it about three years ago.

Succulents kept under wraps during the coldest nights bloom early like this Echeveria.

Kalanchoe daigremontiana blooms on a stem so large it dwarfs the plant

Rosemary thrives in my garden and commonly blooms through the winter

Suprisingly similar to Rosemary are these Silver Germander blooms

Bougainvillea were stuck in the garage during the freeze.

Mexican Honeysuckle is another plant that seems to have powered through the freeze on the northeast corner of the garden.  Sparsely blooming, but still it counts.

Purple Oxalis hiding under stems of perennials

Meyer Lemon blooms forming fruit already.  I made a Lemon Cheesecake in December with last year's fruit.

The first wildflowers are Prairie Verbena (Glandularia bipinnatifida)

and Greenthread

Buds forming on the Texas Bluebonnets mean blooms will be here soon.  You might have to look way down in there to see it.

Turns out there are quite a few blooms this February.  Garden Blogger's Bloom Day is hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Foliage Follow-up: Trimming the Sophora Secundiflora

Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) is to me the quintessential Texas native plant -- evergreen, low maintenance, drought tolerant, and beautiful when flowering.  As carefree as this local native plant is there are times when it needs a bit of attention.  I'm featuring before and after of my favorite plant getting a trim for Foliage Follow-up hosted by Pam at Digging.

Naturally shrubby with shoots emerging from the lower trunk, this one near the street had overgrown to the point where it was hiding the front of the house and landscape we worked so hard to display.

Spectacular Sophora Secundiflora

Stunning, spectacular, amazing.  Words commonly used to describe many plants.  Blooms on our native Texas Mountain Laurel are all that and more this year.

Just take a look.  Spring rains have brought on the best blooms in years.

GBBD March 2015

It's spring and time to get out in the garden to....weed.  We've had so much rain this spring, weeds have taken off.  With our last few years of drought I almost forgot about that part.  Fortunately our March blooms feature some of Texas' most popular native plants and a few others from the garden which I'm sharing for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day hosted by Carol at May Dreams Garden.

Plant ABCs: S is for Sophora Secundiflora

Plant ABCs is an ongoing series in which I am highlighting a plant from my garden for each letter of the alphabet.  I'm currently going through the entire alphabet A - Z, then will continue updating and adding plants to the list over time.  My previous posts in the series are on the "Plant ABCs" tab under the header.  Today's letter is "S" and Sophora Secundiflora is the highlighted plant. 

The Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora Secundiflora) was one of the first plants I learned to name.  Of course I knew only its common name for many years.  Texas Mountain Laurel was my father's favorite and whenever I'm asked to name my favorite plant this is the one I choose.

Mild winter brings plenty of March blooms to the garden

In our warm climate we don't wait for April showers.  Signs of spring are all around the yard this week and quite a few blooms are springing up.

Texas Mountain Laurel, a favorite native plant, is blooming out in the front yard
 

Celebrating Texas Native Plant Week in the garden

This week (October 14-20) is Texas Native Plant Week and I'm celebrating by highlighting native plants in my garden.

We learn over and over that "you can't fight Mother Nature".  Two years of drought and record heat here in San Antonio underscored the need to emphasize native plants in my gardens.  As you might expect, the Texas natives came through with flying colors while even many adapted plants gave up over the past couple years. 

Plants like Gregg's mistflower (Conoclinium greggii) have kept bees and butterflies busy all summer.

Watersaver Landscape Tour: Wildscape in Alamo Heights

Last Saturday I attended the Watersaver Landscape Tour sponsored by SAWS, our local water system.  Six San Antonio gardens were on the tour, including five residences and one community garden.

My favorite on the tour was the native plant garden in the Alamo Heights neighborhood northeast of downtown.  The house is located on a downslope away from the street which can provide unique challenges for gardeners. This homeowner created a very natural feel to the gardens along the street and driveway with a wide variety of plantings.  A garage was removed at street level and a circle drive added to allow plenty of room for plants at the top of the hill.

Silver Foliage Shines for Foliage Follow-Up - March 2012

For March Foliage Follow-Up sponsored by Pam Penick at Digging I'm highlighting the silvery foliage in my garden.  I'm a bit tardy with this one since I've been getting new plants in ahead of the rain forecast this weekend. 

First up is the Elaeagnus, which I featured in my plant ABC's a few weeks ago.  The new foliage has since turned from bronze to silver, and recently with our slightly overcast days it's been very pretty.

Elaeagnus is a a pretty backdrop for the pale yellow-green leaves (just now visible) of the American Beautyberry by the driveway (Callicarpa americana).

The Elaeagnus also makes a great backdrop for the Texas Mountain Laurel 'Silver Peso' (Sophora Secundiflora) we added to the front garden last fall.  It surprised with two tiny blooms this spring.  The blooms never fully opened, but with plenty of new growth this spring it won't be too many years before we see full sized blooms.  The new foliage is very soft and the deer have been nibbling so I am going to put a cage around it for a while.

Artemesia Powis Castle in front of the Eleagnus and Beautyberries is beginning to spread out a bit.

Artemesia Wormwood out back by the creek is doing well among the wild verbena and rocks.  It's also known locally by the Spanish name Estafiate and is used as a medicinal herb.

Gray Santolina with the sages in the front island bed.  Santolina smells like new tires so the deer don't bother it.  Easy to grow from cuttings and takes heat and drought well, Santolina is a great edging plant for the gravel garden.

To see more foliage photos check out other garden blogger's Foliage Follow-Up posts at Digging.

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....