On this spring visit, spineless prickly pear, dwarf pomegranate, and red yucca flowers added their extravagant color to the mostly evergreen garden. Imagine a bowl of lawn surrounded by a bermed perimeter of drought-tolerant, architectural plants that shield the home, lawn, and back-yard pool deck from view — this is the Bonnell Garden. Pictured here: spineless Opuntia in bloom, Yucca rostrata, and (in the center) Mexican olive.

Beautiful, blue-dusted ‘Green Goblet’ agave

A wider view shows the ‘Green Goblet’ agave with leatherstem (Jatropha dioica) on the left and a silver carpet of ponyfoot (Dichondra argentea) at its feet.

Now the house comes into view, and that large, bowled lawn, behind a spiky orb of Wheeler sotol. Silver ponyfoot adds a cooling color echo and happily colonizes the gravelly berm.

Shifting slightly we see a dwarf pomegranate in bloom, as well as a ‘Sharkskin’ agave in the foreground.

The contemporary home, a compelling mix of bronze steel, mahogany-colored wood, and rust-tinged limestone, sits below street level, protected, seemingly, by the xeric garden that surrounds it.

Another look at leatherstem (Jatropha dioica), a thicket-forming central and west Texas native. I like the handsome, coffee-colored branches.

An awkwardly cropped view of the poured-concrete front walk. Still, it’s worth showing again (see last fall’s post for better images) because it’s such a graphic element in the front garden.

And at the bottom of the slope, by the entry, looking back up the walk.

The Koosh-ball shape and spiny texture of Yucca rostrata makes it strangely touchable.

Closer to the entry, the garden becomes more spare, each plant standing alone in a gray-gravel bed like a kind of sculpture. Here we have aloe, dyckia, Yucca rostrata, and Agave ovatifolia.

All of which contrasts dramatically with the expanse of soft green lawn inside the “bowl.”

Entering the back yard, a more naturalistic garden greets you, framed by a small lawn and tumbling down a hillside.

A pretty succulent dish makes a focal point atop a retaining wall.

A series of limestone-and-gravel steps leads to the lower garden, where a mass of red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) waved their coral-red flags.

Powder-blue ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (A. ovatifolia) backed by Philippine violet (Barleria cristata)

Here’s a scene I was really taken with. In the shade of live oaks, a sort of matrix planting of variegated dianella, asparagus fern, sedge, and prostrate yew cascaded down a slope behind the house. The combination of light and dark-green foliage appeals to me, as does the seemingly random, “placed by nature” arrangement of the plants.

Climbing back up from the lower garden you reach the swimming pool, which is cantilevered out from the house above the slope. It’s a dramatic finish to another fun garden tour.

This concludes my recap of Gardens on Tour 2013. For a look back at the delightful Highland Terrace West Garden, click here. You can find links to the other gardens at the end of each post.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Beautiful simplicity!

Please join me in posting about your lovely leaves of May for Foliage Follow-Up, a way to remind ourselves of the importance of foliage in the garden on the day after Bloom Day. Leave your link to your Foliage Follow-Up post in a comment. I really appreciate it if you’ll also include a link to this post in your own post (sharing link love!). If you can’t post so soon after Bloom Day, no worries. Just leave your link when you get to it.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

The deep front porch has always called to me. It’s so inviting, and I love the cozy, red-and-brown color scheme.

One of the porch columns has been partially removed (I assume it wasn’t weight-bearing), and the remaining section now serves as a plant pedestal. For a red pot, of course, with coleus to match, sweet potato vines providing chartreuse and eggplant accents, and a reddish grass adding height.

At its base, a homemade concrete dish holds a tiny cactus and succulent collection.

The garden is packed with charming details, with interesting vignettes around every turn. But I knew the owners were fearless when I spotted this window box packed with succulents and my touring buddy Cat leaned in to touch the leaves of the large, purple echeverias. “They’re not real,” she said. They sure do pass though. I decided on the spot that someone with the chutzpah to pull off a mix-up of real and fake plants was going to be defying expectations in other ways, and I hoisted my camera to be ready.

One thing this garden excels at is using commonplace plants in particularly beautiful ways. Here, softleaf yucca, purple heart, and ‘Katie’ dwarf ruellia combine long, pointy leaf shapes in various hues, making a pretty setting for a piece of garden sculpture. Silver ponyfoot froths at its feet.

As you walk around the right side of the house, you see another fabulous combination in silvery pale-green, anchored by a silver Mediterranean fan palm (I think). Groundcovers flow around a large boulder set in the bed, and on the fence a frilly metal ornament provides a color echo of the plants.

I covet this combo. And to think I used not to care much for palms. Scenes like this have converted me.

Side yards are often repositories for trash bins and workbenches, and the owners have beautified even these necessaries. The trash bins and wheelbarrow are tucked behind a handsome, gated extension of the board fence.

A wider view reveals the gated bin corral on the right and a winding path that ducks around a tree as it leads to the rear garden. Two structures ahead obscure a longer view and entice you forward.

But eye-catching details along the path also grab your attention, like this marble-mulched succulent bowl. Oakleaf hydrangea blooms behind a rusty-leaved loropetalum.

Just past the tree, a glassed-in structure reveals a work sink and storage for potting supplies and tools.

Across the gravel path, on an open stretch of fence, hang three charming “pictures” of white pottery planted up with green ivies and ferns. A living still life.

Now you see the sunlit back garden opening up, but first you pass through a shady, peaked arbor hung with crystal decorations and a candelabra. Can you imagine this all lit up for an evening lawn party?

Looking back from the other side. The windows and hanging decor have caught another visitor’s eye.

Now you step onto a circular lawn — and you start turning in circles yourself, taking everything in, starting with this vine-draped, roofed seating area on the far side of the garden. Those fiery, red-cushioned chairs attract the eye and brighten up the dark-stained structure. To the right, a weeping willow drapes protectively over a stone fountain and pool.

A closer look at the water feature tucked into the garden border.

To the right of that, a tidy square-foot garden is situated in a sunny spot.

Panning right again, you see a colorful bed of salvia and annual larkspur, accented here with a large lantern.

And finishing the 360-degree circuit (skipping past the covered arbor I already showed you), you see the back of the house, painted dark brown with creamy white trim. My touring companions David of The Desert Edge and Cat of The Whimsical Gardener are giving me goofy grins while Shirley from Rock-Oak-Deer is intent upon another shot in a small rear courtyard.

More red! These gardeners love hot color. A crimson rose clambers along the house, accented by a red gazing ball and glazed container on a small deck.

A comfortable lounging spot for one is tucked by the back door.

An aside: I think I was stopped at least once, sometimes twice, at every garden on this tour by readers who recognized me. Embarrassingly, I am getting somewhat used to being recognized on area garden tours, but it’s still kind of a strange experience for this introvert writer. Plus Cat teased me mercilessly about it. (Gotcha, Cat!) But one big perk about being recognized is a sense of community that you get (Central Texas gardeners unite!), not to mention the gratifying realization that people who aren’t even related to you read your blog. More than that, you get to meet lovely individuals like the mom here with her adorable 5-week-old baby. After she introduced herself as a reader, I had to take her baby’s picture to share with you. (If you’re reading, my friend, thanks for the dose of cuteness!)

Anyway, while admiring the shade structure on the far side of the garden…

…I was recognized by the owners of the garden, Bruce Baldwin and Colleen Jamison, who came over to introduce themselves. I was thrilled to meet them and told them that I’d been hoping to visit their garden for 12 years, since those long-ago kindergarten pick-up days. Bruce is the builder of the garden structures, and Colleen is the plant designer. Together they make a fine team.

Taking a peek inside the shade structure, I was half-tempted to sink into one of these red-cushioned chairs or sofas, but there was still plenty of garden to see.

A parting look reveals an electric chandelier hanging from the peaked roof. Clearly this is a garden meant to be used at night as well as during the day.

Hung on a post, this vertical succulent planter caught my eye.

Just outside in a sunny bed, this succulent and cactus planter set amid purple heart and verbena makes a beautiful focal point.

A wider view of a perennial bed with a curving decomposed-granite path cutting through it.

Purple!

In the back corner, hidden in a screen of pomegranate foliage, a ceramic frog holds court atop an old tree stump.

Still with me? Now we venture down the other side of the house. The owners have made appealing gardens even in the tricky side yards. Why tricky? Side yards are notoriously narrow and often deeply shaded and lacking in privacy. A board fence takes care of the privacy issue, and the typical bowling-alley effect is avoided by incorporating curves in the path and large shrubs that obscure the long view. Destinations along the way — a fountain, a bench, an intimate deck — give you reasons to stop and look.

Shade-loving plants like oakleaf hydrangea and glossy-leaved holly fern brighten up dark corners…

…as do sparkly garden ornaments.

This was one of four water features in the garden, and my favorite. A classic pool and fountain, with a garden bench and “window” on the fence, surrounded by greenery, evokes New Orleans-style courtyards.

I doubt this bench really gets used, situated amid groundcovering Asian jasmine as it is, but it adds such a welcoming touch to the garden. The owners framed a poster with a cast-off window and hung it on the fence. I don’t know how they keep the poster weatherproofed, but I love the idea.

More of their fearlessness on display: a tall blue pot is planted with a few cascading plants and accented with a blue, sparkly floral arrangement.

Nearby, sparkling blue ornaments hang from a wire holder.

Looking back along the side-garden path. As you can see, ordinary, glossy-leaved shrubs like holly and pittosporum are used liberally but not pushed in a tight line along the foundation. Instead they bow out, adding dimension to the space. Likewise with commonplace (and often reviled) Asian jasmine, which here is put to good use as a shade-tolerant, light-reflecting, evergreen groundcover. Keeping them neatly edged and trimmed is key to their good looks.

A small deck is shoehorned into the side garden — perfect, I imagine, for breakfast on a summer morning. A wired chandelier hangs above a table and chairs, creating an implied ceiling and also adding to after-dark enjoyment.

Cat and David take a break on the back steps. David is contemplating a move to Austin from Albuquerque, New Mexico. There’s always room for another gardener, garden blogger, and garden designer here, right?

I love the design of the wooden privacy fence, with different-width boards and even a slanting detail on this section.

From the outside you can really appreciate the design. Even the gate — a repurposed old door with a hand-cultivator handle — is a work of art.

In front, under a spreading tree, a soft, feathery sweep of yarrow makes an appealing groundcover.

Bruce and Colleen began gardening in the formerly weedy median in front of their house several years ago, creating a very low-water landscape to screen the view of cars parked across the street. Their neighbors along the street have gotten into the spirit as well and have extended the median garden and help maintain it. What a gift the neighbors are giving to each other by creating a shared garden space!

My garden-tour companions: from left, David, Shirley, Jenny, me, and Cat. Check out their blogs for more perspectives on the gardens I’ve been showing you, especially Jenny’s post about this garden. She volunteered in it for several hours during the tour and enjoyed a personal tour with the owners before the crowds arrived.

Next up: The architectural Bonnell Garden. For a look back at the naturalistic Placid Place Garden, click here.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

In a narrow, sunny space alongside the driveway, the owner creatively expanded her growing space for edibles by planting them on a tiered structure — a smart use of space.

Out front, the view from the street suggests a woodland-edge, naturalistic garden. While this type of garden — dense with leafy foliage unbroken by open space or architectural plants — is hard to photograph (for me, anyway), it has value in attracting wildlife and adding seasonal interest to what was once likely a swath of boring St. Augustine. My eye was drawn to the tufts of sedge in the foreground — Texas native Webberville sedge (Carex perdentata).

Next up: My favorite garden on the tour, a homeowner-designed oasis at Highland Terrace West. For a look back at the contemporary Westridge Drive Garden, click here.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Towering bloom spikes of manfreda and yucca lifted spiky and bell-shaped flowers up to eye level, giving the low bed extra height and dimension for a short season. Silver ponyfoot filled in around the plants and spilled over the edges of the steel planter like a frothy, sea-glass-green wave.

Faded purple flowers on the small cacti showed us that we’d just missed a beautiful show.

Still, we were glad of the yucca and manfreda blooms.

This textural composition contrasted with…

…a quiet expanse of buffalograss on the other side of the front steps. This carpet of native lawn grass is set off in tiered steel planter beds, which frame it nicely.

Winecups and gaillardia are allowed to invade the lower tier, adding a little spring color.

Buffalograss makes an irresistibly touchable, blue-green carpet. I’m not sure how much use this lawn would get, as it’s set below the level of the main entry to the home and the pool deck; it was not even clear how you could step down onto it. So maybe it’s meant to be a lawn for looking at only — a visual negative space to complement the minimalist design of the adjoining pool deck.

Off to the side, a few feet below the level of the steel-edged lawn, a gravel patio contains a casual seating area of motel chairs surrounding a firepit. I like the intersecting straight lines that define the various spaces.

The front steps lead up to a pool deck between the main house and a two-story garage/garage apartment. The wooden decking, still puddled from the previous night’s rain, was open save for a minimalist seating arrangement. There was a complete absence of potted plants or any other decor. Instead, what commands your attention is the unique awning that stretches across the space, offering shade from the Death Star and creating a fascinating pattern of shadows on the walls.

At first glance I thought it was made of chains. It’s actually rebar — enormously long pieces of rebar sagging over the space, attached on one end to the garage roof, on the other to the house.

Such a graphic display! I did wonder, though, how they keep the rebar from rusting onto the pool deck below.

Three concrete slabs seem to float across one end of the pool and invite you to cross.

A naturalistic garden on the other side rambles up a hill and offers views of the home and the full drama of the rebar awning.

Heading back to the car, I admired these purple coneflowers growing in a pocket garden alongside the home’s walled and gated entry.

A quarter-mile nature trail that I opted not to explore descends from the house to a vegetable garden and naturalistic water feature at the bottom of the hill. Touring companion Shirley of Rock-Oak-Deer wasn’t as lazy, so check out her post for pictures of the lower garden that I missed.

Next up: A quick peek at the unstructured and easygoing Placid Place Garden. For a look back at the canyonside Kathy Cove Garden, click here.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

We began the tour with the Kathy Cove Garden, a remodeled property in south Austin’s Barton Hills neighborhood. Perched on the edge of a canyon overlooking the Barton Creek greenbelt, the home and garden enjoy spectacular views of both the greenbelt and downtown Austin. The front garden, as you see, is still a work-in-progress, with rock work by Environmental Survey Consulting in place and just a few plants situated.

A vibrant clump of standing cypress (Ipomopsis rubra) captured attention out front.

Moving around to the back garden, you pass this monumental sculpture, which looked vaguely Mayan to me.

Picking your way down a rugged limestone stair, you pass a teak hot tub nestled alongside limestone boulders and the entrance to a mid-level deck that stretches along the back of the house. Continuing to the bottom of the stone steps leads you to…

…a beautiful swimming pool surrounded by a pieced-limestone pool deck. Check out that view of the greenbelt.

You’d never know this home is 10 minutes from Zilker Park and downtown Austin.

The tightly fitted rock work is a trademark look by Environmental Survey Consulting that we saw echoed in two other gardens on this tour.

Under the deck, a surprising water feature — a stacked-limestone wall trickling with water (refreshed by A/C condensate) and colonized by maidenhair fern — adds visual cooling and creates a green view in place of the usual shadowy under-deck eyesore.

It reminded me of the natural cliffside waterfalls that can be found along Austin’s greenbelts.

A wider view shows the under-deck water-wall at left, with the cobalt pool extending the length of the terrace.

The garden is very naturalistic overall, in keeping with the rugged hillside setting. Red yucca and salvia were in bloom, attracting hummingbirds that zipped around us.

The homeowner has a large sculpture collection, which includes this bird (a raven?) perched atop a boulder, a glass orb in its beak.

Religious sculpture also finds a home here. I can’t help wondering — is the cactus collection at Christ’s feet a reference to his crown of thorns?

A Lady of Guadalupe with a spark-plug aura illustrates a similarly playful/ironic take on this traditional Catholic icon.

A pieced-stone path leads along the back of the house, hugging the top of the canyon. Amid the naturalistic plantings, a series of turquoise pots — each a miniature container pond — adds necessary rhythm to the scene.

A charming pond in miniature

Rugged paths lead down into the canyon, but I didn’t follow them. Instead I climbed up to the deck, past naturalistic garden beds. Red-blooming Texas betony spilled over limestone terracing.

Pausing to look back down the stone steps, I enjoyed a view of downtown Austin and a cardinal that shot across my field of view at just that moment.

The deck wraps the back of the house and provides several intimate seating areas to enjoy the treetop view.

I admired this simple trough with multi-colored succulents. The succulents are still in their nursery pots, rather than planted into the trough, making for a quick and attractive display.

More succulent troughs create a linear centerpiece on a dining table nearby.

They almost look good enough to eat!

Looking down at the path traversing the back of the house, you can see that the garden is still very new. Many of the plants have not had time to fill in yet.

When they do, this will be an even more spectacular space.

Next up: The contemporary Westridge Drive Garden, with a unique rebar awning and yucca and manfreda in full bloom.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

We think she has chicks in there, as she spends much of her time at the doorway now, rather than down in the box. I’m sure it’s getting crowded in there. Papa Owl sits in a ligustrum tree in the greenbelt just behind our fence. We hope to see owlets soon!

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

…with a blue bottle tree, purple skullcap (Scutellaria wrightii), and ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (Agave ovatifolia)…

…with Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis)…

…and with more purple skullcap and bluebonnets, plus velvety mullein.

Another view of the purple skullcap and mullein, with winecups beginning to creep in

My new garden bed alongside the driveway even has a little blue in it thanks to Mexican beach pebbles that top the steel ring planter.

Well, it’s a work in progress. Currently I have three ‘Burgundy Ice’ dyckia and a ‘Blue Haze’ euphorbia planted in it, with a handful of beach pebbles on top.

Diana of Sharing Nature’s Garden passed along this beautiful, blue Agave franzosinii pup with me. I just gave it a fresh potting, with new aquarium pebbles as mulch for a neat finishing touch. I think I’m going to start refreshing my rock mulch on my xeric planters each spring. It makes such a difference to have all those leaves and pollen catkins removed, with clean gravel on top.

Leaving the happy blues…I’m actually feeling truly blue about this development: a plague of leaf-footed bugs on my softleaf yucca (Y. recurvifolia) bloom spike. All those creamy, white bell-shaped flowers are infested with nasty, copulating, plant-sucking bugs. I sprayed them with an organic pesticide spray (Captain Jack’s), but it didn’t do a thing. Any ideas? When I try to hand-pick them off, most of them fly away, only to return in a few minutes. Ugh.

Well, let’s avert our eyes and look at another white-flowering plant that’s perfectly lovely and unaffected by pests: star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides).

Its sweet fragrance wafts up to the upper patio, making that a perfect spot to sit and enjoy the bluesy garden right now.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

First a confession. I have to admit that while I was happy for my friends for writing a book, I wasn’t initially all that interested in the topic. Regular readers know I’m not a houseplant gardener. I have one spindly dracena in the living room and a small aloe on the kitchen windowsill, and that’s it. In general I feel that plants, like animals, belong outdoors. (And yet I have an indoor dog too. What gives?)

But while reading Indoor Plant Decor, I began to have a change of heart. Jenny and Kylee show a variety of ways to showcase commonplace houseplants. With chapters organized by decorating style — Cheap Chic, Peaceful Zen, World Beat, and Vintage Vibe, to name a few — the book shows how to complement your interiors by choosing appropriate plants and containers or other methods of display. Simply changing out a ho-hum pot for something different, like the wood planter pictured above, groomed with moss and raked sand on top, can make an ordinary plant into a standout accessory for your home.

Based on their chapter descriptions, I’d say my style is modern eclectic. But I was particularly drawn to the plant displays shown in their Haberdashery chapter — houseplant style especially for men. I imagine it’s partly because they show bold-foliage plants here, but I also admire the earthy and striking, no-fuss display methods, like this clear glass bowl filled with pebbles and topped with succulents. I love this!

The book is small, gift-book sized, and packed with appealing photos, and would make a nice housewarming or college graduate gift. You won’t find a lot of how-to info on growing houseplants — there are other books on the market that fill that niche — but if you’re looking for a book of ideas and images to get you thinking about new ways to display your plants and update your decor, this book is for you.

And now for the giveaway! My prize offering is a handsome Bonsai Tool Set from DeWit Tools. Here’s the description from the company website:

This Bonsai tool set (really more of a small garden tool set) is just the right size for maintenance of your Bonsais or other small plantings. Don’t let the size fool you, these tools are made with the same quality materials as the larger DeWit tools. All four tools have blade made of Swedish boron steel and fitted with an Ash hardwood handles from FSC Certified forests. Comes with wood storage case and Guaranteed a Lifetime! All tools are 6-7 inches long. Total value: $75.00

How to enter:
Leave a comment on this post to enter my giveaway of the bonsai tool set (FYI, another blogger is giving away a 2nd set). The giveaway runs through Sunday, May 12, at 11:59 pm. I’ll announce the winner on Monday the 13th. Please note that this giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Update 5/13/13: The winner, selected by a random number generator, is Danny! Congratulations, Danny, and my thanks to everyone who took the time to comment.

Ten Eleven bloggers are participating in this fun virtual book tour, each offering a prize related to houseplant gardening. Visit each blog and leave a comment on the giveaway post for a chance to win that specific prize. The more blogs you visit, the more chances to win! Good luck!

Carolyn Binder – Cowlick Cottage Farm
Shawna Coronado – Shawna Coronado
Charlotte Germane – Dirt Du Jour
Stacy Risenmay – Not Just a Housewife
Erin Schanen – The Impatient Gardener
Rebecca Sweet – Gossip in the Garden
Christina Salwitz – Personal Garden Coach
Steve Asbell – The Rainforest Garden
Debra Lee Baldwin – Gardening Gone Wild
Robin Horton – Urban Gardens
Pam Penick – Digging

Disclosure: St. Lynn’s Press sent me a copy of Indoor Plant Decor for review. I reviewed it at my own discretion and without any compensation. This post, as with everything at Digging, is my own personal opinion. The giveaway prize has been donated by DeWit Tools.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

As you approach the house, a dramatic scene greets you: Agave weberi on one side of the front walk, Agave americana on the other. ‘Margaritaville’ yucca, salvias, rosemary, and feathergrass are tucked in at their feet, and shrub roses and bamboo muhly back up the agaves to completely screen half the front garden from view.

Annual poppies make a cheerful appearance here as well.

A straight-on view of the front walk shows a feathergrass gauntlet accented with California poppies. Lori constructed the front walk herself out of concrete pavers and cinderblocks.

Stepping up into private front garden, you’re treated to eye-catching combos like this: ‘Powis Castle’ artemisia, smooth sotol (I think), yellow bulbine, ‘Color Guard’ yucca (in the pot), and Mexican feathergrass.

A wider view reveals the front walk (leading through the feathergrass) and a perpendicular walk that runs in front of the house and around to the side.

A hidden patio composed of a geometric arrangement of concrete pavers comes into view from the front porch.

A closer look reveals a fun accent: a half-face planter. We’ll see many more of these placed throughout Lori’s garden.

The deep, shady porch provides respite from the Death Star. Lori has accented the eaves with cut-out wooden stars inspired by the garden of Donnis Doyle.

Along the front porch, foxtail fern softens the step in a pretty pot, with a diminutive ajuga colonizing the shady gravel path. Heartleaf skullcap and flowering violas add seasonal color.

Violas

Taking the perpendicular path along the front porch, you enter the geometric patio, where you’re treated to multicolored ‘Mutabilis’ roses and a color-coordinated aeonium in the face planter.

A closer look

A narrow side path bordered by Mexican feathergrass leads to the back gate — a charming peek-a-boo gate, with metal screening creating a window and framing a garden view.

From the other side it’s just as appealing. Lori has stained her fence and gate blue, the color of her home, porch, and wooden decks. The plants really “pop” against that dusky blue.

The long, narrow side garden is greened up with a mix of fence-hugging vines and bright, variegated groundcovers, all mulched with shredded wood, with no edging to separate planting bed from path.

Walking along the path, you see another face planter ahead, with Southern wax myrtle screening the rest of the garden from view.

Lori has mixed dwarf ruellia, both purple- and white-blooming, and variegated liriope along the path — “a strategic choice,” she says, “since I don’t have lighting in that side yard. All of those whites glow at twilight so I can see where to walk. I water it only rarely, even during periods of horrible drought, and cut it all down to the ground once a year, so it’s pretty much the perfect low-maintenance planting.”

A cut-leaf philodendron marks the end of the path, and it’s underplanted with that brightly variegated liriope.

Now the back garden opens to view. Deep borders along the fence lines are packed with a mix of textural, blooming, and structural plants, many of which are native to central Texas: datura, rosemary, heartleaf skullcap, prickly pear, agaves in pots, roses, Mexican buckeye, Mexican feathergrass, and bamboo muhly, to name a few. A bit of lawn remains, and it functions primarily as a wide, curvy path through the garden and as a negative space to rest the eye.

A native mesquite tree anchors the center of the garden, its sculptural limbs supporting a feathery canopy of leaves.

One branch serves as a bottle tree, with carriage screws supporting an assortment of blue bottles.

A deep porch and a Florida room (not pictured) along the back of the house provide plenty of space to sit and view the garden. A shed (pictured), brightened with window-like mirrors, anchors one end of the porch. In the L-shaped space between shed and porch, Lori solved a persistent drainage problem by constructing a decomposed-granite patio raised one step to the level of the porch. A double line of concrete pavers leads the eye (and the feet) from the porch directly to the lawn.

I like the way Lori created a bed around the mesquite that’s mostly at ground level but also continues at patio level, with feathergrass and pink evening primrose planted directly in the decomposed granite.

Pink evening primrose

This beautiful vessel fountain is a new addition since last time I visited. Plumbing pipe pours water into a glazed, sculptural container, which spills into an arrangement of Mexican beach pebbles. The water circulates into an underground basin and back up through the pipe. Update from Lori about the basin: “The basin for the fountain is by John Lamos, an artist based in northern California. He specializes in lightweight sculpture using sustainable materials.”

Following the line of pavers, your eye is drawn to a trio of face planters arranged on a low retaining wall.

Blue-green heartleaf skullcap behind the faces will be blooming soon.

Another trio — this time golden barrel cacti in a metal planter. Ice plant trails along the edge.

Lori has a flair for displaying pots in an eye-catching way. In this collection on her patio, she sets another face planter on a mini-plinth of concrete pavers and elevates a cobalt-blue pot on a few tinted pavers. Glass beads and Mexican beach pebbles used as mulch add a finishing touch.

An enormous cardoon adds bold foliage to a small vegetable garden planted along the shed.

Looking back to the mesquite bed. Light-catching grasses are complemented by chunky Opuntia pads and sword-like agave leaves.

The fountain is pretty from every angle.

On a wall on the covered porch, Lori creatively hung a leftover section of gutter, painted it blue, and planted it up with grandfather’s pipe (Callisia fragans) cuttings. The shady space is brightened with mirrors disguised as windows.

Blue is definitely the color of choice in Lori’s garden, including in this charming vignette along a corner of the foundation. Yellow in the golden barrel cactus, yucca, and agave makes a perfect complement.

At the gate on the other side of the house, a variegated agave and purple heart in a silver container, set on a homemade plinth of concrete pavers, make an eye-catching focal point. A round mirror reflects light like a silver moon.

Along the back of the house, a line of ‘Color Guard’ yucca is surrounded by colorful, blooming ice plant, orange narrowleaf zinnia, and blackfoot daisy. Like all of Lori’s garden, it’s a charming and creative combination with an element of surprise.

Lori, thanks so much for letting me come back to photograph your garden as it continues to evolve! Readers, if you’d like to read my previous post about the Garden of Good and Evil, click here.

You’re Invited!
I’ll be at BookPeople on Saturday, May 4, at 4 pm , along with author Jenny Peterson, to talk briefly about design tips for losing the lawn or paring it back. Jenny will be sharing styling tips for houseplants. And we newbie authors will BOTH be signing copies of our books! Whether you have a green thumb or a brown one, let’s fill up BookPeople with people who care about plants and the earth!

The talk is free and open to the public, and I’d love to see a lot of friendly faces! If you do want an autographed book, BookPeople requires an in-store purchase. Just FYI.

All material © 2006-2013 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.