Paradise in a Parking Lot

While they certainly have "paved Paradise and put up a parking lot" in some parts of Austin, I was happy to discover that Manuels on Jollyville Road brought a little bit of Paradise back when they created their outdoor dining room. Walking from the hot parking lot I did not imagine I'd want to eat outdoors. After all, it was 92 degrees that day. But the moment I strolled by their lush courtyard with plants and fountains I felt 15 degrees cooler and infatuated with the place.

Lovely tropical plants were my first hint that this wasn't an average eatery.

After letting the hostess know we preferred an outside table we passed the soothing fountains below. My son watched with glee as a common grackle softened discarded nacho chips by dipping them into the water before flying off with his prize.

The courtyard is covered in a canopy of green wisteria-covered trellis as well as an enormous live oak at its center.

Simple plantings of impatiens and liriope surround the live oak. The wisteria beyond gives the feeling of being pleasantly cocooned in a living breathing sanctuary.

Of course all this beauty would be in vain if the food wasn't great. I'm happy to say Manuels serves one of my favorite dishes, Chile Relleno en Nogada, which tastes like Christmas to me.

You don't have to visit an actual desert oasis to observe first-hand how plants can make a once harsh environment inviting. Just a quick visit to a retreat like this reminds me of the importance of flora to our emotional and physical health. Such experiences certainly inspire me to continue to improve my own little corner of Austin.

"Nature is always lovely, invincible, glad, whatever is done and suffered by her creatures. All scars she heals, whether in rocks or water or sky or hearts." --John Muir

Revisiting A Favorite Haunt

We have seen several fledgling birds in our garden in the past few weeks. I was surprised by this fearless young Carolina Wren as he investigated my plant shelf just outside my backdoor. With the help of his doting mother he seemed to give my fertilizer container and gardening clogs the Better Wren and Garden Seal of Approval.

We had the pleasure of a visit from family last week. It was fun to show them around some of the beautiful places we've discovered in the last year here in Austin. One of the first places we took them to was the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum where I found some plants I hadn't seen on our last visit.


The red of the Turk's Cap (drummondii) popped under the shade of the tall live oaks. I've read that this is an excellent plant to attract hummingbirds, so it's on my list to add to my garden.

There were numerous butterflies on what looked like Texas Wisteria, also called Wisteria frutescens (W. macrostachya).

There were dozens of Silver-spotted Skippers (Epargyreus clarus) flitting from flower to flower like ballerinas across a stage.

Charles Umlauf's sculptures are beautiful, especially when surrounded by all the lush plant-life of the garden. This reclining lady is call the Poetess and is one of my favorites.

And this meditation area in front of the panel Come Unto Me brings to mind a peaceful, ancient monastery. It's no wonder the full-sized original stands just over the entrance to a real church in San Antonio.

I was drawn to the wildlife and plants as always. This Neon Skimmer was flying loops around the pond. No doubt he has plenty of mosquitoes to eat with all the rain we've had here in Austin.

There were several turtles in the pond as well. This Red-Eared Slider, (Trachemys scripta elegans) took a moment to bask in the sunlight that peeked through the trees.

We even watched a fat Cottonmouth Water Moccasin (Agkistrodon piscivorous). We watched him slide between the rocks into the water. I was happy to give him a wide berth since Cottonmouths are poisonous.

After a nice tour we walked past the manmade waterfall...


...and said "Goodbye" to the Umlauf Sculpture Garden once again.

In days to come I'll share the other lovely places we included while giving our guests the Austin Grand Tour.

Cheers!

"All great art ... creates in the beholder not self-satisfaction but wonder and awe. Its great liberation is to lift us out of ourselves." ~Dorothy Thompson