Jill Nokes’s welcoming garden
The Austin garden bloggers met up on Sunday in the walled gardens of two talented local gardeners: designer and author Jill Nokes and our own Jenny Stocker, whom you may know as Lancashire Rose on her blog, Rock Rose.
I didn’t take an official count, but I think we numbered 17 garden bloggers on this outing, a size that necessitated name tags. It was a much bigger group than when Jill last invited us into her garden, almost two years ago to the day during the Austin bloggers’ first “Ground Robin” meet-up.
Jill’s Hyde Park garden was our first stop on Sunday afternoon. Jill gladly shares her garden, not just with other gardeners but with neighbors and their children, for whom she leaves trinkets for exchange, and with passersby, one of whom was sitting on the curb as we arrived, one of Jill’s conch shells to her ear, listening intently. The garden invites that kind of interaction. Everywhere you look you see small treasures built into the walls, colorful tin milagros on strings turning in the breeze, and a charming mix of colorful perennials and touchable, textural plants.
A lean-on-your-elbows-height rock wall makes a friendly separation between the public, streetside garden, above, and the intimate family garden inside. An arch encrusted with sentimental pieces from Jill’s children’s art projects, fossils, marbles, and small garden statuary beckons you to enter. Berthold Haas constructed the arch for her; you may remember my post about his own shell-encrusted garden, Stone Palms, last October.
A detail from Jill’s wall
Inside the arch, a gravel courtyard next to the screened back porch offers a comfortable space to sit and listen to birdsong from the neighborhood mockingbirds and the pet canary who’s trying to outdo them.
A St. Francis built into the wall welcomes the birds.
Looking left, a perfect circle of lawn draws you into a corner enclosed by two walls and a large anaqua tree, which I’d never heard of.
Many of Jill’s plants are exotics from Mexico, like this Mexican weeping bamboo (Otatea acuminata aztecorum ), which I’d coveted since seeing it towering in a corner of her garden two years ago. She pointed out the most unusual specimens, which would be hard to find in local nurseries; they were given to her over the years from various plantsmen exploring in Mexico or she brought them back herself from her yearly driving trips there.
Most of her plants have stories that remind her of the people who gave them to her. It’s a garden of sentimental favorites and hardy survivors, made for relaxing in with family, not a garden for showing off. It is an utterly comfortable bower of a garden, and I could have sat there listening to the birds sing all day.
Thank you, Jill, for welcoming us into your garden!
Tune in again soon for a look at Jenny’s flower-licious garden.
All material © 2006-2009 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
How nice for all the Austin bloggers to get together. What a beautiful garden Jill has.
It’s so much fun to meet up in person, Janet. But I must point out that this group of 17 wasn’t all of us. There were at least a dozen more who weren’t able to come. I can’t believe how large the group of Austin garden bloggers has become. —Pam
I love the stone arch – I’m considering putting some sort of small grotto into my garden (once I get one!) so I’m really interesting in various types of hardscaping right now. Also – hello, Pam! I recently found your blog and just finished going through the archives. The fiance and I are currently house-hunting and you’ve given me so many ideas for what to do once I get that house and yard (never mind the dog, who will surely have her own ideas about how the yard should be used)… I also have a question, which maybe you can help me with. Everywhere I drive in Austin I see these roadside plantings of plants with long coral-colored flower spikes (they remind me of Blue Elf Aloe flowers) and leaves that look like some sort of grass or yucca… do you know what they are?
Hi, Ann. Thanks for visiting and commenting! That plant you’re seeing is probably red yucca, which is really not a yucca but a Hesperaloe. It’s a Texas native and a tough, long-blooming plant. There’s a variety with yellow flowers too.
Good luck with your house-hunting, and once you have your bit of earth, happy digging! —Pam
What a lovely tribute to Jill’s garden. I have some of the same photos, but different. So interesting how that works. Thanks again for planning everything – I had a delightful day.
You’re welcome. It’s such a good day when the bloggers meet up in beautiful gardens around town. I look forward to seeing your pics too, Diana. —Pam
Sighing with delight…what a wonderful garden and wonderful gardening neighbor she must be! The Berthold Haas arch is fabulous…thank you Pam for sharing your tour with us! g
It was my pleasure, Gail! —Pam
Thanks for the tour. It was beautiful. (-:
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Cindee. —Pam
Red yucca! That’s it. Thanks so much, Pam!
You’re welcome, Ann. —Pam
What a special place! It seems so mysterious in a good way. Thanks for the peek, Pam! I’m sorry I couldn’t make it yesterday but appreciate seeing your photos.
Speaking of photos, CONGRATULATIONS on winning Gardening Gone Wild’s native plant photo contest! And congratulations to East-Side-Patch for his second runner-up photo.
I missed seeing you yesterday, Iris, but maybe next time. I’m glad you enjoyed the virtual visit. And thanks for the congratulations. 😉 —Pam
I am loving this garden especially that archway. My favorite photo is the one of the arch with the flowers in the lower half of the frame – great shot!
Thanks, Phillip. I know you’re a great one for arches and walls in your own garden. They really add so much, don’t they: structure, verticality, a sense of enclosure, and a backdrop for beautiful plants. —Pam
It was great to gather together in that wonderful garden again and to hear Jill Nokes’ tale of how her garden evolved and became an essential part of her neighborhood. Thank you for this lovely post, Pam, a way to revisit Jill’s garden while seeing it through your eyes.
Congratulations on winning the photo contest!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Thanks, Annie. It was a marvelous way to spend a Sunday, with gardening friends in two lovely gardens tended by smart, experienced women who know how to tell a garden’s story. —Pam
OH! I LOVE this house. Anytime someone comes to visit from out of town, I drive them by there. I must have 10,000 pictures of her stone wall. Sigh. And, on a completely different topic, I thought you might find this amusing:
The fifth annual World Naked Gardening Day is this coming Saturday, May 2!
WNGD, which falls on the first Saturday in May, is a global celebration of gardening naturally.
For more about it, visit its web site, http://www.wngd.org/.
What better way to celebrate Beltane than to take part in Mother Gaia’s fertility – skyclad?
Well, well, Mamaholt, that’s an interesting tidbit about WNGD. Are you planning to participate? —Pam
It has been a wonderful experience joining the Austin garden blogger’s group. Not just for the information packed blogs of all bloggers but for the fun gatherings and visits to gardens. Thanks Pam for leading me down another garden path.
My pleasure, Jenny, and thank YOU for leading us down your own garden path. I can’t wait to post pics from your lovely garden tomorrow. —Pam
Hi Pam, what an entrance to a friendly and welcoming garden. The bits of personal mementos makes it even more special than the good design and wonderful plant specimens. Austin has so many garden bloggers, it boggles the mind, and the fact that the numbers continue to grow makes it the garden blogging capital of the world! 🙂
Frances
It certainly boggles my mind, Frances. If we ever got every one of the local garden bloggers together, we could have our own mini-Spring Fling. —Pam
Thank you so much for organizing this event, Pam. Both of the gardens were so inspiring. I was so enthralled by Jill Nokes’ narrative; her knowledge of Central Texas vernacular gardens and natural history are fascinating. And now I have some ideas of incorporating my collection of fossils and odd tidbits into my garden!
That’s one thing about garden visits and tours that I love: collecting ideas for my own garden. I’m glad you joined us, Sue. —Pam
Very cool- I’m waiting to hear all about passalongs that you guys got as they are sure to make me jealous of not being able to attend.
There were a LOT of plants spread out on Jenny’s driveway. I didn’t take any pictures of the plant swap, though I did pick up a few succulents, spuria, Salvia madrensis, and datura. —Pam
I love to tour friend’s gardens! I especially like to see, after the plants of course, what sort of trinkets and hardscaping they desire. Says a lot about their personality just like their house does to me.
Brenda
Yes, it does, Brenda. I enjoy seeing those choices that personalize a garden too. —Pam
Pam, Jill’s garden certainly filled me with ideas, and I can imagine that her circular gathering place just topped off your creative brain thinking about your own circle garden that you are creating. I really appreciate your organizing this gathering of Austin bloggers, and I’m glad you posted those great pics so I can now explain to my friends just how cool her garden was to see. And now that I’ve seen it, I definitely understand your putting the Mexican Weeping Bamboo on your plant list; in fact, it’s now on my must have list as well. I’m thinking I have just the spot!
Isn’t that a great plant? It gets big, but I shoehorned one in anyway. Your garden won’t look like a Whataburger with one of those in it. 😉 —Pam
Jill’s book was like our bible, in my propagation class a few years back. But it’s strictly about Texas natives, so I’m surprised that her garden is full of imports! I’m not a purest myself, but just assumed she would be. I’ve also torn out every magazine article I ever came across, that had pictures of her amazing archway with all it’s embedded treasures. I would love to have a feature something like that!
Hi, Becky. Texas is a big state though, and I’m pretty sure that many of her Mexico plants are also South Texas or West Texas plants. She mentioned that global warming, as well as her protected, central Austin location, have allowed many of these once-tender plants to survive year after year in her garden. —Pam
You’ve taken such beautiful photos, Pam. Thank you for planning another Austin Garden Blogger’s Tour. My how we’ve grown since our first Ground Robin two years ago! I had such a pleasant time visiting with everyone and seeing the amazing gardens.
~Dawn
It was good to see you again, Dawn. I so enjoy these blogger get-togethers. —Pam
I love gardens with a personal touch, like Jill’s. Thanks for sharing it with us. Sounds like a fun afternoon, gardens and garden bloggers, what more could you want? And those are beautiful pictures, as always. I see from the comments that you won GGW’s photo contest? Congrats! I love your photos and think you should try to get them published somewhere.
Gardens and garden bloggers—and I forgot to mention free plants! We held a plant swap in Jenny’s driveway after the tour. A perfect day!
Thanks so much for your kind words about my photos, Carol. It makes me happy to know people enjoy them. —Pam
Pam, you are so lucky to have such inspirational gardeners in your area that are kind enough to share their world with you and others. I so appreciate it when you take us with you to tour other gardens. This one is certainly fantastic.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Lisa. I adore Jill’s garden, and I do feel lucky to live in such a gardening city. —Pam
Oh, how I would have loved to see both these gardens! I need to come work in my sister’s yard, then post about it, so I can qualify as an Austin garden blogger! I’ve seen pictures of Jill’s stone wall before and would love to do something like that in my courtyard. Getting started is the hardest part!
That and paying for it. 😉 Cindy, the next time you’re in town, give me a call and I’ll take you to Jill’s garden. She invited us to drop by anytime and pop in for a look. —Pam
A circle garden! And I love the arch. I’m really in to arches right now. Someone built one at the Flower and Garden show but I missed it on vacation, saw pictures of it in the paper tho’–looked amazing.
Yeah, arches are cool. Jill’s doesn’t even have a gate, so it really is a welcoming, announcing-you’ve-arrived kind of structure. —Pam