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Gathering spaces in Ruthie Burrus Garden, part 2

May 4, 2022
in Home & Garden
Reading Time: 15 mins read
71 Flowering bulb mantle display Nest picture – TodayHeadline


May 02, 2022

47 White garden path House – TodayHeadline

In my last post I hope I wowed you — as I was wowed — by the colorful wildflower meadow and textural spiky-soft shade garden of Ruthie Burrus. If you missed it, check out Part 1 of my visit to Ruthie’s West Austin garden. Today we’ll explore the back garden, where Ruthie has divided her long, shallow backyard into welcoming and charming hangout areas for family and friends.

White garden

46 White garden curved path Lambs ears – TodayHeadline

As you come around the house, you see a Mediterranean-style white garden — a new design since I last visited. A kiln-style pizza oven once sat at the rear of the house, but it’s been removed. Now a gravel garden sparkles with white flowers and silvery green foliage, nothing too tall — a vision of coolness. I bet this space is especially beautiful in the evening, as the plants take on a moonlight-garden glow.

45 Stone garden shed – TodayHeadline

The focal point of this space is Ruthie’s garden haus, cobbled together with Old World charm from stones unearthed from her property, scrap roofing, and antique doors and windows.

52 Stone garden haus Curved path – TodayHeadline

‘Helen von Stein’ lamb’s ear edges a curving stone path from the back door and porch to the garden haus. A pink ‘Peggy Martin’ rose once graced the shed’s face. But after the snowpocalypse killed it, Ruthie began training another type of rose.

51 Stone garden haus Curved path – TodayHeadline

A wider view of the white garden shows native blackfoot daisy along with artemisia and agapanthus.

60 White and purple agapanthus – TodayHeadline

Top view of the two-toned agapanthus, aka lily of the Nile.

48 Terracotta pots Flowers – TodayHeadline

Side view of the lamb’s ear path, with shapely pots of lavender, raised beds overflowing with pink evening primrose, and a curved border of dwarf apricot roses.

56 White garden – TodayHeadline

The white garden as seen from the lawn

57 White garden – TodayHeadline

Ruthie’s training roses up tall metal trellises.

58 Metal trellis – TodayHeadline

L-shaped rusty steel bars make the sturdy frame, with cattle panel inserts.

59 Cattle panel trellis – TodayHeadline

Everything is welded together in back.

53 Stone garden haus Flowers – TodayHeadline

Another view of the garden haus. Notice how Ruthie echoed the burnt orange and sandy hues of the shed’s stones with terracotta pots and apricot roses. Even the decomposed granite fits the color scheme.

54 Stone garden haus Flowers – TodayHeadline

I couldn’t get enough of the stone shed, so here’s one more view.

50 Purple flowers Round pot – TodayHeadline

Atop a stone wall, tiny purple flowers grace a round rustic pot.

55 Agaves succulents pot – TodayHeadline

And hardy Agave lophantha pairs up with a dainty succulent in a dish planter.

Flower border and skyline view

61 Flowers Heart birdbath Austin skyline – TodayHeadline

The next garden room perches on a steep hillside overlooking downtown Austin. Ruthie grows colorful perennials and annuals along the edge, backed by a trimmed hedge of Texas mountain laurels that screens the houses below.

49 Flower garden Austin skyline – TodayHeadline

It was a hazy morning, but what a view.

62 Standing winecups CA poppies – TodayHeadline

Standing winecup and California poppies replicate a little of the color explosion of the front meadow (seen in Part 1).

Hangout spaces

63 Covered porch table – TodayHeadline

A wall of steel-framed windows looks out on that skyline view and a covered dining porch.

64 Swimming pool garden – TodayHeadline

Beyond is a rectangular swimming pool framed by trees and backed by a part-shade garden of yuccas, native ornamental trees, and wildflowers. I love the petal-like stone dish planters by the pool.

90 Mangave White flowers – TodayHeadline

They display a dusky lavender mangave underplanted with white flowers.

65 Queen Victoria agave in pot – TodayHeadline

In another pot, a Queen Victoria agave bristles over a trailing ice plant.

66 Prostrate Jap plum yew Blackfoot daisy Verbena – TodayHeadline

I love this combo of feathery prostrate Japanese plum yew, blackfoot daisy, and verbena. I’m kind of surprised this works because blackfoot daisy can be finicky about too much water, and the new plum yew probably needs regular water. But it’s beautiful and looks happy.

67 Sedge Back porch – TodayHeadline

From the pool you look across a lawnette of sedge — Berkeley sedge, I think — toward a three-sided porch. To the left of the porch…

68 Bigtooth maple Farfugium japonicum – TodayHeadline

…is a bigtooth maple underplanted with giant ligularia.

69 Flowering aloe – TodayHeadline

A flowering aloe in a round pot drew my attention to the porch.

70 Flowering bulb mantle display – TodayHeadline

But what stopped me in my tracks was a stunning floral display of flowering bulbs on the outdoor fireplace mantel.

71 Flowering bulb mantle display Nest picture – TodayHeadline

I walked over, muttering, “I bet they’re real.” And of course — somehow — they were!

72 Flowering bulb mantle display – TodayHeadline

I marveled over the freshness of the flowering bulbs without any obvious water source, the beautiful way they’re arranged, the spiny eryngium tucked in here and there, the moss seeming to hold it all together. How pretty the colors look against the black-and-white picture of a bird nest.

73 Flowering bulb mantle display – TodayHeadline

It’s like a still-life painting.

74 Flowering bulb mantle display – TodayHeadline

Ruthie told me it’s the creation of Keith at Westbank Flower Market, and she had it made for a special event at her house.

75 Succulent pot Flag – TodayHeadline

From the shelter of the porch, you can admire — or mourn, depending on how long ago you arrived in Austin (haha) — the growing downtown skyline.

76 Succulent bowl 1 – TodayHeadline

And oh hey, another pretty succulent dish

77 Agave Kalanchoe pot Rocker – TodayHeadline

Ruthie has a talent for putting together eye-catching containers. I admired this spiky beauty in a copper tub.

78 Agave Kalanchoe pot – TodayHeadline

I think that may be a ‘Sharkskin’ agave with the paddle plant.

79 Swimming pool Flag – TodayHeadline

The pool looks inviting as Austin heats up for summer. Those two white-and-black squares just beyond the hedge are chimneys on the roof of a neighbor’s house, which gives you a sense of the dropoff.

80 Yucca rostrata Rabbit sculpture Gulf Coast penstemon – TodayHeadline

At the far end of the pool, a garden bristling with Yucca rostrata and giant hesperaloe is softened by flowering Gulf Coast penstemon and spuria iris.

82 Rabbit sculpture Jim Budish – TodayHeadline

There’s also a bronze rabbit sculpture, by Colorado artist Jim Budish.

84 Purple spuria iris – TodayHeadline

Spuria iris

81 Yucca rostrata Rabbit sculpture Gulf Coast penstemon – TodayHeadline

Spikes and softness. The rabbit’s long ears fit right in with those spikes.

83 Yucca rostrata Gulf Coast penstemon – TodayHeadline

Yucca rostrata, Gulf Coast penstemon, and heartleaf skullcap in bud. Broad limestone slabs make a rustic path through this garden and around to a private side yard.

85 Rabbit sculpture Pool – TodayHeadline

The perfectly placed rabbit can be observed from the pool and porches. And he observes back.

Side garden

86 Standing winecup Evening primrose – TodayHeadline

Following the flagstone path around the house I discovered more wildflower wildness in standing winecup and pink evening primrose.

88 Standing winecup Poppy – TodayHeadline

And a few poppies for good measure

89 Red poppy Bee – TodayHeadline

Hard-working bees too

91 Raised flowerbed Stone eagle – TodayHeadline

A stone-walled circle appeared amid the wildflowers — a large planter showing off dianthus, flowering aloes, and more. A carved stone eagle perches on one side.

92 Raised flowerbed Stone eagle – TodayHeadline

A window overlooks this planter, and it must make a lovely view from inside. As must every inch of this beautiful garden.

Thank you, Ruthie, for sharing your garden with me again this spring!

For a look back at Part 1 of Ruthie’s garden, including a colorful wildflower meadow, click here.

I welcome your comments. Please scroll to the end of this post to leave one. If you’re reading in an email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment box at the end of each post. And hey, did someone forward this email to you, and you want to subscribe? Click here to get Digging delivered directly to your inbox!

__________________________

Digging Deeper

May 5th at 8 pm: Attend the final Garden Spark talk of the season! Jennifer Jewell, award-winning author and Cultivating Place podcast host, shows that gardens are powerful agents for change, addressing challenges like climate change, resource use, habitat loss, and more. Using beautiful images from her book Under Western Skies, she’ll share innovative gardens that celebrate western landscapes. Get your ticket at this link. Tickets must be purchased in advance; no walk-ins. Come learn something new and hang out with fellow garden lovers!

Join the mailing list for Garden Spark! Hungry to learn about garden design from the experts? I’m hosting a series of talks by inspiring garden designers, landscape architects, and authors a few times a year in Austin. Check out the 2021-22 schedule. These are limited-attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance. Simply click this link and ask to be added.

All material © 2022 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

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