Back to the garden of good and evil
My friend Lori of The Gardener of Good and Evil is always in the middle of a project. I don’t know how she finds the time and energy after working on other people’s gardens all day, but Lori leaps into projects in all seasons, never shying away from doing the hard work herself. Which means there’s always something new to see when visiting her garden, as I did in early May.
This extra-large face planter bristling with ‘Quadricolor’ agaves and foxtail fern isn’t new, but I always stop to admire it. The round mirror surrounded by apricot roses against the blue-stained fence is beautiful too.
That planter is part of a deep, undulating bed running along the fence. A big whale’s tongue agave sits high in a stock-tank planter — a queen on her throne — in the deepest section. From this angle the agave is framed by an arching limb of an old mesquite tree, which Lori adorned with blue bottles.
All hail the Queen
This cactus planter she laughingly calls d*ckhead. Pink evening primrose was still blooming in early May.
Silver saw palmetto and ‘Red Dragon’ knotweed (Persicaria microcephala ‘Red Dragon’), both lovely against the deep-blue fence
A stock-tank round-up with agaves riding high amid lush groundcovers
Here’s a sneak peek of her latest project: a welded steel wall along the back property line to screen a future multi-story development. She constructed the wall herself — yes, she welds — and is now experimenting with an abstract mural for color and depth.
Correction from Lori: “I had help with the welding part of it. Wayyyy too big of a project to handle myself! We used really thin, flexible 4×8′ sheets of metal, and they each weighed 70 lbs. and didn’t want to sit flat, so it took three people just to get them all lined up and clamped down flat. Megan from Matriarc did the actual welding since it’s super tricky welding thin sheets to thick bar without melting through the sheets. She’s awesome and a badass. They prebuilt the frames in their shop over by Mueller.”
Thanks for that correction and the info about Megan’s work, Lori!
It’s a hint of the Blue Ridge Mountains, to my eyes.
Giant papyrus against those moody blues
Prickly pear and more blues
Poor Yorick holds the gate open as you head into the front garden.
Danger! No, it’s only a rattlesnake garden sculpture. Lifelike though. I like how Lori has placed him in a circle of stone.
More circles upon circles: stock-tank pond, waterlily leaves, floating steel spheres, and poppy seedheads
Poppies gone to seed are just as good as poppies in bloom.
More ‘Red Dragon’ persicaria — love! I’ve tried it, but it never lasts for me.
Another water feature, hidden from view, with a simple copper spout spilling water over wire-stemmed maidenhair fern. Lori commits to a certain lushness, turning her garden into a water-trickling oasis even in the depths of summer. It’s a magic trick, and she’s one creative magician.
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Digging Deeper
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Totally my taste as well. Love it.
Glad you enjoyed the tour, Karin!
Love the welded steel wall!. The cactus planter is aptly named.
Isn’t it? 😉
I absolutely love the view in the second photo, “framed by an arching limb of an old mesquite tree”. (I’m surprised at how much I like the blue bottles on the top; it looks great).
The ‘Blue Ridge’ mural is stunning, everything about it is amazing: as a calm background to the plants and as a stand alone, it encases that part of the garden beautifully!
She’s got a wonderful eye for pulling everything together with color.
That second photo is my favorite also. That limb with the blue bottles arcing over that agave sitting up regally by itself even though surrounded by other plants – awesome! Hahah, those bottles – I can’t believe how much I love that arrangement. I have always looked askance at those blue bottle trees. Just not my thing. This is the first use of them I have seen that I am thinking, “Yes!”. They add just the right punch to that scene.
That metal wall that she has painted in blues – a great addition. Besides blocking out the building, it adds such interest to the garden. And I love those poppy seed heads – I agree, they are just as good as the blooms. I have always loved their shape.
And how on earth does she keep Maidenhair Fern? I used to try it here in Houston but gave up. To me, it’s the loveliest fern of all, and so dainty. I tried it in my younger years. Maybe I should give it another go. And while I am chasing unicorns, I might as well try growing Baby Tears also!!! But no, I have progressed to the point where I refuse to have any plants that require too much fussing over. I’ll content myself with photos of such lovelies.
I think it’s likely the maidenhair fern is growing with feet in the water, or at least right on the edge. That’s how it grows in the wild at places like Hamilton Pool — dripped on by trickling water.
I feel your pain! So my secret is that I have the maidenhair in a cloth planter and it’s set just next to the above ground vessel that the fountain spills into (hidden below ground basin), so it’s watered solely by splash. It doesn’t like wet feet, but it likes splash. I have never been able to keep it alive any other way! This is also how I manage to not kill Kimberley Queen, Tiger fern, and Boston fern.
Thanks for sharing how you grow this fern, Lori!
What an interesting garden. I love the wildness of it and all the little touches with the statuary and planters. I do cringe, though, whenever I see a mirror in a garden. To us they’re cute and bring light and interest into a garden, but birds don’t know that opening in the fence or wall is not an opening, and fly full speed into it, with horrible consequences.
‘Red Dragon’ persicaria. I have that growing profusely year after year. I was glad to find the name here. It grows well in shade. I’m about to pull some out if you would like to try it again.
I would take you up on your generous offer, Alice, if it weren’t going to be 105 F for the foreseeable future. Gah!
[…] through the South Austin neighborhood where my friend Lori lives, I passed this exuberant, tropical-style front garden. I immediately swung around and lurked […]
That combo of ‘Quadricolor’ agaves and foxtail fern is so unexpected (by me at least) and so good! As is the new wall, with it’s blue abstract. Someday maybe I’ll get to see Lori’s garden…
Sharp and soft. It’s a good combo. And yes, you must come back to Austin to see Lori’s garden!
So I love this garden! Such interesting vignettes and gives me great ideas… I’m wondering if you could tell us tricks and techniques that the gardeners use to keep it watered without spending all your gardening time doing it! I struggle with that all the time.
That’s a good question for individual gardeners. Perhaps Lori will see your question and offer her tips. For myself, I do the following*:
1. No planting between May 1 and October 1 except for agaves, yuccas, etc. I don’t always follow my own rule here, but I scold myself when I don’t — because then I’m going to spend every minute trying to keep a tender new plant alive during hot weather.
2. Choose plants that are heat- and dry-tolerant for your region.
3. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. When redoing sections of the garden, keep it relatively small so you can establish a manageable number of plants before adding more.
4. If you don’t have an irrigation system, run soaker hoses through your beds, cover them lightly with mulch, and set them on a timer for a deep soak on your watering day.
5. Train established plants by watering deeply and less often.
6. Mulch with 1-2 inches of hardwood mulch to keep soil and roots moist, keeping mulch away from trunks and main stems. For dry-loving plants like yucca, agave, hesperaloe, etc., use gravel as mulch.
*My advice comes from my experience as a Central Texas gardener. Other regions will of course have different strategies, especially about when to plant.