Inside Austin Gardens Tour 2015: Death Defying and Flashy Natives.

We're previewing the Inside Austin Gardens Tour with a sneak peek at two more gardens.  The tour, sponsored by Travis County Master Gardeners, is held every 18 months alternating between spring and fall.  The tour theme is "By Gardeners. For Gardeners."  This garden called "Death Defying Natives" is one I can easily relate to.  Drought-tolerant plants requiring minimal water use are the focus on this corner lot.  A low stone wall dividing the large front yard gives a sense of separation from the street.

Charming vignette at the front door.



Potato vine in both purple and chartreuse with bright pink roses line the house.

Potato vine in bloom, mine have never bloomed so this was fun to see.



Bright red Oxblood or Schoolhouse lilies were in bloom.  A special treat since they bloom for only a short time after a rain in the autumn.



Along the curb a bed of native plants provide buffers.



Minimal care and minimal water use are good principles during our summer heat and drought.  The streetside bed continues around the corner.

Yellow Mexican Bird of Paradise combined with orange Pride of Barbados screen the garage and driveway.

The family dog eagerly waiting to greet us.  This porthole is such a great idea.

Inside the back fence we see masses of waterwise plants surrounding a seating area ready to gather family and friends on just a small circle of Zoysia lawn.

Italian Stone Pine is one of the few pines or conifers which will grow well west of I-35 in Central Texas.

The next and final garden we visited on our tour was "Flashy Natives" and a very apt title with its bright beds of flowers and grasses.  A large Ashe Juniper surrounded by planting beds with just enough lawn to walk through.  Beds are lined with smooth Baja stone in contrast to our typically sharp native limestone.  I've thought of placing a few of these in strategic spots in my own garden and seeing these reminds me to make a trip to the stone yard.

Everything looks so good despite the heat.

The key is heat-loving perennials.

Another large purple pennisetum.  After seeing this earlier on the tour in Pam Penick's garden as well, it's going on my list.

Shady seating area out front to enjoy the garden and neighbors in the evening.

Around back a set of rain barrels.

More of that pennisetum.  Love it!

Curved beds with bump-outs help reduce the overall footprint of the lawn.

Mexican Flame Vine blooms always a treat.

Sweet cat enjoying the garden

Nice raised bed garden set off with a picket fence.

Rusellia makes a nice fern-like container plant.

Great gardening socks!

These two gardens along with the other four gardens featured in my preview series will be open this Saturday, October 17th, during the Inside Austin Gardens Tour.  It's a short drive from San Antonio to Austin so if you're looking for good ideas for your garden this fall it's well worth a day in Austin to enjoy the tour.  You can see my preview of "Shady Natives", "Cottage Natives", "Oh! Deer!", and "Sunbathing Natives" by starting with this post.  In addition to the six gardens on tour, the Native Testing Grounds at the Travis County Extension Service will be open to visitors so you can explore possibilities for replacing that water-guzzling lawn and get good tips from the Master Gardeners.  Visiting the testing grounds is a good way to kick off Texas Native Plant week too.

To see more blogger previews of the tour visit:

Rock Rose
Sharing Nature's Garden
Garden Ally
The Shovel Ready Garden
The Gardener of Good and Evil

Be sure to check out Central Texas Gardener for more on the Inside Austin Gardens Tour.

Inside Austin Gardens Tour: Beautiful View and Plants to Match

We're previewing Austin gardens for the Inside Austin Gardens Tour to be held October 17th.  After visiting Pam Penick's "Oh! Deer!" garden our group of bloggers enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Galaxy Cafe then headed to "Sunbathing Natives" and the fourth garden on our list.

Kirk Walden and his wife Val were recently featured on tour at Central Texas Gardener here.  The original house on this property was torn down due to mold issues so when the Walden's purchased the lot it had been scraped except for a few Crape Myrtles.  The Waldens built a new home and gardens to take full advantage of the site.  Kirk says these handsome pavers were less expensive than concrete which is an idea I plan to keep in mind.

October 9, 2015: Before and After

Shortly after I began this blog in October 2011, I also began a series documenting my front garden with Before and After photos.  I chose that date as the best "Before" shots I had taken from the prior year before I began blogging.

Each year these photos provide a documentation of just how my plants have changed or held up during the previous year.  Although 2015 has been a tough year for San Antonio plants due to drought, from the driveway view things don't appear to have changed much so we need to compare with 2014.

October 9, 2015

Oh Deer! Finally Here!

With my friend Melody driving I was on the edge of my seat peering through the windshield for the familiar sight of a garden I know only from photos.  It was finally time after seven years of following Digging and four years of blogging:  I get to see Pam's garden!  We're previewing gardens for the upcoming Inside Austin Gardens Tour and, while seeing all the gardens was incentive enough to make the 70 mile drive, seeing Pam Penick's garden for the first time was a special highlight of the day.  Her garden theme for the tour is "Oh! Deer!" which those of us who contend with urban deer can appreciate.

There it is looking great with sedge filling in at the feet of the bright new insect hotel.

Wildlife Wednesday October 2015: Foxes, Ringtail Cats plus the Owl Returns

Since the garden has been basically dormant for months it's nice to have Wildlife Wednesday provide a good reason for posts from the garden.  With only few blooms to offer I think the butterflies are passing me by on their southward migration so we'll focus on some larger subjects.  Foxes are back after a long stretch of no sightings.  The water bowl we keep out near the creek is becoming more popular as the weeks without rain add up.  I'm joining Tina at "My Gardener Says..." in posting on wildlife visitors to the garden.

This photo was through the back door glass so as not to scare off Mr Fox.

Common around Texas, Gray Foxes prefer woodland areas like our dry creek.  Gray Foxes are omnivorous and will eat cactus fruits and berries in addition to small animals.  They can even climb trees which helps them keep away from their predator the Coyote.  I went outside to take more pictures (after allowing a long drink) and he departed, but since foxes are very curious animals they usually give a look back at people while leaving.  One last smile for the camera.

We check the wildlife camera on a daily basis and discovered a fox "leaving his mark".

Ewwww, I wonder if the next visitors got the message.

It's fun to now see our wildlife visitors in action.  Here's a very thirsty fox from last night.  Good thing we change that water often!

We hadn't seen Ringtail Cats prior to installing the camera.  Sometimes considered rare, these relatives of the Raccoon are actually fairly common it's just that they are only out around 2AM or so.

The Barred Owl which we spotted almost daily earlier in the summer has been sighted several times in the last few weeks.  This is from last week sitting on top of the back gate after a bath.  Just look at that head turn!

Cutest owl expression ever?

...but it was because a Blue Jay flew by.  Smaller birds often harass the owl.

Here's the bath from the wildlife camera view.

Time to clean that beak.  First one side.

Then the other

Don't forget the top!

And now for the finale, cleaning that tip.

A few weeks ago we heard a noise and found an odd imprint on the back door glass.  An investigation turned up this incident.  The glass apparently reflected the trees and looked like an opening.  This used to happen with our clerestory windows until we added sunshades.  No owls were harmed in the making of this video and the owl has appeared unhurt many times since including in the photos above.

That's a wrap up of wildlife highlights from the past month.  To see more wildlife in all our gardens visit "My gardener says..."

Inside Austin Gardens Tour Preview

Each year the Travis County Master Gardeners hold their Inside Austin Gardens Tour alternating between spring and fall.  This year's tour will be held Saturday, October 17th from 9am to 4pm.   I was so excited to be invited along for a blogger preview day and they even offered to make my friend Melody an honorary blogger for the day so she could join us.  It's a nice idea to invite local garden bloggers to help publicize the tour.

The tour's theme is "By gardeners. For gardeners" and each garden is chock-full of great plants and good ideas for your garden.  It was a full day of touring so I'll preview the gardens in several posts this week.

The first garden we visited is "Shady Natives" and there's nice description on the link to the website.  The first thing we noticed is how much more lush and green this garden is compared to most gardens in San Antonio.  I think Austin has had more rain.  Even the yucca look lush against the wooded background in this streetside view.  The Mullein in the foreground will be quite striking when it blooms.

More lush green down the sedge-lined drive

Across the drive a dry creek cuts through the wooded area to channel rain from occasional deluges.

Melody visited this garden on tour several years ago and remembered the owner had given her a plant.  It turns out the original plant has since died and Melody plans to return with a cutting.  In the wonderful way of gardeners we call that "plant insurance".  The more you share, the better chance you have of replacing a lost plant.

A huge palm with a twinkly bottle tree at its base presides over the pool

Charming garden art and plants ring the pool

Comfy seating and more lush plants in containers on the deck.  Love those foxtail ferns.

A vine covered arbor shades the walk.

The Passionvine blooms were still open that morning.

The second garden is Cottage Natives.  Nicely updated colors with a modern walk of Lueders Limestone add a contemporary vibe to the front of this older home.

Texas rustic style is evident all around in the garden.  Fellow blogger Ally at Garden Ally did a great job capturing this section of the garden.

Lori, the Gardener of Good and Evil and our tour guide for the day, getting a closeup.  An old glider turned into a swing.

Several rainwater collection tanks were in use around the garden.

Purple is a universal color for recycled nonpotable water and the purple hoses indicated they are used for rainwater only.

I liked the pipe holders.  Good use of recycled materials.

What a gate!

Many of the plants will be tagged for the tour and Travis County Master Gardeners will be available to answer your questions.

I recently attended a lecture on the Hugelkultur technique of  building soil by layering wood trimmings and compost with topsoil.  The technique reverses the typical campfire building style with the larger pieces going in first.  It's a great idea for our area where rocky clay soil requires bringing in soil or making your own.  This bed is more true to the technique while I am trying a modified version in my own garden.

The owner's name is Martha.

This iron wheel was mounted so it rotates.  I've seen these at flea markets and wondered what I could do besides leaning it against a tree.   "Wheel of Fortune" style is a fun idea and it defines the seating area.

An interesting mechanism detail using pipes and fittings similar to the hose holder.

Lots of fruit trees and raised beds for vegetables and herbs.  A large rain collection tank is at the back of the garden.

 
This older neighborhood has a deep space between the street and sidewalk allowing for a sunny streetside garden full of native plants that beautifully buffers traffic.



Loved the silvery Gregg's Dalea draping over the curb.

A pivoting gate between the house and an addition provides needed privacy from the busy street yet allows convenient passage between parts of the garden on a daily basis.

The border looks like springtime to me.  Native plants which have been dormant for months in my garden, Texas Primrose, Wright's Skullcap, and Gaillardia are still blooming away in Austin just 70 miles north.

Wish my Zexmenia looked so good.

Those are just two of the six gardens we visited on our preview tour.  Special thanks to Lori, The Gardener of Good and Evil, for including me in the tour.  It's not that far to Austin so if you're looking for good ideas for your garden this fall it's well worth a day in Austin to enjoy the tour.

You can find all the tour details here.

To see more previews visit:

Rock Rose
Sharing Nature's Garden
Garden Ally
The Shovel Ready Garden
The Gardener of Good and Evil

Check out Central Texas Gardener for more on the tour.