It’s peace, love, and plants at Articulture, a creative-cool boutique in far-south Austin that sells living wall art and one-of-a-kind succulent and tillandsia arrangements, as well as fun accent pieces and home goods. In addition, Articulture’s design team creates incredible green-wall installations, the store hosts regular workshops and talks, and its backyard doubles as a beautiful event space.

Every so often I need a unique gift for a garden-loving friend, and I’ll head to Articulture to see what’s new. I don’t think I’ve ever left empty-handed. But first I have to get through the front door, after ogling their gorgeous outdoor planters.

Peek-a-boo!

Inside, I’ll slowly make my way around the room, studying each plant “picture.”

Here, art doesn’t imitate life but comes to life.

And always with a playful South Austin vibe. What a fun place!

Thomas Rainer to speak in Austin; seats still available

By the way, there are 4 seats left for Thomas Rainer’s Garden Spark presentation on September 19th at 8 pm in northwest Austin. It’s crazy that this talk has not sold out already. Rainer is a thought leader in his field and a sought-after speaker. Read his interview in the NY Times, where he says:

“The big shift in horticulture in the next decade will be a shift from thinking about plants as individual objects to communities of interrelated species. We think it’s possible to create designed plant communities: stylized versions of naturally occurring ones, adapted to work in our gardens and landscapes. This is not ecological restoration, it’s a hybrid of ecology and horticulture. We take inspiration from the layered structure in the wild, but combine it with the legibility and design of horticulture.”

And this:

“So many garden books focus on what to plant, but so few focus on how to arrange plants to fit together in ecological combinations. When we fit our plants together like a tight jigsaw puzzle, the maintenance goes way, way down.”

If you have any interest in green design or urban ecology or, heck, less maintenance in your garden, don’t miss this talk. Email me for the event page link.

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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.