Visit to Lost Valley Gardens
A couple of weeks ago, blogging friends Carol Janov and Ron Bomer invited me to visit their country garden and organic farm outside of Dripping Springs, Texas. I met Carol and Ron in April 2008, at the first Garden Bloggers Spring Fling in Austin, and I’ve been following their blog, Lost Valley Gardens, ever since. Carol recently posted a slew of pictures of their young garden in full fall bloom, and I promptly sent her a Facebook message begging for a visit. Carol is a very good sport! A small group of friends accompanied me so that we could make a day trip out of it, with a stop in Dripping Springs for shopping and lunch.
Ron and Carol set about taming a portion of their property and transforming it into a garden by building structure. And more structure. And more structure. Like this long cedar pergola that wraps around a generous limestone patio, embracing the space and giving it the feel of a cozy room. It’s planted with crossvine, which flowers in spring, and fall-blooming coral vine (Antigonon leptopus), pictured at top.
I was too busy talking and admiring the views to take a lot of pictures, and I really wish I’d gotten a group shot of our escorts: four friendly yellow labs named Pippin, Merry, Bilbo, plus one with a non-hobbit name. I can’t remember which this laid-back fellow is.
Their large, sunny courtyard garden showcases pink roses in full bloom mixed with other xeric perennials and structural plants like this beautiful agave. (They have a tall fence to keep out deer, hence the roses.) A charming fountain anchors the center of the courtyard. Elsewhere Carol and Ron have a vegetable garden, a couple of smaller patios, and a grotto water feature. At the top of a rise overlooking their handcrafted log home, an open field is being cleared as part of their long-term goal to farm it for subscription-based produce.
Just outside the boundaries of the garden, the wild Hill Country landscape asserts itself.
A wizened, old cedar stump stands sentinel.
Their ruggedly beautiful view
I really have met the nicest people through garden blogging. It was such a treat to see Ron and Carol again. My thanks to both (and the dogs!) for sharing their lovely garden with us.
All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
It’s always such a treat to view others gardens for inspiration and solace. Their garden is charming!
To someone in the northeast, I imagine just about any Texas garden would seem exotic. This one is only mildly different from what we could achieve in Pennsylvania, but you’ve captured a character that is still clearly southwestern. Some gorgeous photos!
Those scenes and landscape vignettes, under that cloud cover, made my morning! Hmmm…the pergola / patio is so inviting, the hillside view is beautifully haunting, and of course I like the HOT image of the cactus, twist-leaf yucca behind it, then a repeated cactus behind that.
Glad you arranged that visit!
How much fun…I’m off to visit her blog now.
I was going to leave a comment on her post, it says comments are disallowed…?
Darla, I forwarded your comment to her, and she told me that she has turned off the “disallow” in order to receive any new comments. —Pam
What a treat.
I’ve been fascinated with pergolas ever since we saw one in Corpus curtained in trumpet vine in full bloom. I counted 40 hummingbirds on it!
I love the feel the pergola gives this garden. Just what you said, a cozy room.
The hill country is beautiful and there garden is delightful~Thanks, Pam for sharing. gail