Who can resist Lucinda Hutson‘s purple casita with mango trim and festive garden? Not me! When Lucinda invited me over last week for a spring garden visit, I happily said yes.

The color-party starts on the alcove-like porch, where grape walls and a deep-rose screen door are accented with floral tiles and sacred hearts.

A David Marsh cabinet displays a tableau of Mexican folk art.

A tiny window makes a perch for a Saint Francis.

And now let’s take a look around the garden. Lucinda fills pots with pansies and ornamental cabbages that last through spring, coordinating with her purple house.

They make a pretty top-down view too.

A froggy birdbath adds more color.

Like the rest of us, Lucinda lost structural plants in recent winters, including a favorite kumquat tree that used to produce tons of fruit. Where it once grew, Lucinda expanded a front patio, and now she has an inviting sitting area to enjoy.

When guests arrive, she tosses tapestry pillows on the metal chairs to add softness and color.

Roses add more softness and color along the front walk.

At one corner of the house, a decorative chair painted purple and lime-green perches in a patch of river fern, alongside tiered pots of pansies.

More pansy faces — color-coordinated with the house — gaze out from a rustic windowbox.

Along the driveway, a raised bed holds vegetables and more purple pansies.

A praying mantis plate decorates the chard bed.

Cabbages and violas in terracotta pots

A head-high stone wall separates the front garden from the back. Perched on top, stone angels and a fish watch over the gate.

View from the other side

Looking back through the arbor-shaded gate

Colorful pansies fill a windowbox here too.

Lucinda recently found an old family urn in her garage and hung it on her greenhouse wall, framed by an ornate wooden picture frame.

Saint Anthony of lost keys stands in a niche along the path.

Lucinda long ago converted the driveway to her detached garage into a raised vegetable garden, built right on top of the old concrete paving. Iron bed frames line one side of a central platform that displays a cobalt pot of chard. Lucinda changes this up each year, and her current plan is to add potted citrus trees when they come out of the greenhouse.

Easy pickings

A potted olive flowers against the purple garage. A yellow floral stencil is new this year.

El Jardin Encantador reads a rustic gate that opens onto the back deck.

It’s party-ready with a Mexican oilcloth-covered sideboard and umbrella-shaded dining table. The wooden structure is Lucinda’s home office.

A curio cabinet displays prayer candles and other treasures.

Colorful stools provide extra seating and coordinate with the oilcloth tables.

The back of the house has a wooden, palapa-style awning.

Lucinda makes every nook and cranny of her small garden into a room to discover. Behind the garage — recently repainted acid green — you find a rustic cedar arbor and tequila tasting table, along with a tequila bottle tree surrounded by discarded corks.

It’s La Lucinda Cantina…

…a good spot for a refreshing glass of wine with a pansy blossom to dress it up.

“Easily distracted by music and tequila,” the signs say. Indeed!

A mariachi pours himself a strong one.

At your feet lies evidence of years of parties, fun with friends, and — what else? — purple heart, the essence of Lucinda’s home and garden.

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Digging Deeper

March 30-31: Come see the Austin Cactus & Succulent Society Show at Zilker Botanical Garden on 3/30 and 3/31, from 10 am to 5 pm. Includes a plant show with specimen cacti and succulents, handcrafted pottery, daily silent auction and hourly plant raffles, and expert advice. Admission is included with paid admission to Zilker Garden, $5 to $8 for adults, $3 to $4 for children (under 2 free).

April 6: Come out to Austin’s Mayfield Park on 4/6 for the Mayfield Park Gardening Symposium & Fundraiser, 8:30 to 11 am. This annual benefit for the park includes a raffle, plant sale, and garden speakers.

May 4: Explore “brilliant backyards, perfect pools and pergolas, and outdoor rooms and gardens” on the ATX Outdoor Living Tour on 5/4, 10 am to 3 pm. Landscape architects, designers, and builders will be on hand to answer questions. Tickets are $33.85 for adults, $17.85 for kids age 10-17.

May 18: On Austin Home’s Great Outdoors Tour, held 5/18 from 10 am to 3 pm, find “Pinterest-worthy pools and outdoor kitchens to thoughtful plantings and stylish urban density solutions.” Tickets are $30.

June 1-2: Take a self-guided, 2-day tour of ponds and gardens in and around Austin on the annual Austin Pond and Garden Tour, held 6/1 and 6/2, 9 am to 5 pm. Tickets are $20 to $25.

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.