A collector’s garden of rare palms and cactus
Amber and Jason Schoneman, owners of garden design biz Dwarf Palmetto Design, nurture a fascination with palms, cactus, and other low-water plants. Avid collectors, they know the provenance of every plant in their garden. They also propagate plants for their private plant sales. In short, they are self-described plant nerds, and they’ve turned their front and back yard in Austin’s Onion Creek neighborhood into a xeriscape garden of fringy palms, comb-leaved cycads, spiny dyckia and cactus, and flowering perennials. I had the pleasure of meeting them for a tour earlier this month.
Xeriscape front garden
In a neighborhood of mostly standard front lawns, Jason and Amber’s garden stands out for its bristling flora that embrace the heat and sunshine of a Texas summer. Golden barrel cactus, dyckias, aloes, yuccas, prickly pear, cycads, salvias, and ladyfinger cactus mingle with no lawn in sight.
For comparison, here’s how it looked before they got to work ripping out sod and foundation plants — perfectly ordinary and forgettable.
Today it’s a dynamic, textural, waterwise garden. These ladyfinger cacti (Echinocereus pentalophus), which Jason and Amber use like a groundcover, are new to me.
In spring, they cover themselves with screaming-pink flowers. Amber shared this photo with me, and wow! People stop their cars to stare during the flowering season, they told me, which lasts a few weeks.
From the house, bushy cycads, yuccas, palmettos, and prickly pears provide some privacy from the street. The handsome, upright cycad in the center is Dukou cycad, or Panzihua sago palm (Cycas panzhihuaensis).
Queen Victoria agave is a cold-hardy beauty that needs excellent drainage, which a rock garden provides.
It’s like a pinstriped bloomin’ onion!
‘Sandia Glow’ hesperaloe offers a deeper red flower than the standard red yucca.
The silvery hue of Dyckia platyphylla caught my eye. I was surprised when Jason told me their dyckias have proven winter hardy over the last few challenging years. I lost almost all of my dyckias to deep freezes. Jason and Amber must enjoy a warmer microclimate, or they have better drainage, which helps dry-loving plants survive cold weather.
Overhead view of this gorgeous dyckia
A Mexican dwarf blue palm (Brahea decumbens) presides over the right side of the garden, with dwarf Texas palmettos lurking behind, in the shade of an enormous yaupon holly.
Nicely pruned up yaupon hollies and sabal palmettos
More sabals
Jason is proud of this rare cycad, Cycas panzhihuaensis x debaoensis. Its fringy fronds look tropical, but it survived even Snowpocalypse by dying back to the ground and resprouting.
Sonoran palmetto (Sabal uresana) keeps it company. I believe Jason told me he bought it from the John Fairey Garden in Hempstead.
Queen butterfly resting on cactus spines
Yellow bells still flowering in November
Backyard garden
Stepping into the back garden, I was greeted by a lemon-lime ‘Quadricolor’ agave in a green pot.
The large backyard is completely planted up with palms, hesperaloe, potted cactus, and other dry-loving plants.
Gravel garden with potted cacti
Another Queen Victoria agave caught my eye.
That symmetry
Golden barrel cactus with a crown of spent flowers
A closer look
Graceful ‘Lavender Lady’ mangave
Along the back fence, a potted blue nolina, dyckias, and young Argentine saguaros hold court.
Dyckia ‘Brittle Star’ hybrid
Blue barrel cactus (Ferocactus glaucescens) is matched nicely with a yellow pot.
Blue barrels
Amber and Jason have a collection of sansevieria — not winter-hardy but can be left outdoors all summer.
Cryptanthus ‘Thriller’ too
Large live oaks spread their canopy over one side of the garden, allowing the couple to grow shade-loving plants.
A number of palms thrive here too.
Chusan hardy windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei ‘Wagnerianus’)
The Chusan’s fan-like leaf
Dwarf rock palm (Brahea moorei) is maybe my favorite of their palms.
That blue coloring!
A closeup
Here’s another unusual one: Cycas revoluta X debaoensis.
Check out those long, arching fronds.
A cedar trellis with blue bottles supports a vine along the fence.
In the side yard, Jason and Amber grow cactus and aloes for their home nursery.
Other new plants are potted up in the shade of the trees.
It’s fun to see what serious plant collectors like Jason and Amber are into. They’re growing all sorts of plants I’d never encountered and wouldn’t have thought hardy here in Austin. Just goes to show, you never know until you try. Thanks for the tour, Amber and Jason!
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Wow, this is my kind of garden. I love everything you showed us. I think I’ll try to use my Echinocereus pentalophus as a ground cover.
I actually thought of you when I was touring this garden, Gerhard. I knew it would be right up your alley.
It’s really a fantastic plant!
Jason and Amber have created a gorgeous garden! Wowsa, thank you for the tour. I’m so jealous they’re able to grow Agave victoriae-reginae in the ground, it’s one of my favorites and we’re just a little too cold (and a lot too wet).
It’s a beauty for sure. I had one in the ground for a while, but it eventually succumbed to a wet spring. But I think Jason and Amber definitely know what they’re doing.
Thanks! They are magnificent…planted small and have thrived in the Texas heat.
Wow, what a wonderful obsession. I really like the way they have them integrated into their lot.
Yes, it all looks wonderful.
Thanks!
Gorgeous! They must have done more for drainage than just rocks, given some of the plants they have. Many would never work in my soil without serious changes! (Or pots, with the right soil in the first place.)
We talked about their soil a little. They are happy with the native soil, not too clayey but plenty deep, and with good drainage.
Hey Linda, we haven’t done anything to our soil except give it mulch and compost every two years. We are able to add to the overall excellent drainage of our Southern clay loam soil.
OMG, I’m so jealous!!! Cycads, zamias, & non trunking palms have been my solution for the frozen evergreen backbone in my back well drained shade bed, but I’ve had zero luck tracking down any of these Braheas at affordable sizes & prices. I am eagerly awaiting the day when my Cycad panzhihuaensis looks this good!
I’ll be interested to see yours next time I’m over!
Yes, we grew them from seed. It was slow…we are very patient gardeners.
Cool! Love those palmettos under the yaupon hollies. They must have some special magic with their soil since so many of those plants I’d be afraid to try even in Central Texas. Please find out the secret to their soil! 🙂
We talked about their soil a little. They are happy with the native soil, not too clayey but plenty deep, and with good drainage. I hope they’ll pop over to the comments to share more since there’s a lot of interest!
Dwarf Palmettos are spectacular coupled with the Yaupons. Two evergreen gems of Central Texas.
No magic to our soil except for geography and living in an ideal ecoregion.
THIS IS FABULOUS!!! Would love to see how everything fares/looks in the doldrums of February- can you wrangle a return invite then? Also wondering if/what/how they cover during nightmares like Snowpocolypse (why does that spelling look wonky?)
Anyway, hooray for them! It’s wonderful!
I hope they might pop in to this chat to talk about how and what they protect during deep freezes, since we seem to be having them more and more. Clearly they’ve figured out the secret!
Good question, things do look different in February, but not for 80% of our palms. We try to cover plants deemed cold sensitive with frost cloth and did cover majority of our plants during Snowpocalypse.
Love those blue barrels in the chartreuse pot!
A great plant-pot pairing.
Matching beautiful plants with complimentary pots is fun!
Yes! This is a dramatic and engaging garden, much better than what they started with. They must be thrilled with the beautiful results. Loved finding out about that Echinocereus. I would stop and stare when it was in bloom too!
I’ll have to try to get back over there next spring to see them flowering.
Echinocereus pentalophus is a true gem! Cold hardy, drought tolerant, and doesn’t mind a little extra water for a cacti.