July 20, 2025
When friends came to town a few weeks back, I took them to The Natural Gardener in south Austin. With beautiful display gardens, it’s a great place to take plant-loving visitors.
The butterfly garden was showing off in mid-June with orange cannas and tall sunflowers.
Hot summer color
A butterfly bench makes a fun spot for a photo or to sit and enjoy the garden.
Sunflowers and zinnias were popping with bright color.
Pride of Barbados and Rose of Sharon too
Rose of Sharon — probably the columnar cultivar ‘Purple Pillar’
A black swallowtail butterfly nectaring on Pride of Barbados
Working it
Sunflowers and red salvia — Salvia darcyi, I think
Salvia and morning glory
I’m drawing a blank on this plant but admired its velvety, silver-green leaves.
Labyrinth
Just beyond the butterfly garden is a large labyrinth for meditative walking.
River rocks outline the circling path, which leads to a tree in the center.
Guitar garden
Beyond that is a guitar garden. Could anything be more Austin?
Welcome wagons
A back entrance to the nursery features a fence made of upcycled wagons — a welcome wagon, so to speak!
Chance the Raptor (get it?) rawrs atop a shade structure.
Succulent yard
I usually head straight for the succulent yard to admire the mangaves and see which new ones are available.
‘Lavender Lady’ mangave is a beauty with her mauve freckles.
Hesperaloes, agaves, yuccas, and cacti can be found here too.
Leopold agave — beautiful!
I’ve always liked this shed door with bas-relief owl and prickly pear.
Framed by sunflowers
Microbe Brewery
Compost tea is made at the punnily named Microbe Brewery.
Edible garden
Compost is cooking in the vegetable garden.
A creative screen made of cedar branches, sectioned tree limbs, slats, and scrap metal…
…encloses a small patio, inviting visitors to sit and enjoy the scene.
Another screen of steel-framed cedar poles shelters a pair of blue Adirondacks.
A third screen features a colorful graphic design…
…and a chalkboard wishing visitors a happy Father’s Day (this was back in mid-June).
Plants, gardens, and helpful staff — the Natural Gardener still delights after all these years. We Austin gardeners are lucky to have this resource.
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Digging Deeper
My new book, Gardens of Texas: Visions of Resilience from the Lone Star State, comes out October 14! It’s available for pre-order now on Amazon and other online book sellers. If you think you’d like to read it or give it as a holiday gift, please consider pre-ordering. (I’m happy to sign pre-ordered copies at my book events!) Early orders make a big difference in helping new books get noticed. More info about Gardens of Texas here — and thank you for your support!
Come see me on tour! I’ll be speaking and hosting book events across Texas this fall and into next spring to celebrate the release of Gardens of Texas. Join me to learn, get inspired, and say hello!
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