Suburban Wildlife Garden: The Shady Grove

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Social Butterfly

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Kathy from Cold Climate, her friend Cynthia, along with several Austin Garden Bloggers. We had a fun luncheon at Shady Grove talking about gardening, politics and everything in between. Thanks for including me, ladies!

From left to right: MSS, Diana, Annie, Pam, Kathy and yours truly.

In other news: Last night I had a Princess Themed Bunco Party at my house. All the ladies dressed up like the royalty they are. It really was a riot. Though it's not gardening I just had to show off my little buffet fit for a Queen.

The orchid is marked as 'Phal Happy Smile x Phal I-Hsing Luck' from Smith & Hawken.

“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance.” ~author unknown

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.