Visiting the garden of Lori Daul, aka The Gardener of Good and Evil, on a cool spring afternoon gives me a case of the blues. But the blues are moody only in hue, not in spirit! Lushly planted with Texas-tough plants, her suburban South Austin garden is a serene yet playful hideaway where kitschy pink flamingos cavort amid the greenery. A wooden fence stained stormy blue makes every plant pop. Blue accents like upturned bottles on an arching mesquite limb carry the color scheme throughout the garden.

I often think of Lori’s garden as being flowery because she used to grow lots of pink roses. But over the years she’s replaced many of the fussy, sun-loving roses with evergreens that add Mediterranean-style silvers (agave, olive, ‘Silver King’ artemisia), shade-loving burgundies (loropetalum, oxalis, purple heart), and golds (variegated yucca and agave) for year-round color.

Lori uses stock tanks to elevate dry-loving plants like this whale’s tongue agave. Over time surrounding plants, like ‘Silver King’ artemisia and heartleaf skullcap, have hidden the planters.

Gold-edged swords of container-planted ‘Quadricolor’ agave (foreground), a trunking yucca (Y. gloriosa? at right), and yucca (or beschorneria? at left) contrast with soft, feathery perennials.

Pink-flowering Mexican buckeye complements the burgundy leaves of loropetalum.

Lori lost one of her two mesquite trees — they don’t really love sharing space with more-tended plants, preferring neglect — but made lemonade out of that loss by accenting a garden bed with a large branch. The log looks natural amid a cushion of flowering oxalis.

The view from her covered back porch shows how it all fits together. A wide strip of lawn serves as a path and as a calm rest for the eye amid the densely planted garden.

Over the years, Lori has tried out various water features in this bed just off the back porch. The current incarnation is a simple vessel lined with river stones.

A restful choice

A small prickly pear — Bunny Ears, perhaps? — dotted with clusters of white glochids (tiny spines) appears to be blooming. But the crepe-petaled flowers are pink evening primrose growing behind it.

Another view of the water bowl and surrounding garden

Another nearly hidden stock tank in that bed elevates a collection of dry-loving succulents and annual bluebonnets.

Large limestone pavers lead from the back porch to an 8- or 10-foot stock-tank pond, with a blue chair at the ready for sitting and feeding the goldfish.

In the center of the pond sits a vessel that once served as the basin for a disappearing water feature. I like the way Lori repurposes objects in her garden.

She also has a thing for face planters. Two half-faces make a focal point in a grassy bed near the pond.

A lilac-painted bench — formerly a swinging bench, I think — overlooks the pond. Purple heart and ghost plant continue the purple theme.

Lori grows blackberries in her side yard and was figuring out how to espalier it in the narrow space.

A bit of Goth decor — a grinning skull — accents an herb bed.

More face planters and a cobalt birdbath add interest near the back porch.

Lori’s garden is small, but it lives much larger because of the curving lines that draw the eye around densely planted beds, inviting exploration of areas that you cannot see all at once.

Tucked in a foundation bed, a ceramic disappearing fountain — blue of course — attracts birds with a bubbler of water and a shallow basin.

Circling back around to the whale’s tongue agave and flamingo paradise.

What a fascinating garden Lori has created, moody but fun loving.

If you have plants on the brain, as this face planter does…

…you can’t help reflecting on how to incorporate some of Lori’s ideas into your own garden retreat.

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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!

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