Wildflower Center pulls plug on spring garden tour; fall tours land on same date
First the bad news for avid attendees of Austin garden tours: our city has lost one of its best-known and highly regarded garden tours, the annual springtime Gardens on Tour, which benefits the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. According to Director of Horticulture Andrea DeLong-Amaya, the tour, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last May, has folded for a couple of reasons: organizing it took too much time for a staff stretched thin, and it wasn’t bringing in enough money to make it worth the effort. The latter reason troubles me because I’ve always thought Austin to be very supportive of its gardening community, and I worry that this indicates a lack of interest. Could that really be the case in a city that keeps a number of top-notch independent nurseries in business, is the birthplace of the award-winning, long-running PBS TV show Central Texas Gardener, and has hatched more garden blogs than any other city in the world?
But now for the good news — sort of. Two well-known garden tours will be held in Austin this fall. Unfortunately they will be held on the exact same day, October 17. The doubling up means I’ll have to miss one of them because (drum roll) my own garden will be open that day on tour! The Travis County Master Gardeners Association invited me last fall to be on their Inside Austin Gardens Tour — “a tour for gardeners, by gardeners” — which is held every 18 months, varying between spring and fall. I was delighted to accept, and a bit nervous because I’ve never participated in a garden tour before. Wish me luck!
After a three-year hiatus, the Austin Open Days tour benefiting the Garden Conservancy will be back too, which is happy news for eager tour-goers, although I do wish it were scheduled for a different date. Open Days is Austin’s toniest garden tour, with an assortment of high-end designer gardens, and I’ll be sorry to miss it.
But enough whining. It’s wonderful to have two tours even happening. I’ve attended all three of these garden tours for nearly a decade, excited to visit some of the most interesting gardens in Austin, meet a tribe of fellow garden lovers, and learn much about design from each garden on tour. It’s truly a privilege to be invited into someone’s personal garden. It takes months of primping and fluffing to get a garden ready for tour, a willingness to open a personal space to the public, an acceptance that there may be critiques from opinionated visitors and, yes, bloggers, and, perhaps most important, a desire to share one’s creation with others. And then there’s all the work required by volunteer organizers and tour-day helpers! I know I’ve taken Austin’s many tours for granted over the years, but our loss of Gardens on Tour will, I hope, remind me to be especially grateful each time I buy a ticket and hop in the car on tour day.
After all, tours are an essential part of Austin’s vibrant gardening culture. They’re inspirational, showing what can be accomplished in a difficult gardening climate, perhaps with a high-end budget but also with just a lot of sweat equity and patience from the homeowner. They’re educational, teaching new gardeners what grows well here and giving experienced gardeners new ways of looking at familiar plants, not to mention a wealth of design ideas. Most of all, they give us glimpses of beauty, of someone’s personal eden, of well-designed and lovingly tended spaces that reflect the unique challenges of the site and tastes of the owner. For those who love plants and design, there’s nothing better than exploring a personality infused, beautiful garden. Neither books nor blogs can ever take the place of seeing a garden in person, walking its paths, touching its plants, and absorbing the complexity of the whole space.
And so as I mourn Austin’s loss of Gardens on Tour, I offer gratitude for the various tours we still have — and my thanks to all the hard-working people who make them happen. And if you’re interested in seeing my garden in real life I hope you’ll mark your calendar for Saturday, October 17, and attend the Inside Austin Gardens tour to see what one overscheduled but avid gardener has done with her little patch of Austin.
Photos are from various Austin tours. From top, Kathy Cove Garden; garden of Christine Ten Eyck; East Side Patch garden of Philip Leveridge; garden of Ann and Robin Matthews; garden of Carolyn and Michael Williams.
All material © 2006-2015 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
This is beautifully written about garden tours. They do take a lot of work but it is such fun to have a garden tour…while I think it is more fun to attend I do appreciate all the work involved. I wish there were more tours in my area. One thing about living in a rural area that I don’t especially like, few garden tours.
That is one plus about living in a city, Lisa. I absolutely love garden tours and travel around the state to attend them — and the country for the Garden Bloggers Fling. Hope to see you at another Fling soon. —Pam
Pam,
I am excited to be able to see your garden in person this fall. I have followed you for years online viewing your wonderful garden and beautiful photographs of other gardens.
Malcolm
Abilene,TX
That’s a long drive for a tour, Malcolm. I’m flattered! I hope my garden doesn’t disappoint and look forward to meeting you. —Pam
How exciting to have your garden open to visitors so they too can experience the spaces in person. Brave, too. I would most certainly NOT remain calm and unperturbed if I overheard criticism from tour goers or read blog snipes either one. I’d have to be physically restrained and any visitors on site would likely be treated to a series of green-related epithets.
That’s not an active worry however. My spaces function more as cautionary tale than exemplars for garden grooviness.
Here’s hoping the hard freeze last night was considerate of your upcoming obligations!
A cautionary tale — I so enjoy your wry sense of humor, Deb. 🙂 I’m not going to worry about the weather until late February rolls around. At least this is my goal. Mainly I’m hoping for a normal summer with occasional rain. —Pam
Congrats, how exciting! I always look forward to seeing your garden.
Thanks, Laura. 🙂 —Pam
Enjoy this exciting time! Your garden is already fabulous but I’m sure you will take it to new heights this year…nothing gets you going like the anticipation of company!
So true, Marian. I hope I don’t spend a fortune fluffing. I already had a few projects planned, and now I’ll be kicking it into high gear to get them done. —Pam
That is fabulous news Pam. It will likely be the first of many. You have planned and executed a wonderful garden which showcases how to plant for impact and minimum fuss, with native plants, in a difficult climate. I love garden tours and was sad to learn of the Wildflower Center dropping this fund raiser. I guess it is hard for us to conceive of how much time and energy goes into such a production. I thought it was just the gardener!
You are very kind, Jenny. Whether this is the first or last one ever will depend on how the experience goes, I think. And yes, there’s a LOT of work for the planners, not just the gardeners, as I’ve seen with the Garden Bloggers Fling. —Pam
I could be wrong but I would say the fling is a much bigger challenge with gardens, restaurants, lunches, transportation buttons, hotels and costs. I would be interested to know how much money they think is not enough. I used to get the figures but never thought much about it. Maybe they had to pay on site staff for a day’s work.
That is disappointing news since I was looking forward to attending the excellent Gardens on Tour for years to come. The return of the Open Days goes a long way toward making up for the loss. Having two tours on the same day will be a challenge and at least it’s a different date from tour day in San Antonio so I can plan to head to Austin to see as many gardens as possible!
I’m excited you’ve agreed to have your garden on tour, your easy gardening style with great plant choices should be a hit.
Thanks, Shirley. When is the San Antonio tour, and which one is it? —Pam
It’s the Water Saver Tour and is usually held on the first Saturday in October though the 2015 date has not been announced yet and the only tour in town. The focus is on replacing lawn with watersaving landscape. I will either open my garden for the tour or volunteer at another garden that day.
I really wanted to attend that tour last year but was in Dallas. Maybe this year, especially if your garden is on it, Shirley. —Pam
Your garden should be great for a tour. You’ve done a wonderful job. And, you have a path completely around the area (a goal of mine). So, no tramping on anything….maybe.
Looking forward to the tour.
Sorry about the Wildflower Center tour being cancelled. Although I prefer the gardens by gardeners tours, I did enjoy the Gardens on Tour.
I do love having a circuitous path around my garden, Linda. I rarely sit down in it, but I always enjoy strolling. —Pam
Oh my goodness, oh my goodness…I CAN’T WAIT!!!!
Congrats, Pam 🙂
I get to meet Moby!
His flukes are flapping in excitement just thinking about it, Heather. 😉 —Pam
Judging by what you have shared of your garden on your blog, you have nothing to worry about. I’ve been on two tours, and it was a great excuse to get around to many of those nagging little things that I meant to have taken care of ages ago. The tour I worried most about included many of my co-workers and my boss, but there was nothing but support, especially after I opened the cooler.
I bet your garden was the hit of the tour, Les, especially with a stocked cooler. 🙂 —Pam
Sad news about the tour, it’s always disappointing to read something like this.
I didn’t realize you hadn’t opened your garden for a tour before, you were so encouraging for me to open mine for the Fling, it sounded like you were an old pro!
I’m an old pro at touring gardens, Loree. Does that count? Naturally I encouraged you. I wanted to see it again. 😉 —Pam
I’m so happy I discovered garden blogs and have been a follower for several months. Such inspiration! My two grown children and I have made the Gardens on Tour a tradition on Mother’s Day for many years and will mourn its passing along with you. Thank you for the good news about your garden being open for touring in the fall. I look forward to seeing it.
Thanks, Nancy! I hope you can make it. —Pam
It is a disappointment to hear that the spring tour has been cancelled, Pam! I understand their reluctance to do it, though. I’m sorry I’ll never get to experience it now. Good news about your garden, though. Quite an honor!
Thanks, Susan. Maybe you can make it to Austin for the fall tours? —Pam
Ooh, keep reminding me of that date. I want to see all the gardens. 🙂 Good luck getting ready for the tour. I’m doing the same here for a spring tour, even though I swore to never agree to one again after the Xeriscape Garden tour (remember them?) that I was on back in 1996. It is a lot of work and more importantly, stress. But for me it’s been the kick in the pants I needed to finish up some hardscaping work, so I agreed to it. Now both of us will have to depend on the weather gods to be nice to our gardens!
I’ll do more promotion of the tour, Jean, no worries. 🙂 And good luck with your spring tour! Here’s hoping winter is gentle to your garden and summer is gentle to mine. —Pam
Great post, and congrats on your own place being on tour…may be worth another spin there. Since I easily survived 3 tours in 2 years, even a few toxic types in the mix we had to handle, yours will be a breeze!
You have little to whine over losing 1 tour! ATX must have far more cultural / garden venues than 2 much larger cities I’ve lived in, let alone my last 20+ years. The WF Ctr did a great job…worth my 680 mile drive there. I’m thankful I got to savor 2 of those tours in person, including my last as one of your passengers!
Now, on to your many other tours, nurseries that put great plants front and center (instead of hiding them in back), and so on. But design work, first…
Phew — 3 tours in 2 years? That’s a lot, David. I’m impressed by your generosity and fortitude. Hope you make it to Austin for the fall tours. —Pam
Too bad about the spring WFC tour. I organized the Dallas open Days tour for 6 years, but in 2007 the director of the Open Days program fired me because our numbers were too low and I designed the tour for ordinary people and their gardens rather than estate gardens. Subsequent attempts to revive it with estate gardens have been less than a roaring success, becoming mostly a tour of clients’ gardens of whichever designer is running it that year. We still have the water department’s xeriscape tour and the MG tour, so all is not lost. I am looking forward to coming down in October to see your garden on tour! Hooray!
Tours change in direction all the time, it seems, but I’m sorry to hear you had a negative experience, Peter. I’ve been to two Dallas Open Days tours, in 2011 and 2012, and thought both had a very nice balance of gardeners’ gardens and estate/designer gardens. At any rate, it sounds like Dallas has quite a lot of different tours, which is great news for your city. Hope to see you again here in October for Austin’s MG tour! —Pam