Shady Natives Garden Tour

The Inside Austin Garden Tour is coming up on October 17th. I was invited to attend a sneak preview of the tour and I'd like to take you along for the ride. Let's start with a peak at garden number one.

We arrived at the Shady Natives garden hosted by Sue Nazar at 9 a.m. Many areas of the garden were still in deep shadow.

The tour started right at the curb with this gorgeous specimen of mullein (Verbascum thapsus). I love this plant! I've heard Native Americans used it as toilet paper. I bet it's soft velvety leaves, beat a dried oak leaf any day of the week. 

The sun was filtering through the trees giving this shade loving root beer plant (Piper auritum) a little gentle light. 

Many plants like this American beautyberry could be seen reaching for it's share of morning light.

This turk's cap didn't want to miss out either. Look how the entire plant seems to stretch for the morning rays.

Some plants like this datura are more inclined to party at night. Luckily, our tour was early enough to catch many of the blooms still wide open.

Sue has a lovely garden with a definite eye for color and contrast. Her adorable little shed pops right out of the shadows and cheerfully says, good morning.

The contrast between this ginger and the purple ball is definitely to my liking.

Brown and turquoise are excellent color companions. Every garden needs a gecko!

This deck feels just like a tree house and I loved Sue's collection of staghorn ferns hanging from the tree.

I bet this pigeonberry is a very popular with the wildllife. Look at all those berries!

Well, I think I'll finish up here. I don't want to give too much away. You should really see this garden in person!

Stay tuned more garden previews to come.

The Inside Austin Garden Tour is put on by the Travis County Master Gardeners. Don't miss it! Here's the info, so you can mark your calendar:

Date: October 17, 2015
Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: Check out the Map
Cost: $19 Online, $20 at the tour, Single tickets for individual gardens are $5

There are seven gardens on the tour. Six of the gardens belong to individual homeowners and the 7th garden is the demonstration garden at the Travis County Agrilife Extension Office. As always, the demonstration garden can be visited free of charge.