Inside Austin Gardens- Demonstration Garden

Remember how I told you about the upcoming garden tour?  Well, it happens this Saturday.  I wanted to give you a peek of a garden on the tour that I get to see each time I go to work.  It's the demonstration garden at 1600-B Smith Road Austin, TX. 

This garden is planned and created by our Master Gardener volunteers and they have been working really hard to get it ready for the tour.  I think their hard work has paid off because it looks fantastic!  Not only is it wonderful to wander through to look at the plants, but you also get the wonderful smells from blooming roses and, when I'm lucky, someone brings in some goodies for me to take home.  They are growing a bunch of produce out there as well.  I've been eyeballing the cantaloupes for awhile since I can never seem to get them to grow.  I found out recently that they were volunteers!  Wish my garden would magically grow cantaloupes.

They have a really cool wicking bed that they installed a little over a month ago.  It was really neat to see how they set it up.  If you don't know what a wicking bed is, stop by and you can learn all about how to create your own.  I also really like how many of the food-producing plants are intermixed within the landscape.  It's almost like you can forage as you stroll leisurely through the area.

The other feature I love about the demo garden is the insects that can be found.  It is a certified Wildlife Habitat, so it allows me to wander through with my camera to get shots of various insects- beneficials and pests.  They have milkweed and passion vine, so I can find monarchs, queens and gulf fritillaries each year.  I usually can track down swallowtails, skippers, blues and sulphurs at certain times as well. 

Please consider adding the demo garden to your schedule.  Daphne Richards, horticulturalist extraordinaire, will be here all day to answer any questions on plants.  This location will also be KID-FRIENDLY with activities for kids with our Junior Master Gardener group.  Patty Leander will be presenting on Vegetable Gardens and Roz Garrett will be doing two presentations on Eating Like a Rainbow.

Saturday, October 20, 2012
9AM- 4PM
www.insideaustingardens.org
Tickets are $15 in advance (purchased at the website above); $20 the day of the tour or $5 per individual garden (purchase at the individual gardens)