Foliage Follow-Up in the Fatal Flower Garden
On this chilly, wet Foliage Follow-Up, let’s revisit the fabulous Tex-Asian garden in east Austin designed and built by Grace Riggan and Joshua Bowles. Its intriguing name? Fatal Flower Garden. Aren’t you just dying to see what’s behind the wall? Me too. Just don’t look for a lot of flowers. This is a dramatic foliage garden for sun and shade.
An Asian mood is established with roofed, wooden gates. The owners built the dry-stacked stone wall themselves, with rock hauled home from building sites. (They are the architect-build team behind Homeplace Architecture & Carpentry and have since relocated to Hawaii. Who owns Fatal Flower today, I wonder?)
But the plants are pure southwest in style—at least those in the sunny parts of the garden. Here, outside the Asian gate, East meets West, and the result is delightful.
On my October 2008 visit, during the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days tour, I was wowed by this predominantly evergreen and ever-silver garden. Agaves dominated the design. This monstrous American agave stood in armored, silver glory several feet above my head, and I’m tall. In the foreground, a shady path meandered under mature pecan trees through plantings of mahonia, native palmetto, and liriope.
More drama unfolded on a sunny, gravelly berm near the front gate. A silver bed dominated by a large ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (on the left), American agave, and palm was visually cooling but not calming. There’s a lot of excitement in sharp leaves and architectural shapes.
Gold contrasted with silver on the other side, thanks to golden barrel cactus and Mexican feathergrass.
A stiff-armed, spine-tipped sharkskin agave contrasted with the softer textures of Jerusalem sage and plumbago.
The plant combinations in this garden were interesting and often playful, offering ideas for striking combinations in both sun and shade. But as with all wonderful gardens, hardscaping was key, creating a beautiful frame for the owners’ plant artistry. Well-thought-out fencing, paths, and sitting areas defined the garden spaces, set a mood, and were as important as the plants. In so many fine gardens, this is manifested in stone hardscaping, masonry walls, and earth-sculpting that obviously cost a fortune. That’s wonderful if you have the means. However, at Fatal Flower, the hardscaping seemed more attainable—even do-it-yourselfable—and was just as beautiful and effective.
This vine-draped arbor lead from the house to a two-story work studio. The path from the garden curved gently on the way to the arbor, which framed a small tree.
The path itself was simple and lovely: rectangular and square limestone flags set in pea gravel. The raised bed alongside it was edged with regularly-shaped limestone pieces.
Another path branched off from the arbor, leading to a secluded potting area behind the house. I’ve admired similar paths at Chanticleer Garden.
Clean and simple. A potting bench built onto the privacy fence maximized space in a narrow side yard.
A meditation deck, decorated and furnished with restraint, overlooked the shade garden.
The shady center of the garden near the deck gave way on each end to sunnier, agave-studded spaces. Tucked into the back corner, this agave and xeric-plant grouping surprised me with the addition of a thirstier Japanese maple.
Outside the gates, between the wall and the sidewalk, more agaves and yuccas flourished, soaking up reflected light and heat from the stone wall, gravel mulch, and concrete sidewalk.
For an excellent video about this garden, its owners, and how they built their stacked-stone wall, watch the “Central Texas Gardener” episode about Fatal Flower Garden.
Update 1/17/11: I contacted Grace Riggan to ask about Fatal Flower Garden’s name, and whether it was related to the old folk song by the same name. She wrote, “Yes, the name is from the folk song. The seduction of the garden….”
I hope you’ll participate in Foliage Follow-Up (always the day after Bloom Day) by showing off your favorite foliage this month in a post of your own, and leave your link in a comment here so we can find it. Please remember to link to this post as well.
All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
That would be a hard garden to leave behind, but it probably helps if you’re moving to Hawaii! I can hardly imagine having such giant agaves in a home garden. Usually I’ve just seen them in public gardens. My favorite thing is actually that path that you mentioned is similar to ones seen at Chanticleer. It must be a bear to keep clean however. I know that gravel is fun but can be a bit of work if you want it to look pristine. We’ve posted our winter foliage follow-up: http://eachlittleworld.typepad.com/each_little_world/2011/01/foliage-follow-up-1162011.html
i love this garden. would love to know what the name “fatal flower” means or implies, something metaphysical i would assume. besides all the sculptural agave, cacti and such, i love the raw, loose feel of the “hardscape,” the inviting, windy paths and stacked walls. it’s all wonderfully understated and bold, stylized and untamed, at the same time!
I would love to know the meaning of the name too. All I know is there’s an old folk ballad by that name.See my update at the end of the post. —PamNice plant combos, other than the one with Japanese Maple. It shows how even controlled eclecticism and plant variety can be designed to create serenity, as opposed to the ugliness of random chaos.
I could hang out in such a serene space for a while…
Love all of the different forms and textures….I wonder if they now have many flowers in their gardens in Hawaii? http://morefamilyandflowers-darla.blogspot.com/2011/01/foliage-follow-up.html
So much wonderful texture with that foliage! And what I wouldn’t give for an out-of-the-way potting/hospital area like they have (had). Thanks for the tour Pam! I did join in with a post this Foliage-Follow Up, but it’s not nearly as bright and cheery as yours, http://dangergarden.blogspot.com/2011/01/foliage-follow-up-january-2011.html
You can bet I was studying the shady portions! Here’s my contribution to Foliage Follow-up:
http://thelazyshadygardener.blogspot.com/2011/01/foliage-follow-up-january-2011.html
Hi Pam,
I love your garden tours….I’m already eager to revisit all summer long when I’m not teaching and the paperwork has subsided. This garden is so nice and balanced…it has a western set of plants but seems so lush and has almost a tropical feel….mostly due to the beautiful groundcovers. The paths are a great study. Finally..I like your comment about the do-it-yourself project style. That’s exactly what inspires me most about this garden. Great post. David/ Tropical Texana
David, you’re close enough to Austin to attend some of these garden tours yourself. The next biggie that I know of is the Wildflower Center’s Gardens on Tour on the Saturday of Mother’s Day weekend. —Pam
A great looking garden – I’d miss the cottage garden flowers I love so much – but sometimes I’d like a big architectural garden like this
Pam, I could revisit this Fatal Flower Garden many more times. It’s such a good example of a garden that embraces rather than fights its geography and climate. I think I’d move my bed out onto the meditation deck for summer! http://agrowingobsession.com/?p=12374
Thanks for the CTG mention. I just loved that garden as much as I love Grace & Joshua. Gee, wish we could go to Hawaii to see what they’re doing now.
So do I!
Linda, did Grace and Joshua ever tell you the meaning behind Fatal Flower Garden’s name?See update at end of post. —PamI’m pretty sure I need one of those meditation porches. What a well designed garden. I especially love the paths using the narrow stone-gorgeously rustic.
Posted my foliage follow-up at http://signaturegardens.blogspot.com/2011/01/foliage-follow-up-speckles-spots-and.html
I was looking through an old issue of Texas Gardener today and saw a picture you had taken of a tower of violas and parsley 🙂 Thanks for hosting the Foliage Follow-up!
Hi, Toni. Yes, that picture accompanied an article by fellow blogger Vicki Blachman (Playin’ Outside). I photographed the viola-and-parsley tower at Chicago Botanic Garden. —Pam
Gardens like this sure do make me miss all that great Texas stone! Viva la limestone! Those agaves play off of it so nicely.
I was bored with the foliage in my garden this month so I posted about some of nature’s miniature gardens that are appearing right now: http://floradoragardens.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-love-me-some-lichens-foliage-follow.html
This garden reminds me that you don’t have to have a bunch of flowering plants to have a beautiful garden! So texturally beautiful!
My post, hopefully, is better late than never!
http://www.thewhimsicalgardener.com/2011/01/kitchen-window-view.html
I love all of the colors and textures of these plants! Awesome! I grow fonder of agaves every time I visit. We can grow some in pots if we have room in the house over the winter, but not all of the kinds you have in the soil in Texas. My son has some, and was going to give me one, but he hasn’t so far. I’ll have to ask him about it again.
I got my post up.
http://acornergarden.blogspot.com/2011/01/foliage-follow-up.html
Thanks, gracious hostess!
What an amazing garden. Here is my post: http://shovelreadygarden.blogspot.com/2011/01/foliage-follow-up.html Thanks for hosting FFU!
What a beautiful garden, I love the way that the plants harmonise not just with one another but with the hard landscaping. I particularly love that path made from limestone pieces set in gravel, and the way that the rounded stones of the wall contrast with the spikiness of yuccas and agaves. Proof that you don’t need flowers to have a beautiful and dramatic space. I hope the new owners both nurture it and continue to develop it.
Maybe the “fatal” in the plant name means that they have a driving force to collect plants. The garden is so exciting with the soft and hard context throughout. Happy Foliage Followup.
A beautiful garden that is filled with rustic charm. Happy Foliage Follow-up Day! My post is here:
http://www.mynicegarden.com/2011/01/jan-2011-gbbd-and-foliage-follow-up-my.html
Pam, it’s beautiful and structural. I wrote a foliage followup post, but my site is having issues. I can’t link to you yet or change the size the of the Heuchera pic. As soon as it is fixed, I’ll change the post.~~Dee http://reddirtramblings.com/?p=17488
I STILL can’t get over that first photo! Seriously, seriously beautiful!! I’ve just taken on a new client who needs to move about 6 giant agaves that are well over 8′ tall. Seeing the massive ones in this garden so perfectly situated gives me a bit of hope that ‘yes, we can DO this!’. Thanks for the tour of this stunning gardening!! Your posts are always so inspirational (something I need on this very foggy morning)!
Ooh, moving agaves of that size takes bravery, Rebecca. I hope you’ll post about it. I moved a fairly large one (but no 8-footer) a couple of years ago, and it was difficult but well worth it for its immediate effect in my new garden. —Pam
I’ve just posted a piece on evergreen shrubs which fits right in with Foliage Follow Up. So, better late than never. Thanks for hosting! http://gardensenses.blogspot.com/2011/01/evergreen-shrubs.html
Hi, Garden Sense. I loved your post and wanted to comment but couldn’t without an account (I use the Name/URL option, if you care to activate it). But I wanted to say this: Wow, what a fabulous selection of evergreens you’ve shown here. I particularly admire the Scotch broom, false cypress, and golden cypress. They are real beauties. Thanks for celebrating foliage with me. —Pam
Pam..
There are so many elements that make this garden a ‘WOW’!!
I absolutely loved the juxtapositioning of the sharp leaved yuccas against soft billowing plantings!
I am nuts about stone walls…the fact that they built their own dry ones is pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing. Fran
Fran, if you have a few minutes to watch the “Central Texas Gardener” episode (link provided in the post) about this couple and their garden, you’ll get their philosophy on working with stone and details about how they constructed their dry-stacked wall. It’s pretty interesting. —Pam
Pam, Thanks for the heads up. I’m new to blogging and didn’t realize that I needed to change that setting- I think I’ve got it straightened out now. Chris
We visited this garden together, Pam and you caught it well! Fatal Flowers was beautiful and inventive with some unusual plants but all those sharp points made me nervous …as if I had to be on guard against the garden instead of immersed in it. For me it was “a nice place to visit” – couldn’t pay me to live there.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
It was so fun to tour gardens with you that day, Annie. But, boy, do you and I have different taste in gardens. I would live in this one in a skinny minute! —Pam
This has to be my first encounter with a Tex-Asian garden design. My first thought was, “not possible.” But there it is. Really lovely. Thanks for sharing.
Hi, Kat. The Tex-Asian or Tex-Zen look is actually pretty popular in Austin, especially in the trendy areas of town that gravitate toward a more contemporary vibe. —Pam
What an incredible place. Oh how I would like to pull up our grass in the front and back and plant to my hearts desire!
Beautiful garden! My wife and I visited Austin in the fall of ’09 and while I definitely feel like we’re WAY too uncool to live in Austin (“two tattoos? Quitter.”)I loved the plants and the overall vibe. I left Phoenix under protest, and Austin was like a hipper, cleaner Phoenix, Now I want to go back!