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Flowers and Fellowship
The long awaited Garden Bloggers Spring Fling took place this weekend, and it was well worth the wait. It was a picture perfect spring day in Central Texas. There was only a slight chill in the air when we met the group at 9:00 am at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and almost no wind at all. We spent over an hour strolling through the gardens, checking out the view from the observation tower, looking at the information in the library, and getting to know each other.
Although I am a rather introverted and somewhat shy person, I felt very much at ease with this group of almost total strangers right away. The tour of the Wildflower Center was completely enjoyable, with many well-known favorites on display, but also lots of plants that I had not seen before, or which I had misidentified in the past. One of the most impressive features of these gardens to me was the hardscaping and building architecture. The cisterns and aquaduct structure were absolutely enchanting, and there were several beautiful arbor structures covered with vines of every sort.
I only took a few pictures, but they came out pretty well. Here are some of my favorites.
Louisiana Swamp Iris Near Deep Pool
Texas Huisache Tree in Bloom
Scarlet Penstemon
Mixed Wildflower Bed
Lunch was a tasty Mexican fare, with lots of lively conversation and a lovely talk by Tom Spencer. The highlights of Tom’s talk for me were the description of his meditation on a yellow flower, which eventually took him back to a perfect moment in his childhood when all was exactly as it should be, and his writing to his Father on the theme of gathered stones.
The afternoon began with a trip to the Natural Gardener nursery, which has grown dramatically since I was last there several years ago. The variety and volume of plants at this nursery are remarkable, especially considering that most of them are native or adapted to our area, and that they are organically grown. I spent alot of time looking at the trees and the display gardens all of which were impressive. Highlights here were the purple martins over the vegetable gardens busily doing whatever it is martins do, and the new pondless water feature that they are building.
The last stop of the day for us was the visit to James David’s garden. I was completely overwhelmed by this garden. There were so many plants that I had never seen before, and many familiar ones as well. But it was the sheer size and density of the garden that amazed me. There were massive fig trees at the back of the property, and an incredible pomegranite tree perched high on the hill at the back of the patio. There were two striking water features, and some of the most beautiful orchids I have ever seen. It was a feast for all of the senses. So full of sights, sounds, and smells.
At this point we had to take our leave of the group to head home and relieve our dog sitter. It was a truly memorable day which I am grateful that I was able to share with so many unique and creative people. I look forward to virtually visiting with everyone in the days, weeks, and months to come.
Blessings,
Carol
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Hi Carol! I really enjoyed talking with you and your husband at the Natural Gardener–it was a pleasure to meet you.
Your Louisiana iris photo is wonderful–thanks for sharing it. 🙂
Carol, I’ve enjoyed reading your impressions of the day. What a whirlwind day it was. I’m happy to have met you and Ron, and it will add a wonderful new dimension to reading your blog.
Carol – It was good to see you guys, even though I don’t think we had a chance to talk. It was a fabulous day for me, too, and I had the same experience of being an introvert unusually comfortable in a large group of people.
The Natural Gardener has grown a lot just in the last year, I think. Ever since they put in all of the apartments, I think they’ve grown to meet demand and to make themselves viable in the middle of brand-new suburbia. They re-did the stuff around their sign in the past few months, and started digging the water feature in December (can you tell I visit every chance I get?). The poppies were new as well– wow!
And the David/Peese garden…I agree that it was overwhelming. For me the draw was the technical aspects of the hardscape design and how it was calculated to frame views, move the eye, and create intimate spaces while flowing together as a whole. The garden was much more an intellectual exercise in design for me than it was about the plants. Maybe next time I’ll be wowed by more greenery than the fragrant pittosporum. 😉
Brianna – We very much enjoyed meeting and visiting with you also. The iris is my favorite shot also.
Pam – Thanks again for everything you did to make this event such a resounding success!
Lori – I’m sorry I did not get a chance to chat with you. I love the way you describe your impressions of the David/Peese garden in your comment. As I read it I found myself walking the garden in my mind and thinking about the hardscape design. I had not thought about it in the way that you describe it, but you are absolutely right about how critical this element is to the entire structure of this garden and how one experiences it. I would like to visit again with these elements in mind.
Cheers y’all!
It was so nice to meet you and Ron. Wish I had had the chance to talk with you a little more. It was all a little overwhelming to me.
Loved that huisache. Must have one of those.
I’m loving your conversations here, Carol! Hearing Lori talk about the garden we toured together makes me think, and looking at your photos makes me say wow! The penstemon picture is lovely.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Hi Bill – We enjoyed meeting you as well & hope we can visit with you again in the future. I agree that the huisache is a must have.
Hey Annie – glad you enjoyed your visit here. I hope we can keep our collective conversations going. I know I am going to take more time, on a regular basis, to visit everyone’s blogs and web sites and to comment more frequently.
Thanks, as always for stopping by.
Hi Carol!
I love your photo of the Texas Huisache Tree. You’ve captured it perfectly! I’m so glad I had the chance to sit near you and Ron during lunch. It was a pleasure to visit with you both.
I was a bit overwhelmed while viewing the David/Peese Garden as well. It was beautiful and amazing, wasn’t it? What a wonderful day. I hope we’ll meet again!
Regards,
Dawn
Hi Dawn!
I love the huisache shot as well. I definitely want to get at least one of them. I also want a Mexican buckeye. There were some beautiful ones there at the center.
It was a real pleasure chatting with you at lunch. Please don’t hestitate to give us a shout if you are out this way. Loved the David/Peese garden – wish I had taken some pictures there…..sigh.
Take care.
Carol