Thursday, May 24, 2018

The Margie McClurg garden, a stop on the 2018 Garden Bloggers Fling

This is the first photo I took during our stop at Margie McClurg's garden. If my memory is correct there was a bit of a back-up of bloggers filing in through the main gate, so I detoured around the perimeter while the crowd dispersed. I can't remember if it was her fence or a neighbor's, but it's very good looking...

The McClurg garden was a vision of lush green (so much of Austin was very green)...

And very sculptural Opunita.

The garden design work is that of Sprout and Jackson Broussard (who's personal garden we toured here), in Margie's words: he "took what was there and made it really come together"...

There was a time when I did not like Canna flowers. I've always loved the foliage, but the flowers not so much.

Thankfully that's changed.

Piper auritum, I believe?

The garden featured a living arbor with shady seating underneath.

And a bell above...

Which gives me a chance to share an image from Jackson's garden that I didn't post previously. Under the front entry arbor he had this great light fixture. I thought it very clever and good looking.

But back to the McClurg garden...and that yew again!

With Agave bracteosa...

The brick wall and iron gate...

... surround a lovely pool, up next to the house.

Rounded brick isn't something you see everyday. It doesn't look like it responded to the treatment very well.

The house adjacent to the pool.

There were many blooming Yucca rostrata in Austin, these towered over a corner of the garden.

Another bell, I wonder if they're rang often?

Austin gardens have me wanting to give Farfugum a try here. I have a couple of small variegated selections but have shied away from the big green leaves.

An earlier vignette from a different angle.

I'm not sure how many other bloggers ventured around to the front of the house, but I did.

And was rewarded by a pair of Agave ovatifolia. Kind of shocking to see them bordering a lush green lawn, isn't it?

On the other side was a rock wall, so they have great drainage.

That Austin stone, it's simply gorgeous.

The drainage on this pot looks to me like a mouse drinking fountain.

Beautiful blooming Cotinus, it seems rare to see the green leaves. So often it people plant the darker versions, or the chartreuse.

And just like that, it's time to head back to the bus!

Weather Diary, May 23: Hi 82, Low 57/ Precip 0

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

26 comments:

  1. blondi utronkiMay 24, 2018

    I love yew too.

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  2. A mouse drinking fountain -- I laughed out loud. So true! As always, it's fun to see what caught your eye in the gardens of Austin.

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  3. Ooh, the structure holding the bell & the clever light fixture, not to mention the plants are all delicious.

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    1. Delicious! There's a word I don't use enough.

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  4. I can't believe I missed the front garden entirely! After seeing it in this garden, I'm going to pick up a Piper auritum the next time I come across it.

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    1. Do it, such a delicious plant! (see comment above)

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  5. What a lovely garden! I actually had to pin that fence to my pintrest board.

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    1. I'm glad you did. I would have seriously considered it back when we were settling on a style for our fence, had I seen it.

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  6. Blooming Yucca rostrata! As if they aren't striking enough already... Did yours bloom?
    If one doesn't like the bloom and wants to cut it off, special equipment needs to be brought in.

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    1. None of mine have bloomed yet, which is fine. I have lots of other yucca blooms to admire.

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  7. This garden has a lot of nice stonework and that wooden fence it striking as well. They really pack a lot of tours in - you must have been run off your feet!

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    1. Oh you haven't seen anything yet, I have 16 more posts from the Fling itinerary waiting in the wings!

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  8. Yes, the surprising green of Austin! I missed that light fixture--that's nifty! The Yuccas were awesome and large! The thing I liked most about this garden was the metal work--the gates and the bells and the art.

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    1. You weren't in the garden where they light fixture was Beth, so you didn't miss it. That photo was from a different garden, I just snuck it onto this post.

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  9. I remember seeing those agaves in the front also, and the very pretty Japanese maples. Such a gorgeous garden!

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    1. Ha! And I have no memory of the Japanese Maples, I've developed a blindness for them since they are ubiquitous here in Portland.

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  10. Great garden. I have been collecting fence photos on Pinterest for ideas to replace our chain link and this is the type I am leaning toward.

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    1. I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

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  11. I took that very same photograph of the fence. All the while thinking that if I had had more imagination I would have varied the slats on our fence. I forgot to walk outside the driveway gate this time. The garden was on a tour a few years ago. You have reminded me that there was something else to see.

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    1. Well there's a place for a "plain" fence too...your garden certainly does not lack imagination. A busy fence wouldn't let your plants shine.

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  12. I've never been to Austin, and never pictured it in my mind as so green and lush. Is it buggy there?
    You do have an amazing eye for catching things that would sail right past me!

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    1. A few people got bites, and I guess later in the season, or further out in the wild parts, it can be quite bad. I escaped with only a couple of bites on my leg. The fire ants were out in force after the first day of intense rain.

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  13. Darn, missed the best part of that garden. Thanks for showing it. Wandered that way, but thought it was a different property and turned back. My loss. Cool house, too.

    I liked how the Acer foliage repeated the color of the urn by the pool (or vice versa).

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  14. It's amazing what we all see...like the pot with the mouse fountain and all the "looking up" photos you took - I don't think most of us looked up! Lovely post, thanks for the re-visit.

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