Garden_Bloggers_Fling_Austin
English garden bird bath in Texas

Exploring the Charm of an English Garden in Texas

I love English gardens with their lush greenery, colorful blooms, and somewhat untidy appearance. This may be due to my partial English ancestry. I don’t make it to the British Isles as much as I’d like. But there are lovely examples to be found in the U.S. Earlier this month, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit an English garden with Texas flair.

A Texan Adventure: Garden Bloggers Fling in Austin

I was in Austin for the Garden Bloggers Fling. It is an annual gathering of garden bloggers that is held in a different city each year. As you might expect, touring gardens is the focus of the Fling. I couldn’t wait to explore the gardens of this area. Largely because we can grow many of the same types of plants in Arizona.

Embracing Rainy Garden Adventures in the Texas

I woke up, excited for our first day of touring, only to be greeted by torrential rain. I was undeterred with the wet. Equipped with my rain poncho and umbrella, 3.5 inches of rain wasn’t going to get in my way of seeing beautiful gardens.

The garden of Jenny Stocker

Journey into an “Arts and Crafts Texas-Style Garden with an English Theme”

The garden of Jenny Stocker, who blogs at Rock Rose, was my favorite destination of the day. She describes her garden as an “arts and crafts Texas-style garden with an English theme”. She has divided her landscape into ‘rooms.’ Many areas surrounded by walls that frame each room while keeping deer away. Doorways provide a tantalizing glimpse into the next room, encouraging visitors to embark on a journey of discovery.

Exploring the Beauty of Texas-English Garden Rooms

An English Garden With Texas Flair

A dry creek bed meanders through this garden room where it is surrounded by both native and adapted plants that thrive despite a thin layer of soil that lies over rock.

foxglove flowers against a southwestern wall

Plants, like this foxglove, droop gracefully under the continuing rainfall and with every step through the garden, my feet were squishing in my wet shoes, but it was easy to ignore the discomfort with all the beauty surrounding me.

An English Garden water fountain

A small water feature, complete with water plants and a fish, create a welcome focal point.

Potted Wonders: Adding Visual Interest to the Texas-English Garden

 brugmansia and golden barrel cactuses  in containers

Potted plants like this potted brugmansia and golden barrel cactuses add visual interest to an alcove. Did you know that golden barrel cactus are native to Texas and Mexico? Many of the plants we grow in Arizona come from these regions.

creeping fig around a concrete stone mask in a garden

An angelic face peeks out from a wall of creeping fig, which grows well in the desert garden in shady locations with adequate water.

A Unique Swimming Pool: Blending Nature and Water Features

pot spills water into the swimming pool

An overturned pot spills water into the pool, providing the lovely sound of water while creating a lovely focal point.

English garden swimming pool in Texas

The swimming pool was unique in that it looked like a water feature with the surrounding flowering plants, many of which, are allowed to self-seed.

This was my favorite garden room, so I took a video so you can get an overview of the beauty of this area.

Harmonizing Edibles and Flowers in the Texas-English Garden

An English Garden with raised beds

In another area of the garden, raised beds were filled with edible plants. In between the beds, were flowering plants that create a welcome softness and attract pollinators, which in turn, benefit the vegetables.

Verbena bonariensis

Lovely Verbena bonariensis decorated the edible garden with their delicate purple blossoms.

Aloes and Agaves: Succulent Magic

'Blue Elf' aloes and other succulents in containers

Jenny makes great use of grouping potted plants together on steps and I recognized ‘Blue Elf’ aloes in a few of the containers, which is one of my favorite aloes that I use in designs.

Stone, Succulents, and Sculptures: Artistry in the Garden

An English Garden in Texas with bird bath

Stacked stone forms a raised bed that surrounds the circular wall of this garden room where a bird bath serves as a focal point.

Quail sculptures in a Texas English garden

Decorative animals were tucked into different spots, just waiting to be discovered by garden visitors, like this quail family.

Mimicking Water Movement: A Creative Garden Touch with Mexican Feather Grass

Mexican feather grass

Here’s a fantastic whimsical element that I particularly enjoyed: they used Mexican feather grass to imitate the movement of water for stone fish.

spineless prickly pear

Much like desert gardens, cacti and succulents were used to create unique texture, like this spineless prickly pear (Opuntia cacanapa), which is native to Texas but also grows nicely in my Arizona garden.

A Texas Treasure: The Beauty of the English Garden

artichoke agave

The blue-gray color and spiky texture of artichoke agave, contrasts beautifully with the softer textures of lush green perennials.

A single agave plant in a container on a garden wall

As we prepared to say goodbye to this Texas-English garden, I stroll past an opening in a garden wall, where I noticed a single agave standing sentinel, and I marveled at how a single plant can create a significant design impact when carefully positioned.

This garden was a true Texas treasure and I came away in awe of its natural beauty. However, this wasn’t only the garden that inspired me. There are sixteen other gardens left to explore. I invite you to come back when I’ll profile another of my favorites. 

Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
7 replies
  1. Sandy Smith
    Sandy Smith says:

    This garden is stunning, too! (I confess, my mouth was actually hanging open ;p) The work, care and love that went into it. Thanks for braving the rain to show it to us. I think the rain actually added an extra dimension. I love the way your Austin pals use walls & fences, you all are so talented.
    S.

  2. Patterson Webster
    Patterson Webster says:

    The contrast between the abundance of your favourite area in the garden and the single plant on the window sill is really striking. Such a thickly planted garden needs someplace for the eye to rest, and that windowsill does it.

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