A young couple who’ve attended my Garden Spark talks told me they’d drawn inspiration for their garden from two speakers, prairie-garden advocate John Hart Asher and crevice gardener Coleson Bruce. Intrigued, I suggested a garden visit (i.e., invited myself over), and they graciously agreed. So last week, I met up with Chris Vincent and Nicolas Webster in their bursting-with-wildflowers backyard prairie garden.

The garden has zero lawn except for a small circle where they’re establishing Habiturf for a grassy lounging spot. Paths curve invitingly around raised beds filled with wildflowers, grasses, and a few small native trees like desert willow. Destinations include a hammock in a back corner, an outdoor shower overlooking the garden, and a fire pit patio. This is a garden made for outdoor living.

Chris and Nicolas have planted many pollinator-attracting plants, like desert willow…

…and blanketflower, both Texas natives.

Blanketflower closeup

Desert willow in bloom

Nonnative but well-adapted larkspur adds pretty lavender and white spires to the mix.

Standing winecup with its magenta chalices

Frilly-petaled cornflower

American basketflower in bud

A shy black-eyed Susan amid the blanketflower

Plains coreopsis

So many lovely reds and yellows, plus star-shaped seedpods

Arugula flowers

In a sunny spot, spineless prickly pear presides over a crevice-garden mound mulched with dark gravel.

Lavenders and a bluebonnet appreciate the sharp drainage of the crevice planting.

A larger crevice garden runs alongside the outdoor shower, which they built themselves. Chris and Nicolas were inspired by Coleson Bruce’s garden to make their own.

They inserted thin slabs of limestone into a gravelly mound, creating a jagged, mountain range profile. Between the stone, they tucked in small, dry-loving plants like woolly stemodia, a few small agaves and yuccas, and a potted mangave (I think ‘Praying Hands’).

Mangave ‘Praying Hands’ with silvery creeper woolly stemodia

Chris and Nicolas’s yard was over-paved with concrete when they moved in, including a dog run along the fence. They’ve been steadily breaking it all up and repurposing the concrete in their garden. Broken flat slabs work well for building up raised beds, and they cleverly turned two cylindrical chunks into a vignette with a piece of holey limestone. Where a metal pole was once anchored in the bigger chunk, they planted a sprig of Mexican feathergrass.

The couple is enjoying the extravaganza of wildflowers this spring, and they’ve got some prairie grasses tucked in, ready to take over in midsummer and fall when the wildflower show is over.

But what a show it has been this spring!

A blue swallowtail butterfly enjoying the habitat they’ve created

Standing winecup and blanketflower

A living blanketflower bouquet

What an inviting space they’ve created for themselves and the birds, lizards, and insect pollinators they share it with.

Thank you, Nicolas and Chris, for sharing your garden with me!

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Digging Deeper

May 4: Explore “brilliant backyards, perfect pools and pergolas, and outdoor rooms and gardens” on the ATX Outdoor Living Tour on 5/4, 10 am to 3 pm. Landscape architects, designers, and builders will be on hand to answer questions. Tickets are $33.85 for adults, $17.85 for kids age 10-17.

May 11: Tour four Austin gardens on 5/11, from 9 am to 3 pm, on the Inside Austin Gardens Tour. Each garden “is created and cared for by a Travis County Master Gardener and demonstrates realistic gardening practices that inform and inspire.” Tickets are $20 in advance, available through May 5, or $25 on the day of the tour. Children 12 and under get free admission.

May 11: Save the date for Austin Home’s Great Outdoors Tour on 5/11.

May 18: Pop up to Dallas for the 2024 DCMGA Garden Tour on 5/18 from 10 am to 5 pm. Tickets are $18 if purchased online prior to 6 pm on 5/17, or $22 after 6 pm on 5/17 or at the event. For a sneak peek, click here.

June 1-2: Take a self-guided, 2-day tour of ponds and gardens in and around Austin on the annual Austin Pond and Garden Tour, held 6/1 and 6/2, 9 am to 5 pm. Tickets are $20 to $25.

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.