Oh, and did I mention that plants will be for sale?
Each garden on the tour this year forewent the usual lawn backyard and instead filled that area with plants.
Unfortunately, I missed the first garden in Round Rock but did get a sneak peek at it on Central Texas Gardener two weeks ago. It's the only garden up north. The rest are in southwest to southeast Travis County.
The second garden you might recognize: it's Jenny Stocker's wildflower-filled garden rooms.
The third garden combines solar power, a pool, flowers gardens, espaliered apple trees, and vegetables gardens in a great mix throughout the front and back yards.
The fourth garden I visited is pure South Austin, a wonderfully eclectic and artistic mix of found materials that will make you wonder, How did he think of that?
The fifth garden is the only public space on the tour. The Bannockburn Church grounds include a iris test trial area, dozens of rose varieties, and many, many different gardens throughout the property.
The next garden is the one where I will be "floating" tomorrow: Patty Leander's backyard vegetable garden. Patty gives many public talks on vegetable gardening, and I highly recommend attending one when you get a chance. She's very knowledgeable, funny, and happy to share her love of gardening.
The last garden of the day is in far southeastern Travis County. The address is still in Austin, although we did drive through San Leanna to get there. The owners are Indian, and some of their vegetable varieties reflect their heritage.
I've really just tried to whet your appetite for the full gardens for any of you who were on the fence about touring.
I will post more pictures for those out-of-towners who can't make another trip to Austin this spring! And I will give out the contact information for FREE tumbled colored glass mulch.
Enjoy the tour, and hope to see some of you tomorrow.
Darn! I wish I had known about this earlier so I could go. I have work tomorrow. I really want to see all the Austin gardens. It's so depressing that I keep on missing out on these great garden events in Austin. Plus I'm scared to travel up there since I haven't really been to Austin. I'm one of those people that get really worried when going to a new city where I will get frequently lost and confused on the roads.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to start search for these events earlier. Maybe next time. By any chance is there something like this in San Antonio? Just so jealous that Austin has all these great secret gardens and events and bloggers.
Thanks for the sneak peek and all the links. For some reason I thought this tour was going on Saturday AND Sunday. But if it's just tomorrow, I'll try to make time to see at least a garden or two. And I can vouch that Jenny Stocker's garden is incredible and shouldn't be missed.
ReplyDeleteOh, I really wish I could have seen more of these gardens. We made it to four before it got too late. At least I finally got to see the Stocker garden, which was incredible-- I took an entire memory card of pictures and wore out my camera battery!
ReplyDeleteVanilla Lotus, If you google Bexar County Master Gardeners, you might be able to find a listing of their events. For some reason, the link wouldn't open for me, but maybe you'll have more luck. The Wildflower center is hosting a tour on Saturday, May 10th. Maybe you could make it for that one?
ReplyDeletePam and Lori, can't wait to see your photos.
Thanks for sharing the gardens - I had wanted to get to Austin for these garden tours but couldn't work it out. So glad to have gotten a taste of it through your posts.
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