Houston Open Days Garden Tour 2012: A gentle critique and plea for diversity
Houston, where are your creative, cutting-edge gardens? You’ve got traditional estate gardening down: azaleas, boxwood hedges, enormous lawns, extensive terracing, the whole bit. But where are your native gardens, your contemporary gardens, and most important, your gardeners’ gardens?
Last weekend I traveled to Houston for the Garden Conservancy’s season-opening Open Days tour. Six gardens were open to the public, including three large estate-style gardens. Every one was lovely (and I’ll post pictures to prove it soon), but not one of them could really be considered a gardener’s garden.
I can’t help but wonder why, in a city as large and successful as Houston, the organizers couldn’t put together a tour with a bit more zip and a few more gardeners’ gardens—those fascinating, sometimes quirky, always personal Edens that other plant lovers love to visit. Where the owner likes to experiment, isn’t afraid of failure, grows a lot of plants and tries out a few unusual ones, adds his or her own personality to the garden, and loves nothing better than to talk plants when he or she isn’t actually gardening.
Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not criticizing the Houston tour gardens themselves. As I said, each one was beautiful and had something to offer visitors. But overall on the tour there was a feeling of sameness, of traditionalism, of an emphasis on architecture and hardscaping, with plants as a pleasing backdrop rather than the reason for being. There’s nothing wrong with that, but is that what garden visitors really want to see at every stop?
I made the rounds with my friend Diana of Sharing Nature’s Garden, and we had a nice time but breezed rather quickly through the large, lawn-centric and boxwood-edged gardens. (I realized after I got home that I didn’t even take pictures of these kinds of spaces; they may be verdant and beautifully “done,” but they don’t speak to me.) After the tour we stopped at Buchanan’s Native Plants in the Heights and found hordes of eager gardeners, an extensive selection of native and adapted plants, helpful salespeople, and a great gardening vibe. Based on that one nursery, I know Houston must have exciting, cutting-edge, and fascinating gardeners’ gardens. I’d love to see some of them on the next Houston Open Days tour.
I’ve just been reading about influential Houston plantsman Lynn Lowrey, who operated a nursery to sell native plants back when everyone thought of them as weeds, as well as exotics from Mexico that he thought grew well here. He sold popular plants too, of course, not being a plant snob. Mary Anne Pickens, in a presentation to the Southern Garden History Society in Houston, described him thus:
In Lynn Lowrey’s mind, Houston was the land of opportunity for gardeners. He knew that Houston could accommodate a wide range of plant material. In one of his newsletters he wrote an article which he titled “Houston: Crossroads of East and West, Temperate and Subtropics.” He said:
Houston, despite soil and moisture problems is a crossroads of plant types. We can grow maples and palms, pines and acacias. The Southeastern pine forests find their southwestern limit in Houston. The western prairie with huisache and mesquite comes up to Alief on the west side of Houston. The temperate forest trees come right down to Buffalo Bayou, and the mild Gulf coast climate lets us grow bananas, cycads and oleanders. Also our different soil types: gumbo-clay, concrete hard sand-clay, and humus poor deep sand make gardening more demanding and interesting. Still we can grow such a great variety of plants that Houston can be one of the most interesting places to garden.
I don’t know about you, but I’d like to go on a tour of Houston gardens that Lowrey would have put together.
All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I think I remember you might have been to the Conservancy tour in Dallas. I wonder if you found the same thing there. When I visit my son I find a similar style of garden to those in Houston. Beautifully manicured, with plenty of color and very pleasing to the eye. Unfortunately all is revealed in one glance. There is no where to look beyond the first view. Of course, this is just one area and I am sure there are many wonderful gardener’s gardens there and, as you say, in Houston too.
Jenny, I did go to the Dallas Open Days tour last spring, and I loved it. It remains one of the best garden tours I’ve been on: plenty of smaller gardens with lots of personality, with a variety of styles and plants, plus one large, historic garden under restoration that was also quite interesting to tour. Perhaps it all comes down to the planning committee (are they volunteers?) and what their tastes are, or which garden owners agree to be on tour. —Pam
That is too bad! Maybe they need to seek out some smaller gardens as opposed to larger estate, meticulously landscaped gardens. The gardens in Raleigh with Garden Conservancy that I’ve seen have been the complete opposite – smaller gardens that were filled to the brim with plants and personality. And that is what makes for very fun visits.
It is indeed, Indie. See my answer to Jenny’s question above; that’s what made the Dallas Open Days so good last year. Raleigh’s tour sounds like a good one to see! —Pam
How sad. I know what you mean about gardener’s gardens – they’re the ones that focus on the plants, not the house. Maybe it’s the difference between calling it a Garden Tour vs. a Landscape Tour? If I go for a garden tour, I expect gardens, not landscapes, which might sound silly but they mean different things to me.
They mean different things to me too, AR. Like I said, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a beautiful landscape instead of a garden. But it shouldn’t be on a tour that is billed as a garden tour. —Pam
I know exactly what you refer to as ‘Gardener’s Gardens’. The formal gardens, with little evidence of ‘the hand of the gardener’ are really just landscapes. I am sure you are glad you went and perhaps someone is listening.
Hi, Layanee! Yes, I am glad I went. I’ve yet to go on a garden tour I regretted spending the time on, as there’s always something worth seeing, even if the garden as a whole doesn’t grab you. —Pam
I understand your disappointment. I would have been disappointed too if all I saw was lawn and neatly pruned shrubs. Let that be a lesson of what not to do. 🙂
It wasn’t all like that, Lisa, but there was a good deal too much of it. I wrote this post in hopes that future planners might know what gardeners (at least, this gardener) really want to see. —Pam
Hi Pam! I’ve been gardening extensively in Houston for 18 years. I want to congratulate you on a beautifully written post. When I read you planned to attend the Houston Open Days, I wondered what your reaction would be. I have not been to the Houston Open Days in years. I totally agree with your assessment. Many of these places I find boring and frankly a waste of time. I feel a little bad saying this, but it is the honest truth. I don’t know what the solution is for the improvement of the Houston Open Days, but I do think the selection of gardens does reflect the conservative garden view of much of the city. Too bad! You are on the money about Buchanan’s. Well, worth a stop!
I’m glad to have your perspective as a long-time Houston gardener, Lucy. I’m sorry to hear that the tour has been “landscape”-heavy for a long time, but it’s what another local gardener recently told me too. I wonder too if the local organizers are perhaps not gardeners themselves? If so, maybe they lack a diverse network of gardeners and designers that they can tap into for the tour. At any rate, I thought about you while I was in Houston, wishing I had time to stop by and see your garden. One day! —Pam
A few weeks ago I considered going down there for that. I’m glad I chose instead to spend my valuable time in my own garden! I’m glad you found Buchanan’s at least. Without that nursery and the ones in Austin, my garden would be nothing!
Buchanan’s was a serendipitous stop. We had a great time checking out the plants and garden accessories. It seems like a wonderful nursery. —Pam
I think this is often a problem of big garden tours. They think we want to see how the other half lives. In fact, we want to see gardens and gardeners exactly as you note. Creativity and level of engagement — not size — should be guiding factors more often. On another subject, loved your comments about Jenny aka Rock Rose’s garden in Southern Living magazine.
You are exactly right, Linda. Gardeners don’t care about “how the other half lives.” They just want to see real gardens created (or maintained) by passionate gardeners. —Pam
Your points are interesting, as I recall some new landscape work in public spaces in NW Florida, wetter than Houston but very sandy. It spoke of the Gulf Coast so nicely, compared to what you showed. Sounds like you are saying Houston is the wetter edge to what Austin is the drier edge of, and has its own variation to celebrate.
Houston’s average rainfall (of course, last year they suffered from drought too) is significantly more than Austin’s: 53 inches in Houston compared to 33 in Austin. That’s not really what I’m talking about though. I just felt that the gardens on the tour (with one, maybe two exceptions) were very traditional, conservative landscapes rather than personality-infused gardeners’ gardens. I would like to see more of the latter on a “garden tour,” as well as a greater variety of plants and design styles. I know there’s more to Houston gardening than the impression I got from the tour. —Pam
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to Houston but I can tell you about a few gardens to check out. One is at the Robert Vines center in the Spring Branch part of Houston. The garden in front of the building was done by Lynn and his son in law. It has mostly Texas and Mexican natives. The back part is like an arboretum with some palms and a lot of trees etc. There is another garden on Cavelcade(?) street. It’s a planting in front of a fork lift company. It’s the same with Texas and Mexican natives. David Creech at S.F.A. in Nacogdoches has a lot of plants that have passed through Lynns hands as well. In his later years Lynn had a place near Carrizo Springs southwest of San Antonio. He would work with his son in law in Houston half the week and drive to Carrizo the other half. He was starting a small nursery called “Guayacan Nursery”. His daughter asked him why did he want to do that and he said “He liked western plants”.
Thanks for the tips, David. I’ll have to go looking for some of these the next time I’m in the area. —Pam
This reminds me of Historic Garden Week in Virginia which will happen in just a few weeks. Although garden is in the title, it is more of a home and fashion show. “I have been waiting to get a glimpse inside that house, and did you see what she was wearing?” I like for the ones listed as “garden-open only”.
There were plenty of people peeking in the windows of the mansions on this tour too, Les. The owners must have felt they were in a fishbowl. —Pam
Well, I’ve not seen the Houston gardens so I will take you at your word, but I have seen Austin gardens and they brim with personality, creativity, diversity, and a huge plant palette, which is why I always get so excited when I hear about upcoming Austin gardeners’ garden tours. They are just a whole lot of fun!
With just one or two exceptions over the years, that’s been my experience with the Austin tours as well, Laura. And tour season is getting underway! —Pam
Pam, that’s very interesting. Houston is definitely more “formal” that Austin, but it does seem they’ve missed the point of the word “gardening”. I’m curious what MCOK would have to say about it?
I’d like to know her opinion too, Robin. And I’d be happy to hear anyone’s alternative viewpoint too. Maybe it’s all just a matter of taste, and that’s subjective. —Pam
Houston needs some keeping-it-weird Austinites like you to shake things up!
Rock ‘n roll, Chuck! Ahem. —Pam
You will be in Asheville soon enough. All will be well. Gardener’s gardens a plenty await you.
Can’t wait, Christopher! —Pam
Pam, I agree with you 100%! That’s what I aimed for when I used to organize the Dallas tour. Does James David read your blog? He should hear about this frustration. I think he has been charged with making the tour a profit center for the Garden Conservancy. Certainly, estate homes and landscapes is mostly what you see on home and garden tours in Dallas.
Hi, Peter. Last year’s Dallas Open Days was under new leadership, I heard, and I thought it was a great tour. You can find the link to my posts about it in my answer to the first comment, above. —Pam
Pam,
The Houston heights garden tour in a couple of weeks may have more of what you mentioned. At least I hope so! I always enjoy the gardens when I drive around the area so I have high hopes!
Yes, it’s a charming neighborhood. I hope the tour is enjoyable! —Pam
I must admit that I used to be envious of anyone who could have the huge swatch of green lawn, perfectly trimmed hedges, and wildly blooming azaleas. I remember drooling at gorgeous gardens in magazines with the owners photographed proudly in some shady recess… and then the article would go on to talk about the garden designer or architect and team of landscapers who installed it. phooey. I love to see the rough, eccentric, fun plantings and design done by the home owners themselves. There is so much more heart in a garden when you know they have experienced the aching muscles and sunburn the rest of us gardeners experience. You can see that plants have been chosen for their interest, color, rarity, texture, etc. and not because the landscaper could purchase 50 of them in bulk, or the design is just repeated from house to house ” ’cause if it ain’t broke “… It does sound like it was probably more of a “show-off” tour and not a true “gardener’s” tour. Austin tours are so inspiring, with innovative ideas I feel I could actually implement in my own garden.
We gardeners like to see other gardeners’ places, don’t we? I have nothing against “designed” gardens, of course, being a designer myself. But the most engaging garden tours show gardens where the owners, whatever their income or garden budget, are actively involved. —Pam