Paperwhites and palmettos at Lady Bird Lake

January 09, 2019

A post-holiday hoof around Lady Bird Lake reveals some beautiful surprises, like a spring-fresh cluster of paperwhites in bloom.

Inside the Pfluger Bridge Circle, designed by Christine Ten Eyck (my next Garden Spark speaker!)*…

…I smiled to see this native palmetto playing a piano. What? Nah, it’s just shadow lines on a limestone slab bench.

But check out those jazz hands.

This is one of my favorite spots along the lake, a resting place encircled by the trail, overlooking the water, and filled with greenery.

It’s a place to fall in love with Austin all over again.

*Even with a new larger location, my upcoming Garden Spark talk featuring Christine Ten Eyck has sold out in 48 hours. Subscribe today and you’ll get notifications of ticket sales for future talks on garden design. View the 2019 season here.

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Digging Deeper

Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and ask to be added. Season 8 kicks off in fall 2024. Stay tuned for more info!

All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

Architecture, Bulbs/Rhizomes, Lakes, Palms/Cycads, Parks/Greenbelts, Rock, Seating, Texas natives, Vines, Winter color

6 responses to “Paperwhites and palmettos at Lady Bird Lake”

  1. Nell says:
    January 9, 2019 at 3:05 PM

    Not surprised to learn your Garden Spark with Ten Eyck filled up in a hurry! But super surprised somehow to see paperwhite Narcissus blooming outside; what a delight, and much less overpowering than they can be indoors. Shoots of the earliest daffs now an inch or two above the soil here, so first color should arrive in about a month.

    Love, love, love that piano-playing palmetto. Thanks to binge-watching Howard Goodall videos over the holidays, I’m primed to hear it give a little explanation of how the minor third works — only in a Texas accent rather than HG’s posh BBC one.

  2. Lisa at Greenbow says:
    January 10, 2019 at 4:45 PM

    A piano playing palmeto. You do have an imagination girl! Made me smile.

  3. Pam's English Garden says:
    January 12, 2019 at 9:56 AM

    Love those jazz hands, Pam. Enjoyed this walk immensely. P. x