Last week, a few members of our Austin Area Garden Bloggers
got the chance to do a preview tour of this year's
Travis County Master Gardeners'
First up, was Peggy Hart's beautiful, hillside
garden, in west Austin.
The front is designed with lots of shade loving, deer resistant plants.
The back deck offers a comfortable place to enjoy a beautiful view.
And, below is a vegetable garden and an iconic Austin symbol.
Next, we visited Daphne Jeffers cottage/zen garden.
The front cottage garden is a riot of color. Lots of beautiful spring blooms
Daphne explained how she turned a grassy yard, into a garden beauty.
In back, they've turned this area into a calm, zen-like garden.
Lots of bamboo and a quiet rock fountain.
Also, this clever re-purposing of a play area.
A fenced in bird feeding station.
Keep out those pesky squirrels and larger birds.
We moved on to the garden of Velia Sanchez-Ruiz.
Velia's front garden is chock full of beautiful daylilies.
The back is cool and lush, with lots of shade plants.
Then, we headed out west, to Dorothy Thering's garden.
Dorothy has a lot of room to garden. Twenty-five acres.
Of course, they haven't made the whole place gardens.
But, they have done a lot.
Look at this fabulous vegetable garden.
And, on the other side of the house...
..this wonderful garden shed/green house.
With paths for a stroll in back.
I really liked this place.
Last, but certainly not least, was Shari Bauer's whimsical garden.
Shari has taken re-purposing to the ultimate.
Something to see, everywhere you looked.
Shari's house overlooks the Pedernales River.
Her comfortable porch is a good place to rest.
On the other side of the house, Shari has terraced the steep hill and planted
a lush, shady garden.
She's placed a shady dining table...
...under a teapot chandelier.
My favorite thing is this pond, with the grill of an old jeep as the waterfall.
The lights work.
In fact, this whole garden has lots of lights.
How often do you find a piano, all planted up, in a garden?
More found objects.
Over the bridge,
...to the lavender garden.
Pause for a moment, under an up-ended sailboat.
And, back down to the house, through the lavender.
Some of us (where are the rest?),
paused for a group photo with Shari,
in her lovely greenhouse.
It is an amazing garden.
We had a wonderful day. Gardeners in gardens.
Always fun.
Saturday, May 6.
Follow the link for more info.
You won't be disappointed.
Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~
