We are very fortunate to have 2 beautiful gardens to tour this month and the times are 9:30-11:30 AM on Saturday, November 14. These gardens are across the street from each other so the spacing and time allotment allow us all to practice social distancing. We are requiring you to wear a mask. Hope to see everyone on the 14th. Happy gardening!

Garden 1: John Gardner | 1817 Columbia

John Gardner feels like he has always been interested in plants and nature. So when they moved into their Heights bungalow in 1993, he was ready to garden. In the many years since then, his primary focus in the garden has changed. And changed. And changed again. Vegetables! Gingers! Bamboo! Then herbs, Texas natives, rain gardens, butterflies, beneficial insects, fruit trees, worm farming and on and on. It seemed that every year had a different passion. Now his focus is on design. At this point “design” means making sense of the hodgepodge that has built up over the years. 

As an amateur photographer, John enjoys close-up shots. The detailed intimacy of a close-up brings out the essence of an organism. He looks at gardening the same way. The closer you look, the more beauty and interest you can find in nature. So, yes, his garden may strike you as a hodgepodge at first but keep looking closer and closer. He assures you: you will be pleased. 

AND…

Garden 2: Micki Fine & John Pavlicek | 1820 Columbia

Micki Fine & John Pavlicek bought the lot next door to their home in the fall of 2013. It was simply a grass lot. Over time, Micki and John turned it into an organic pollinator garden and kept bees for some time. They have a combination of mostly native plants with non-natives as well. There are lots of Gulf Coast Pink Muhly Grasses, plumbagos, frog fruit, a Kidney Wood, Thunbergia, coral vine, passion vine, raised beds for vegetables and herbs, and others. Micki & John are the sole caretakers so they look for ways to manage the garden with more ease.