Fatal Flower Garden: Open Days Austin
After visiting the theatrical Stone Palms garden during the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Austin tour last Saturday, Annie in Austin and I headed over to east Austin to visit the Tex-Asian garden dubbed Fatal Flower.
As you can see, that’s a bit of a misnomer since there were hardly any flowers in evidence in this predominantly evergreen and ever-silver garden. Maybe the name refers to the flower-like shape of the spiky agaves, large and small, that dominated the design? Just look at that monster American agave in the background. It stood in armored, silver glory several feet above my head, and I’m nearly six feet tall. In the foreground, a shady path meanders under mature pecan trees through plantings of mahonia, native palmetto, and liriope.
More drama unfolds on a sunny, gravelly berm near the front gate. A silver bed dominated by a large ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (on the left), American agave, and palm is visually cooling but not calming. There’s a lot of excitement in these sharp leaves and architectural shapes.
Gold contrasts with silver on the other side, thanks to golden barrel cactus and Mexican feathergrass.
This may be a sharkskin agave, with Jerusalem sage and plumbago growing next to it.
A contemporary Asian mood is established at the entry with roofed, wooden gates. The owners built the dry-stacked stone wall themselves.
Here’s a wider view of another gate.
The plant combinations in this garden are interesting and often playful, offering ideas for striking combinations in both sun and shade. But as with all wonderful gardens, hardscaping is key, creating a beautiful frame for the owners’ plant artistry. Well-thought-out fencing, paths, and sitting areas define the garden spaces, set a mood, and are as important as the plants. In so many fine gardens, this is manifested in stone hardscaping, masonry walls, and earth-sculpting that obviously cost a fortune. However, at Fatal Flower, the hardscaping seems more attainable—even do-it-yourself-able—and it’s just as beautiful and effective.
This vine-draped arbor leads from the house to a two-story studio. The path from the garden curves gently on the way to the arbor, which frames a small tree that acts as a focal point.
The path itself is simple and lovely: rectangular and square limestone flags set in pea gravel. The raised bed alongside it is edged with regularly-shaped limestone pieces.
Another path branches off from the arbor, leading to a secluded potting area behind the house. I saw similar paths at Chanticleer this summer, and I’d intended on making one for my former garden. I’ll have to think how I can use something like this in my new garden-to-be.
Clean and simple. A potting bench built onto the privacy fence maximizes space in a narrow side yard.
This Asian-style open porch is decorated and furnished with restraint, indicating that it’s a peaceful, contemplative retreat.
The shady area in the middle of the garden, near the porch, gives way on each end to sunnier, agave-studded spaces. Tucked into the back corner, this agave and xeric-plant grouping surprised me with the addition of a Japanese maple—a combination that wouldn’t appear in nature but is intriguing.
Outside the walled garden, between the wall and the sidewalk, more agaves and yuccas flourish, soaking up reflected light and heat from the stone wall, gravel mulch, and concrete sidewalk.
Before we left, Annie and I had the pleasure of meeting one of the owners, who cheerfully answered visitors’ questions and seemed to be having a great time. I congratulate her and her husband on a lovely garden, one of my favorites on the tour. If you want to see more, check out this YouTube video of their garden as it appeared on “Central Texas Gardener.”
We also ran into Diana of Sharing Nature’s Garden and her friend Maria in this garden, and we oohed and ahhhed over it together.
More pics of other gardens on the Open Days tour coming soon. Now I’m off to unpack a little more.
All material © 2006-2008 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
That is amazing. I love everything. Thanks for sharing(-:
My pleasure, Cindee. —Pam
Gorgeous garden! I love all those giant-sized plants. While it’s true that you won’t find a Japanese maple growing with agavaceae in nature, there are some montaine maples in southern Mexico that do. I think agave look surprisingly great with deciduous woodland and mountain trees and shrubs.
I agree—the combination looked fantastic. But it certainly surprised me. It’s interesting to learn about those montaine Mexican maples (good alliteration!). —Pam
Both gardens you have shown from the tour are so exotic looking, at least to me. I liked the above one because there seems to be a good marriage between the stone, the wood and the foliage.
Your own new garden looks full of possibilities. I especially like the large trees (oaks?) and the stones. I know that it will be hard to garden around those boulders, people here pay ridiculous amounts of money to get them shipped in.
Good luck!
Thanks, Les. Yes, the trees are mostly live oaks and very beautiful with their dark, twisting trunks. People around here pay lots of money for boulders to be trucked into their gardens too. I’m looking at my limestone as an asset, not an obstacle. —Pam
Hi Pam, I really enjoyed this garden, mainly because it was a do it yourself job by the homeowners. They did fabulous masonry work with the paths and walls too. The one like chanticleer is especially attractive, but how easy is it to walk on? I am a klutz and dizzy to boot and need good footing, something lacking here in my own garden on the slopes. Those agaves are like jewels in the garden, so many and so large! Well placed too.
Frances
Seeing a do-it-yourself garden is always meaningful because of the love and attention bestowed upon it by the owners. As for the stone-strip path, it was easy to walk on with shoes. Barefoot might hurt though. —Pam
Pam, A very exotic garden and also very adult themed. I couldn’t help but think that when I saw a mom with her baby in arms. Not a garden for children. I love this garden, the stone walls, the dry stoned stacked posts agave topped, the plantings, the simple porch so much to recommend it. Thank you for the tour. Gail
I hadn’t thought of the garden in those terms, Gail, but perhaps you’re right. The owners were inspired, they say in that YouTube video I linked to, by Peckerwood Garden, which the Austin bloggers plan to visit this fall. Peckerwood doesn’t allow children younger than 12 to visit for that very reason—lots of spiky plants. —Pam
Oh my gosh. This is my favorite that I have seen from the tour. All of those prickly plants are wonderful and the Japanese Maple in the background of the one picture really softens the look. I would be afraid to let my dog loose in that garden. ha. I guess the Texas pets learn to stay away from all of those prickly plants.
I would worry about a dog too, Lisa. The tips of the spines can be snipped off agaves for safety, but of course they don’t look quite as good that way. Perhaps a pet lover could snip the tips off just the lower leaves. —Pam
Thanks for the tour. Another beautiful garden. I think Austin is getting defined as quite the Agave capital! Maybe the name Fatal Flower is because all the flowers met some fatality.
I wish I’d asked the owner about the name. However, it’s fun to guess! —Pam
I like knowing this garden was done by the owners and not by writing checks to someone else. Not that there is anything wrong with paying to have someone do the work that you can’t do on your own…
That’s right, Carol—nothing wrong with writing a check to get the garden going. Hey, I’m in that biz myself. —Pam
So different from anything around here! I loved the tour. Good luck with your unpacking.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. —Pam
I can admire this garden objectively; it is beautifully designed. But are too many sharp spiny things for my personal taste. I have been enjoying these tours, BTW.
I agree—it’s fun to see different styles of gardens, even if we wouldn’t want to live with them ourselves. I’m glad you’re enjoying the tours, Elizabeth. —Pam
Pam,
You have the opportunity to visit so many lovely gardens. Thank you for taking the time to share them with us. I know blogging is time consuming and you have so much to do now getting the new house ready. “In a world of mere mortals you are a Wonder Woman.” 🙂
Oh, I wish, Randy! I tend to sacrifice sleep to pursue this blogging hobby/obsession, but it eventually catches up with me. 😉 I’m glad you’ve enjoyed the garden tours. —Pam
What a nice collection of photos you got for us, Pam. I enjoyed your tour, as I didn’t take as many and wished I had captured the shady areas better to keep for my own inspiration.
You and I are both focused on shade right now, aren’t we? I think we’ll see more ideas for shade in Peckerwood. That garden was the inspiration for Fatal Flower, as it happens. —Pam
This is a very interesting garden, and I love the look of the agave on the dry wall.
Belated birthday greetings and also good luck with the excitement of designing and growing the new garden. There’s lots of possibilities there, can’t wait to see what you do by the pool area.
Thanks, Nicole! —Pam
Very interesting plant combinations. It’s a great landscape.
Aiyana
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Aiyana. It’s an interesting blend of sunny/arid and shady/woodland. —Pam
I love all the stonework in this garden. And it’s always fun to see gardens that are so out of my zone! 🙂 The agave is so sculptural, I love it, but I can’t grow it here. Meanwhile — hey, guess what? I’m nearly 6′ tall, too! (5′ 11 1/2″ barefoot). Thanks for visiting my blog!
~Angela 🙂
You’ve got me beat by 1 1/2 inches, Angela. I don’t run into too many women who are taller than I am. Except my mother. 😉 —Pam
I always love garden tours. And of course I always want plants I can’t grow here. Thanks for sharing.
You are most welcome, Patsi. Thanks for visiting and commenting. —Pam
LOVE the combination of Asian style and Southwest/Texas materials! Thanks for sharing this beautiful garden!
You’re welcome, Mary Beth. Are you planning on going to the San Antonio Open Days tour this weekend? —Pam
My husband and I did the Open Days tour, and in our opinion this garden and the David garden were tops! The two gardens are at opposite ends of the spectrum – the David beauty comes from lots of money and manpower while Fatal Flower gets so much of its beauty from knowing it was lovingly crafted by the homeowners. Did you notice the Japanese metal roof ornaments? They are a great addition to the Asian/Texas theme and just happened to be crafted by my metal artist son Colby Brinkman who lives there in Austin. You should see the wonderful garden gate he did for me. Thanks for letting me get my little commercial in and thanks for the wonderful photos – yours put mine in the shade!
Your comment is a treat, Carol—so full of insightful observations about the two gardens as well as the information about your son’s metalwork. I wanted to link to his website in my comment, but I couldn’t find one for him. Any chance you can email me a photo of your gate? I’d love to see it. —Pam
Update: Here’s a link to metalworker Colby Brinkman’s website.
Pam,
As always your photos are just fantastic! And lucky you to have such beautiful gardens to visit in Austin.
Hope you’re settling in to your new home, too.
Thank you, Chloe, I am. And yes, I feel very lucky to have seen so many lovely gardens here in Austin. —Pam
Chloe
I think one reason we like garden tours is that we can temporarily inhabit a space we could never live in day-to-day. The spikiness of Fatal Flowers might be exhausting to live with and maintain, since one would always have to be careful and on guard, but it was a wonderful place to visit, especially in your company, Pam. I have no space for giant agaves but would love to have those stone walls and beautifully designed gates!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Good “point,” Annie, though I could happily inhabit Fatal Flower indefinitely, and I have a tendency to add spiky plants to my own garden. And, ah, those walls and gates. —Pam
Like Annie, I love those stone walls and unusual gates. Thanks for sharing your visit with us!
I’m glad you enjoyed the tour, Cindy. Does Houston have good garden tours too? —Pam
What a magical garden — I wish it were mine! Thanks for sharing your photos.
Jacqueline
http://www.teleflora.com/flowerblog
It is an amazing space. Thanks for commenting, Jacqueline. —Pam