Friday, May 11, 2007

Happy Mother's Day!

I received some extra special Mother's Day gifts today. Not the least of which was a SpongeBob Squarepants Mother's Day card from my son along with some fun movies.

My garden even bestowed some special surprises by giving me my very first water lily bloom in my new container garden.

I'm very glad now that I bought this variegated waterlily, Texas Dawn at Hill Country Water Gardens.

There was some butterfly activity as a Gulf or Mexican Fritillary laid her eggs on my newly blooming passion flower.


And to top it off I found a lucky ladybug, coccinellidae, looking for aphids.

I spent Mother's Day weekend visiting some of my favorite haunts and exploring new places as well.

Our first stop was The Shady Grove for a relaxing lunch under the pecan trees. The topiary bear -- complete with sunglasses -- always makes me smile...

...as does the "Hippy Trailer" where you can rest while waiting for your table. This is Austin fun at its best.

After lunch we drove up Bee Caves until we saw a garden store we hadn't been to before. It's called Breed and Co. That urn looks familiar.

There was so much to see. Of course, I couldn't leave without buying 3 lipstick salvia first.

I wanted to drop by Barton Springs Nursery ever since reading about it in Pam from Digging's blog. It really is a great place. I enjoyed the water plants.

And my son preferred the aviary with parakeets, baby ducks and chicks.

We both liked the fountain!

I had my eye on this Rocket Ligularia, but wasn't sure where I'd put it yet. I have a feeling I'll be back.


At the end of the day we decided to drop by Amy's Ice Cream at the Arboretum. The ice cream is terrific as is the park next door.

My son likes to follow the stream all the way down the hill.

I followed him with my camera firmly in hand.


I knew where I'd find him!


These Arboretum Cows were carved from marble by Harold Clayton. The little grove holds five 'boulderous' bovines which my son loves to climb on.

And that's no bull.


Happy Mother's Day to all those who nurture and love.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Every place you visited is one of our favorites too, Dawn. Your description of the stream at the Arboretum and the marble cows brings back memories of younger days.

Happy Mother's Day!

Dawn said...

Happy Mother's Day, Pam!

Austin really does have some fun, kid-friendly places to visit.

I can't wait to read about your experiences at the garden tour.

Oh and congrats on winning 3 Mouse & Trowel Awards! Well done!

:-)
Dawn

Anonymous said...

Dawn,

Sounds like a glorious day for a devoted mom. So glad your water lily bloomed on schedule.

J.

Dawn said...

Thanks Julie,

Yes, I was surprised and pleased about the water lily. I couldn't have planned it better myself.

:-)
Dawn

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Hi Dawn,

What a lovely post with so many wonderful pics. Where to begin?

Spongebob eh? giggle, such a cute guy! Excellent pressie from your son.

Love the present you got from your garden as well, what a lovely waterlily!

It seems you and your son had a lovely green day at nurseries and garden stores.

Dawn said...

Thanks Yolanda!

Congrats again on your well-deserved Mousie Award! :-)

Yes, the SpongeBob card made me laugh. My son has a diverse interest list which includes SpongeBob, Sherlock Holmes, butterfly plants (thank goodness!) and every kid film that's coming out this summer.

I feel very lucky about the water lily. It amazed me that it was suddenly blooming this weekend, seemingly just for me. ;-)

I really enjoy your blog, Yolanda. You've inspired me to take some photos of my own kitty cats which I'll add to by blog someday soon.

Happy Gardening!
Dawn

Nancy said...

OH!! I'm going to have to go to some of those places soon. Got a Pa-in-law who lives in the area.

Have you been to the Fredericksburg Herb Farm? I went there last weekend and got some great varieties of thyme!

Dawn said...

Hi Nancy!

Your different varieties of thyme sounds like fun.

I'm not sure about an Herb Farm, but we visited the Wildseed Farms near Fredericksburg a few months ago. https://www.wildseedfarms.com It was very pretty.

If you visit Austin and have time to see a nursery, please try to catch the Natural Gardener Nursery. http://www.naturalgardeneraustin.com/
It really is the most amazing place, with chickens, donkeys, cats and seemingly every kind of plant that grows in Texas. I love it. :-)

Cheers!
Dawn

Outi said...

Thank you for our comment in my blog!It sounds, that you did have a pleasant mothersday too:-)Oh, how lovely garden you have! And those other pictures are also beutiful.

Dawn said...

Thank you, Aniksen Puutarha,

I enjoy reading your blog as well. Your children are adorable and your gardens are so pretty. It's interesting to me that so many of us garden bloggers like some of the same movies and books, too, no matter what country we live in.

Cheers!
Dawn

Sheila said...

Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. The photos of the stone work on my post were all taken in Portugal.
Your photos are great, what a fun day out you had..!
BTW I have a Ligularia in my garden, and it likes a damp spot. It will grow to about 6feet, if it likes where it's planted..
xx

Anonymous said...

Your water lilly is very pretty, I love the colour. I have a tiny yellow one which I look forward to seeing it flower each year.

Sanna Tallgren said...

Hi Dawn!
What a nice day you had! My son would had been overjoyed with those cows (bulls actually)! I need to show him your pictures tomorrow when he wakes up!
Nursery seems like dream place to visit. But it`s kind of too long way for me :)

r r s said...

Those water lilies are gorgeous. I still haven't been to Barton Springs nursery, and I didn't know that there's a park at the Arboretum!

Julie Pippert said...

Oh Austin...nice. :)

Loe the photos, esp. the ladybug one. My daughter loved that one best. She's raising ladybugs and they are ready for release but she is having trouble letting them go into the garden...

Dawn said...

Sheila

How lucky you are to have a Ligularia. They are beautiful plants. I'm still considering where I might find a place for one in my garden.

Leonie

Waterlilies are so special. I'll bet your tiny yellow waterlily is worth waiting for. I can't wait to see a photo of it on your blog. :-)

Hi Sanni

All the kids who meet the Marble Cows seem to love them. They almost beg to be climbed on. Kids really know how to have fun.

Hi Ms. R Sorrell!

If you go to the Amy's Ice Cream at the Arborteum you cannot miss the little park; complete with stream, fountains and marble cows. The plants aren't bad either. ;-)

Dear Julie

I've never tried to raise ladybugs before. Although I've heard of catalogues in which one can buy them to be delivered. Did you buy ladybugs to raise, or did you find them in the larval stage in your garden? Sounds fun either way.

Take care!
Dawn

Unknown said...

Hi Dawn- what a fantastic mother's day post. And I've never ventured back to find the Arboretum Cows in the 7 years I have lived here. Now I must go find them with my 3 year old. Thanks for visiting my blog, Kiss of Sun. Glad to have some of the Austin bloggers to connect up to and get comments from.
Bonnie

kate said...

I love the marble cows ... the hippy trailer, the nursery, the passionflower in bloom and your water lily. Just a remarkably beautiful post. You had a lovely Mother's Day.

Dawn said...

Hi Bonnie!

So glad to 'meet' another Austin Garden Blogger. The little park in the Arboretum is definitely worth visiting. And it's a good excuse to get some Amy's Ice Cream as well...not that I need an excuse really. ;-)

Thanks Kate!

Austin is a beautiful place. I learn so much from bloggers about how to see the beauty of the earth. Hope your Mother's Day was lovely as well.

Cheers!
Dawn