Visit to The Garden Gate in Houston
While in Houston last month for the Houston Open Days tour, my friend Diana and I stopped in at The Garden Gate, a small nursery that specializes in classical statuary, fountains, Provencal pottery, and French antiques and gifts, located on Morningside Drive in the tony West U area near Rice University, my alma mater.
The Garden Gate has an appealing mix of plants and decor. Look! A bust of Shakespeare for the literary gardener.
A wisteria-covered arbor offers shade on hot summer days.
The plant selection is not large—and plants are presented more as decorative accessories for an attractive outdoor living space than as elements of an actual garden—but there are some interesting and fun “pieces,” like this living wreath of bromeliads.
A butter-yellow fairy face makes a charming wall fountain spigot on a vine-covered wall.
Need pot feet? The Garden Gate carries all kinds, along with finials.
Their selection of classical garden statuary is huge, and very Houston.
I like this sweet lion. Doesn’t he look a bit sad, as if he’s just been scolded for tracking in mud? Bad lion!
Many of the houses in this part of Houston have tiny, live oak-shaded lots, with stucco walls for privacy and security. This nursery sells all the items you’d need to outfit your walled courtyard garden, including fountains for formal ponds.
Quite a few ponds and fountains are squeezed into the nursery’s intimate display yard, offering inspiration for the well-heeled courtyard.
Inside, antique French Country furnishings are for sale as well.
This specialty nursery is well worth a visit if you are into French or classical style, need a pretty wall fountain, or want ideas for a formal pond. At the register you’ll find plenty of household gifts with a French theme as well. Viva la jardin!
Update February 2014: I’ve just learned that The Garden Gate has permanently closed, sold and torn down to make way for a new condominium.
All material © 2006-2012 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Thanks for the lovely tour, Pam. Very elegant and other-worldly! That Bacchus/Dionysus fountain statue, alone, with the ‘wine’ drips and moss is worth the trip. I’m thinking my old zinc bathtub water feature and my ancient red wagon filled with succulents would quite possibly not fit in here, however. 🙂 Nice to enjoy a different perspective.
Yes, I agree, Sandy. Most of this is too formal for my style, but it all seems beautifully made. I enjoyed looking at it. —Pam
I could get into so much trouble there!
You have the perfect garden for these accents, Phillip. I can see the sad lion in your garden for sure. He needs a good home! —Pam
When the next door neighbor moved out, she left behind a two-foot cement garden statue of lady in a flowing gown carrying a pot…kind of greek-ish. I wouldn’t say she’s formal though…I’ve propped her up on a cinderblock! Classy, right? Ba ha ha ha!
I inherited a hand-carved stone panther in my very first garden in Austin. Now that was a find! 😉 —Pam
What a cool place! I want that Shakespeare bust! I love the lion too, whoever made the mold for him got a great expression onto his face. Places like this, which don’t specialize in plants, are a nice change from the usual parade of nurseries that most gardeners go to.
It’s rare to find a nursery or garden-related store that doesn’t offer something of interest. I enjoy visiting all kinds, don’t you? —Pam
What a cute little store. I think I’m rather in love with that lion… I’ve been waiting to find ‘the one’ statue for my garden, and that lion is the closest thing to it I’ve seen. Too bad he’s all the way in Houston!
Yes, that’s a bit far from Raleigh. And can you imagine the shipping charge? —Pam
Oui! Vive le jardin!! Very pretty Pam, however, I’ve grown to love the cattle wire and drainage pipe chic of your Austin gardens.
Ha! Yes, I do love those cast-off construction materials. There’s just something about galvanized steel in the garden… —Pam
Such a lovely garden center. I love the statuary. The photos give me ideas for adding some more yard art to my garden. I had never seen pot feet…a new must-have for my container gardens.
Pot feet are wonderful for improving a pot’s drainage and keeping a wooden deck from rotting if you have containers on it. I love them! —Pam
Sweet! Seems like a great destination and a source of some wonderful hardscape ideas. If I lived closer, I would check it out!
Yes, it was a fun place to poke around. I saw several things I would like to have had, but they were a little dear for my budget. —Pam
I would go broke if I lived anywhere near here. Wonderful items. I love that big finial behind the Bard.
Lots of lovelies here. But yes, it would be easy to go broke on them. 😉 —Pam