On our way home from Big Bend last weekend, we cruised through Marfa for lunch and a quick look around town. When we spotted the Thunderbird Hotel’s Capri Lounge, an event space and former Army storage hangar, we stopped to tour the Christy Ten Eyck-designed garden surrounding it.

The garden combines minimalist, salvaged-industrial architecture with native plants including yucca, bur oak, agarita, agave, Texas mountain laurel, and grama and other grasses. Take a look at this picture…

…and compare it to this one. This is Ten Eyck’s personal garden in Austin. See any similarities? Smaller scale, softened by lusher vegetation, but recognizable, no? I love this water feature and was thrilled to see a larger version (minus the negative edge) in the Marfa garden.

Back to Marfa, where gabion walls shelter and define the large gathering space just outside the doors.

Shimmery globes of Yucca rostrata anchor a raised bed behind a low concrete wall that functions as additional seating.

Boulders protect an island of native plants under a young shade tree.

Agave (neomexicana?), agarita in bloom, and a tawny grass combine for a dynamic pocket garden.

Close-up of the agarita

I could imagine sitting here under the stars, listening to a band play.

There’s plenty of room for dancing too.

Heading to the rear garden, past the rectangular pool…

…you enter a more densely planted space—a man-made savannah punctuated by small trees and divided into several intimate rooms…

…each with its own Corten fire pit.

Around some you’d need to stand, as no seats are provided.

Around others you’d be able to sit, council-ring style, on large, flat boulders. Wouldn’t this be a great design for a sunny back yard in Austin? But why hasn’t anyone cut back the fall-blooming grasses yet?

Across the street, by the hotel store, stood an ocotillo fence, which fascinated me after all the ocotillo we’d seen blooming in Big Bend.

An old hotel sign…

…and colorful bikes for rent added their own laid-back charm to the scene.

We didn’t stay long enough to get a good sense of Marfa, which from an Austin perspective seems our west Texas sister city, only smaller, artier, and somehow more hip (probably too hip for me and my family). But I did really enjoy seeing this garden and can imagine something similar working for us here in central Texas.

All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Morbid curiosity has nothing to do with my love for old cemeteries. I find them beautiful and interesting in a personal and historical sense, and on travels to older cities like Boston, Charleston, S.C., and New Orleans I’ll make time for a cemetery stroll. In Austin the Texas State Cemetery is my favorite (although I admit I haven’t seen historic Oakwood Cemetery yet). Here the state’s founders, leaders, and statesmen are buried, along with notable artists, athletes, writers, and military leaders, and the lovely, park-like grounds invite exploration, which is what my son and I did last Tuesday.

A field of regimented tombstones for fallen Confederate soldiers and veterans anchors one end of the cemetery.

Seeing the tombstones of people who had a hand in shaping Texas makes them seem, ironically, more alive. Yes, that person really lived, you realize, and here he or she remains. And then there are the tombstones themselves, their towering size revealing the wealth or ambition of the deceased’s family, or modest stones indicating a pleasing or surprising reticence to acknowledge greatness. The words carved there may make you pensive or cause you to smile. I got a chuckle out of Robert McAlpin Williamson‘s nickname permanently remembered on his gravestone, above.

Beautiful statues and carvings adorn some of the graves, including several carved by well-known local sculptors Charles Umlauf and Elisabet Ney.

This one represents Joanna Troutman, who sewed the first Texas flag during the battle for independence from Mexico.

Aside from the cemetery’s history, there’s plenty of natural beauty. Cemeteries of a certain age often have majestic trees, and so does this one, as well as a stream with a waterfall and pond.

A hilly prominence topped with a live oak, reached via a spiraling ramp, invites you to climb to the highest point in the cemetery. At the top you can sit on this limestone council ring in the shade of the tree and look over the whole place.

I didn’t get a photo, but there’s also a memorial to the Texas victims of 9/11, with two twisted metal beams from the World Trade Center standing vertically to represent the two towers.

The Texas State Cemetery was renovated and restored in 1994 by the powerful and Texas-proud Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock, who said, “Kids can come out here and in one day learn more about Texas history than a whole semester in class.” Hyperbole, perhaps, but you can certainly learn a lot of history in a cemetery. And at Texas State Cemetery you can pay your respects to Mr. Bullock, who, fittingly, is buried here.

The Texas State Cemetery is located just east of downtown at 909 Navasota Street. It’s free and open to the public every day from 8 am to 5 pm. The excellent visitor’s center is only open on weekdays, from 8 am to 5 pm.

All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

For my last post about Chicago Spring Fling, I’ll revisit a gem of a garden hidden away in a corner of Lincoln Park, not far from the zoo: Caldwell Lily Pool.

A sign gives you the back story.

Like entering a cave or a slot canyon, you walk down a slight slope and through a layered-stone and steel gate.

A naturalistic woodland-edge garden surrounds the lily pool, brimming in late May with springtime color. The image at the top of this post shows the lily pool and a sheltering structure built on a small peninsula.

Looking back at the shelter from the other side of the pool

One of the pond residents taking a rest.

A stone stair ascends to a council ring that overlooks the pool.

The first council ring I ever saw was at Chicago Botanic Garden on Evening Island. I loved the idea of simple, circular stone walls that double as benches, enclosing a peaceful get-away spot, and have since designed one for a client’s garden with a fire pit in the middle.

Since time was short, I didn’t get to explore all of Caldwell Lily Pool, but I will remedy that when I next return to Chicago. Heading back to the bus with Diana, a lovely flower garden alongside the sidewalk grabbed our attention, particularly these sunny yellow irises.

And bleeding hearts, which I’ve often admired on the blogs of northern gardeners.

Shasta daisies always look happy.

And so was I thanks to a wonderful day of private and public garden tours. Chicago showed herself to be a vibrant, friendly, and well-gardened city. I hope to visit again someday soon.

All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.