Fall anticipation
‘Duchess of Albany’ clematis seedhead
Duchess of Albany’s seedheads are nearly as beautiful as the flowers, though less showy. With whorls of feathery tan “arms,” they look like some sort of sea creature.
It’s been a cruel summer for the garden, but I trust we’re nearing the end of it. Perhaps September’s arrival in a few days will drop us out of the 100-degree-plus temperatures we’ve sweated through for weeks. Maybe it will even rain again one day. I can hope. After all, tomorrow is another day.
Until then, it’s survival of the fittest out there. Overall my garden is holding up pretty well, despite the surprising loss of a few damianitas out by the curb. They are generally as tough as nails, but even they have their limits, it seems. However, the Mexican feathergrass beside them is doing just fine. I’ll probably replace the damianita with new ones come fall. They performed beautifully for years before the trial of this July and August, plus I always got loads of compliments on them during their spring bloom. (Scroll through April 2006 for pictures of its yellow flowers.)
A gorgeous Austin garden from the Brykerwoods neighborhood is featured on the cover of the September 2006 issue of Cottage Living. As soon as I saw the pictures I said to myself, “A Gardens design.” But no, homeowner Deborah Hornickel did it all herself, though she acknowledges receiving free advice from friend James David, founder of Gardens and Austin’s most famous landscape architect. It’s a lovely garden with an air of formality, yet lots of personality. The article mentioned that Hornickel’s garden will be open to visitors on October 21. I hope that this will be the garden tour I wished for last spring—not just expensive landscaping, but inspired gardens designed by or for people who actually love to garden.
The Hornickel garden has been on an Austin Open Days garden tour in years past and, in looking on the Open Days website (it’s an event of the Garden Conservancy; http://www.gardenconservancy.org/opendays/), I see that October 21 is the date of this year’s Austin Open Days tour. James David’s personal garden in Rollingwood is also on the tour again and more than worth the price of admission all by itself. In the past, several of the 5 or 6 gardens on the tour were modest enough not to be too intimidating (but still fabulous to wander through). I heard a rumor that the reason the Austin Open Days tour is held in October is because that is when David’s garden looks its best.
Thanks for the information, Susan. I am there! I’m glad to have the chance to visit David’s garden, after hearing so much about it over the years.
October is just a good month for Austin gardens in general. The first cool fronts arrive, and the garden responds with a flush of blooms. I am so ready for that first cool breeze.
I read this post, then went to the kitchen to put a reminder note on Oct 21st – the Conservation Day notice was already on the calendar, apparently posted in a random moment of efficiency. I’ve been to the gardens of both Deborah Hornickel and James David on previous tours, but would love to see them again. The David garden, with echoes of Tuscany, was overwhelming in size, scope, terrain and sheer amount of huge plants, so it won’t be the normal garden for non-rich people that you are hoping for. Deborah Hornickel’s was small, personal and totally inspiring, but not cheap or funky. At least that’s how I remember them!
Pam, I grew Clematis ‘Duchess of Albany’ in IL, where it was one of my favorites. I’m glad to know it can survive here, too. I should have guessed that a Clematis texensis hybrid might do well in Austin. Did you buy yours locally, or mail order it? When my daughter was young, she and her friend used to beg for me to prune the seed heads and let them play beauty shop with the feathery little ‘wigs’.
Annie
I got that clematis at Natural Gardener in Oak Hill. They recommended it as a clematis that will do well in Austin. Mine blooms beautifully in spring and then a little more in early fall. During the dead of summer it browns up and looks half dead, but it’s really just biding its time. It might not look good alone, but paired with another vine or plant (mine is growing close to an American beautyberry, whose purple berries complement the clematis’s raspberry flowers) its summer crispiness isn’t so noticeable.
Lovely clematis. It looks a bit as if it were designed by Dr. Seuss. Nice to know that at least one does well in Austin.