Wednesday, May 2, 2007

A Visit to Umlauf Sculpture Garden

Part of the fun of having out-of-town guests is introducing them to my new discoveries here in Austin. Last week I took my visiting parents to several of my favorite haunts including the Umlauf Sculpture Garden.

The Gardens combine the best of both worlds; art and beautiful landscaping. They even have some bronze plants like this lily.


The colors of this yellow columbine, (Ranunculaceae Aquilegia hinckleyana) popped under the shade of the tall oaks.

Some of the sculptures touched my heart, such as Mother and Child in bronze; 1972.

As you can see, much of the landscape is greenscape with few flowers. I found it a little like listening to instrumental music without the lyrics. The greens are soothing and frame the sculptures well.

And when the flowers finally make an appearance they are appreciated that much more. I think this might be a red osier dogwood, (cornus sericea).

My favorite sculpture was a bronze called Ballerina I.

As beautiful as the sculptures are I must admit the water gardens, plants and animals were what I kept finding myself drawn to. The manmade stream and ponds are especially peaceful.

If you have a chance, please visit Umlauf Sculpture Garden. It's a treat for your senses.

12 comments:

Sanna Tallgren said...

What a nice visit was that! I found here from garden blogs directory and I´m happy i did! Nice photos.

Dawn said...

Thank you, Sanni!

What good luck that you stopped by. I just checked out your blog as well. You have lovely photos on your site. It's both impressive and helpful that you write your blog in two languages. Well done!

:-)
Dawn

Anonymous said...

Dawnie girl looking at your beautiful blog, the beauty of what you love, has filled me with a sense of serenity. (Don't worry, I'm sure it's temporary!)If there is a Heaven, it looks like your pics.

I love you
Joanie

Dawn said...

Hi Joanie,

Thanks for taking the time to comment on my blog, dear lady. You're so sweet. I hope all is going well for you in the great NE.

Love & hugs right back at ya!

:-)
Dawn

Annie in Austin said...

The Umlauf Sculpture Garden is a place where we take our out-of-town guests, too - and when they return to Austin, they also want to return to the Umlauf!
Dawn, your photos manage to capture the enchanted, peaceful, other-place feeling of this garden.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Dawn said...

Thanks Annie,

The Umlauf is a very relaxing place to visit. We also love to take guests to Zilker Botanical Gardens; especially the Japanese Garden. I'll bet there are other gardens in the area that I just don't know about yet. I'd love any suggestions.

Dawn

A wildlife gardener said...

What a wonderful sanctuary garden in a perfect setting, very lyrical. It oozes soul and romance. I loved my tour, thank you so much for sharing. I've also scrolled back and done a few other tours and feel you are very lucky to have such wonderful gardens to visit in your environs. And I love your garden too, with your Carolina wrens nesting now. Brilliant! Gladdens my heart, as I am a wildlife gardener and love all the birds, insects and mammals who visit or live in my garden. Beautifully written posts and great photos. Well done, Dawn!

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Thank you for taking me as an out-of- town-guest for a tour round the Umlauf.;-) It was lovely!

I like what you are doing with your new garden. Nice little pond you got there!

Excellent pics Dawn and thank you for commenting on my blog.

Dawn said...

Hello Fellow Wildlife Gardener!

Thanks for dropping by and for your kind words. For me wildlife is an essential litmus test of sorts to show how healthy a garden is. To have a garden without wildlife is like going to a play without actors. The set might be great, but one needs actors to give it meaning.

You're right, I am very lucky to live in an area that offers beautiful public gardens. And the Texas Hill Country views are fairly extraordinary as well. The beauty here has been a pleasant remedy for my homesickness since moving from Florida.

I look forward to watching your Little Corner of Paradise from across the water.

Regards,
Dawn

Dawn said...

Hi Yolanda!

Thank you for dropping by from Bliss.

I kept thinking about your history of red roses entry which led me to try to recall all the poems that mention roses. There are quite a lot of them! I especially love "The Last Rose", by John Davidson. http://tinyurl.com/28n6rq

Happy Gardening!
Dawn

r r s said...

I still haven't been to the Umlauf garden, even though I've live here for several years now. We really are fortunate to have such lovely public gardens in Austin. I guess I take it for granted.

Dawn said...

Hi r sorrell!

I know what you mean. There were several places in Central Florida that I never visited even though we lived there for over 16 years.

There are still many Austin attractions I haven't seen yet. I feel we've just scratched the surface. I'm hoping to take my son canoeing on Barton Springs soon. Then theres the Natural Bridge Caverns, Pioneer Farms and the Wild Basin Preserve. Whew!

:-)
Dawn