Dallas Open Days Tour 2012: Matthew Nichols Garden
Last Saturday I went on the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days tour in Dallas. My first stop was the exuberant foliage garden of Matthew Nichols. Here’s the official description:
Matthew Nichols’ tropical, urban garden belies its location in the West Dallas area of Oakcliff. Most of the garden resides in raised beds as the native soil is alkaline and shallow. The design of the eight year old garden is informal, yet lush in textures. Most of the collection focuses on: cold hardy palms, cold hardy citrus, hardy subtropicals, xeric natives, cycads, bamboo, broadleaf evergreens, antique and Earth-Kind® roses. There are many citrus varieties growing on multi-grafted trees. Many plants are being tested to find the best low maintenance, hardy varieties for North Texas where blazing summers, drought and winter temperatures into the teens are common.
Matthew is really into palms, which I wish I knew more about as they have an architectural presence in the garden, and many varieties are drought-tolerant. His front garden is a riot of serrated fronds.
I like this elegant combo of ‘Macho Mocha’ mangave and persicaria, which has a nice color echo and contrasting shapes.
And this one: purple coneflower, heartleaf skullcap, burgundy canna, and pink agastache.
On the front stoop, I admired this pretty begonia in flower.
There are plenty of attention-grabbing plants in the front garden, like this columnar cactus…
…and this beautiful blue palm…
…and the statuesque palm tree by the front door.
Moving around to the back garden, I saw that Matthew had acquired the next-door neighbor’s lot and was planting up the space between their two houses. Ah, room to expand!
In back, a small swimming pool was nearly obscured by spiky foliage, leaving only a sort of tunnel for slipping into the pool. Yes, this is a true plant-lover’s garden. A potted palm shows to advantage against a blue wall.
Mystery plant. I met Matthew here, and he told me this is a relative of the hollyhock, although he doesn’t know the name. He grows it, naturally, for its striking leaves, not its insignificant flowers. Update: This is Macleaya cordata, or plume poppy.
Squid agave (Agave bracteosa)
Matthew’s garden was fun to explore, jam-packed as it was with interesting, tropical-esque plants. It was a good start to an eclectic tour.
Coming up: The Middleton Farm garden with distinct garden rooms for playing, eating, and relaxing.
All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
This looks like a fun garden to visit and the soil is similar to central and south Texas. The textures of the palms create interest and the variety says “plant collector”.
Now we’re talking a great start to a garden tour!
Wow…what a fabulous garden! I love the powder blue palm and wish they were hardy here. I think the Mystery plant might be a plume poppy or Macleaya cordata. Thanks for sharing this one Pam!
Thanks for the ID, Loree. That does look like it. —Pam
Impressive lushness and variety…I am surprised some of those make it in DFW, but hey, at least the owner is having fun! Definitely something nicer than the usual foundation shrubs-gravel or lawn expanse-shade tree motif. But what really strikes me is the diversity with good maintenance.
Wow. Love all that tropical foliage.
Jeez that is one spiky garden! Gorgeous blue palm. I tend to agree that the mystery plant is a plume poppy.
Thanks for confirming the plume poppy ID, Kerry. —Pam
Lovely garden, thanks for sharing Pam. very well grown plants and some interesting planting combinations too!
Thank you all for your comments! I’m trying to get the other Dallas gardens up tomorrow and Saturday, before I post about the upcoming Gardens on Tour in Austin, so I don’t have time to respond to each comment this time. But I do appreciate them! —Pam
I grew up in Oak Cliff. There are many beautiful areas. Matthew’s garden must be on one of the ‘chalk hills’ there.
Our garden had deep, black clay…gumbo was what my mother called it.
This garden is quite impressive….especially those palms. It does get pretty cold up there.
I love to see some of these older areas of town being taken care of again.
Looking forward to more of your tour.
The mystery plant is indeed Macleaya cordata. It’s in the poppy family and the flowers are actually quite attractive, straw colored.
Thanks for confirming the plume poppy ID, Bob. —Pam
That is really exceptional. I love the tropical feel. Is that a loquat in the foreground of the first photo? I love the blue of that one palm tree… I’m guessing brahea armata perhaps. Thanks for sharing this wonderful garden!
That does look like a loquat in the lower right of the first photo, Louis. Thanks for the possible palm ID. —Pam
Pam – Im an avid follower of your site. I am also the Dallas Representative for the Open Days Tour (for now!)
I really appreciate you posting about the gardens on this years tour – and Matthews is certainly a plant collectors delight!
Although I work in Landscape Design (David Rolston Landscape Architects) upon meeting Matthew I really fell in awe of his incredible knowledge of these unique plants he collects and grows.
He’s really inspired me to break out of my “comfort zone” of our rather extensive, albeit a bit more common, plant library.
I agree with you that using the interesting plant combinations Matthew uses really gives a whole other character to his garden.
I wish Id known you were coming up, as I would have liked to have met you in person. In fact, my half acre property is right around the corner form Matthew, so next time you’re up this way, please give me a shout and I’d be happy to give you a tour of my garden.
I will be bringing a group down the for the Open Days Tour in Austin in November, so hopefully we can meet then.
Regards, Patrick
Patrick, thanks for saying hello, and for reading Digging. I would enjoy meeting you when you come down in November, and I’d love to see your garden the next time I’m in Dallas. Thanks so much for the invitation! And thanks for organizing the Open Days Dallas tour. I really enjoy seeing all the different gardens. Did you organize the one last year too? —Pam