Garden gate from Gardens on Tour 2007. Join me this week to take the tour with me.
On this Mother’s Day weekend, my mom joined me for Saturday’s tour of five private gardens and one commercially owned “green roof,” all of which showcase native Texas plants. Presented by the Wildflower Center, Gardens on Tour is meant to educate as well as inspire. Helpfully, lists of each homeowner’s native plants were being handed out by Wildflower Center docents.
The gardens’ designers—Scott Ogden, Judy Walther, Cathy Nordstrom, Curt Arnette, and David Mahler—were present as well, providing an opportunity to ask questions about the designs or specific plants. I met only two homeowners, however, including design professional Cathy Nordstrom, whose own garden was on tour.
I find it interesting that more homeowners weren’t on hand because this year Gardens on Tour got it right. That is, the five landscapes we toured were actually gardens. Professionally designed, yes (nothing wrong with garden designers, after all). Professionally maintained, yes, some of them. But also reflective of the owners’ personalities, plant-centered, quirky. The gardens were equal partners in the house-garden marriage, holding their own rather than being overshadowed by the houses they beautified.
I’ve heard from several readers here and at Garden Rant who’ve been admiring the photo of my favorite garden on last year’s tour. At one of the stops this weekend, I struck up a conversation with a docent named Jenny Stocker, who mentioned that her garden was on last year’s tour. As she described it I realized that hers was the sunny garden with gorgeous, stone-walled rooms and beautiful combinations of native plants that I’d so admired.
I was glad for the chance to tell her how much I’d enjoyed seeing her garden, and how often readers of Digging have said the same about my photo of it. She was intrigued by garden blogging, she said, and had been considering starting one of her own. Naturally, I encouraged her enthusiastically.
Just think, if she starts blogging, you’ll get to see her lovely garden much more frequently. Hmmm, and maybe she’d be interested in joining the next Austin garden-bloggers’ Ground Robin and let us visit it.