When April’s roses unfurl their soft petals, Lucinda Hutson whips up a batch of Purple Passion cocktails (dry gin, fresh lemon juice, and crème de violette liqueur), assembles garden-fresh hors d’oeuvres, and invites her friends over to enjoy the spring spectacle.

I count myself very fortunate to have been invited to partake. Her front-yard cottage garden and raspberry-trimmed purple house exude joy and make a celebration of everyday life. Why live (or decorate) like everyone else when you can envelope yourself with color?

Lucinda doubled down on her favorite color this spring, adding purple seating and a purple umbrella to her front patio.

She found the faux-wicker set as cast-offs on the curb. She hauled them home, spray-painted them, and dressed them up with colorful Guatemalan pillows.

A potted ‘Mother of Pearl’ rose sits on the patio too, and it’s luminous.

The fragrance is softly sweet.

Lucinda stocks up on colorful annuals each spring to bring her emerging garden to life. She stuffs pot after pot with begonias, petunias, marigolds, and more. They may only last until early summer, when the Texas heat makes them cry uncle, but she enjoys them throughout the spring.

A dark-leaved begonia with apricot flowers graces the patio table.

The Virgin of Guadalupe watches over the garden.

Handsome terracotta pots of petunias and other annuals line the gravel driveway.

Long ago, Lucinda turned the back half of her driveway into a garden room by building a stone wall and an arbor, which echoes the pointy gable of her house. A ‘Don Juan’ rose scrambles up the arbor, its red flowers giving way to Brazilian sky vine’s azure blossoms in late summer.

Such an inviting entrance

Little pansy faces look out from a wooden window box.

Hello!

A smoky red rose smolders near the street.

Like someone waking up with a yawn, arms outstretched, the delicate flowers of some type of garlic rise above fuzzy leaves of heartleaf skullcap.

Cute

Lucinda grew up on the border in El Paso and favors garden art that reflects her love of Mexico’s culture and people.

A pink rose — maybe ‘Carefree Beauty’ — peeks through the bars of a garden trellis.

Patio life in Lucinda’s garden is good.

That apricot begonia

And more of the pink rose

One more

A birdhouse that’s a replica of Lucinda’s purple casita is currently home to a nesting pair of titmice.

Another luscious rose

Lucinda’s longtime garden helper made this bougainvillea trellis in a heart shape, topped by a circle. It’s just beginning to flower.

Back to those beautiful, round-bellied pots

A stone fish atop the wall seems to swim through a kelp forest of dwarf palmetto leaves.

Behind the wall, hidden from the street, Lucinda’s shell-encrusted mermaid garden offers another enchanting garden room.

Beyond that, a vegetable garden built atop the concrete driveway is lined with potted annuals. Lucinda dressed up the pots with charming ceramic tiles on garden stakes.

She had her garden helper carefully drill a hole in the bottom of each tile for a stake. I told her she could sell more like these on Etsy!

When a few of Lucinda’s collection of children’s chairs from Mexico began to rot, her helper stacked them in a pot to make a lighthearted sculpture.

A lavender-tinged bearded iris is the first of the season to bloom.

I love the ruffled, flouncing petals and orange beards.

Potted aloes and empty liquor bottles decorate a shelf in the way-back garden room.

Back to the front garden…

…and then last evening, I was back for more, this time with drinks and delicious bites Lucinda prepared and garnished with pansies and herbs. No wonder I look happy, right?

That begonia again — as the sun sank low, those apricot petals began to glow.

The Virgin was standing nearby…

…blessing the garden.

Flowers graced the birdbath — and our cocktail glasses.

Lucinda never overlooks little details like this, which add beauty to her garden gatherings.

The mermaid garden gate

A mermaid tile on the wall

Larkspur — purple, of course — glows up a window box.

A glittering path of blue glass beads and stone, with a fish tile in the middle, leads you into the garden.

Let’s end with that luminous ‘Mother of Pearl’ rose — the queen of Lucinda’s garden this week. Thank you for a beautiful happy hour among the flowers, Lucinda!

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Digging Deeper

Come learn about a visionary xeriscape and pollinator garden called SummerHome at my next Garden Spark presentation on April 10th at 7:30 pm! Tickets are on sale now. I’m excited to welcome Lisa Negri to my Garden Spark speaker series and introduce her to a Texas audience of appreciative native plant lovers. Hear how she transformed an empty lot into an oasis for wildlife and neighbors. The talk will be held at Leaf Landscape Supply (north location), and tickets must be purchased in advance. Join us for an evening of learning, inspiration, and community with fellow garden lovers!

Fill up your garden with plants from the 2025 plant sale by the Hill Country Bloomers Garden Club on April 12, from 10 am to 3 pm. Held in Milburn Park in Cedar Park, the club will offer “a wide variety of vegetable starts, native plants, perennials, and annuals, along with cacti and succulents. Our garden members and growers will be on hand to help you select plants and answer questions. All proceeds from the plant sales support our Educational Garden Grants for schools and non-profit youth programs in the LISD district.”

Shop the Spring Native Plant Sale at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center each weekend through April 27, 9 am to 1 pm (last entry at 12:30 pm). Plant sale admission is free. Bring your own wagon or cart to transport your treasures.

Tour 5 unique Houston gardens on Saturday, April 26, from 10 am to 4 pm, during the Garden Conservancy’s Open Day Tour for Houston. Tickets must be purchased online in advance through the Garden Conservancy.

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. Read all about the Season 8 lineup here!

All material © 2025 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.