March 20, 2024
Who can resist Lucinda Hutson’s purple casita with mango trim and formal garden? Not me! When Lucinda invited me for a spring visit to the garden last week, I happily said yes.
The fun of color begins on the alcove-like porch, where grape walls and deep-rose canvas doors are accented with floral tiles and sacred hearts.
The David Marsh cabinet displays a painting of Mexican folk art.
A small window forms a perch for Saint Francis.
And now let’s look around the garden. Lucinda fills pots with pansies and ornamental cabbages that last until spring, matching her purple house.
They also have a nice top-down view.
Frog bird bath adds more color.
Like the rest of us, Lucinda has lost structural plants in recent winters, including a favorite kumquat tree that used to produce tons of fruit. Where she used to grow, Lucinda extended the front patio and now has a sitting area to enjoy.
When guests arrive, she throws tapestry pillows on metal chairs to add softness and color.
Roses add more softness and color along the front walk.
In one corner of the house, a decorative chair painted with purple and lime green perches in a patch of river fern, next to tiered pots of pansies.
Multiple pansy faces – color coordinated with the house – peer out from the rustic window box.
Along the driveway, a raised bed holds vegetables and more purple pansies.
A plate of praying mantis decorates a bed of Swiss chard.
Cabbage and violas in terracotta pots
A stone wall up to the head separates the front garden from the back. At the top, stone angels and a fish watch over the gate.
The view from the other side
Looking back through the gate shaded arbor
Colorful pansies also fill the window box.
Lucinda recently found an old family urn in her garage and hung it on the conservatory wall, framed in an ornate wooden picture frame.
St. Anthony of the Lost Keys stands in a niche along the path.
Lucinda long ago converted the driveway to her detached garage into a raised vegetable garden, built on top of the old concrete paving. Iron bed frames line one side of a central platform displaying a cobalt chard bowl. Lucinda changes it every year, and her current plan is to add potted citrus trees once they come out of the greenhouse.
Easy pickings
Potted olive flowers against a purple garage. The yellow floral pattern is new this year.
The Enchanting Garden reads the rustic gate that opens to the back deck.
It’s ready for entertaining with a Mexican linen covered sideboard and a dining table shaded by umbrellas. The wooden structure is Lucinda’s home office.
A curio cabinet displays prayer candles and other treasures.
Colorful chairs provide additional seating and coordinate with the cloth tables.
The back of the house has a palapa-style wooden awning.
Lucinda turns every nook and cranny of her little garden into a discovery room. Behind the garage—recently painted acid green—you’ll find a rustic cedar gazebo and a tequila tasting table, complete with a tequila bottle tree surrounded by discarded corks.
It’s La Lucinda Cantina…
…a good place for a refreshing glass of pansy wine to dress it up.
“He’s easily distracted by music and tequila,” the signs say. Indeed!
Mariachi pours himself a shot.
Under your feet lies the evidence of years of parties, fun with friends and — what else? — purple heart, the essence of Lucinda’s home and garden.
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Digging Deeper
30-31. March: Come see Austin Cactus & Succulent Society Show in the Zilker Botanical Garden on March 30 and 31 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Includes a plant display with specimen cacti and succulents, handmade pottery, a daily silent auction and hourly plant raffle, and expert advice. Admission is included with paid Zilker Garden admission, $5 to $8 for adults, $3 to $4 for children (under 2 free).
April 6: Come out to Austin’s Mayfield Park on 4/6 for Mayfield Park Gardening Symposium & Fundraiser, from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. This annual park benefit includes a raffle, plant sale and garden speakers.
May 4th: Explore “splendid backyards, perfect pools and pergolas, and outdoor rooms and gardens” at ATX outdoor trip 4. 5. from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Landscape architects, designers and builders will be on hand to answer questions. Tickets are $33.85 for adults, $17.85 for children 10-17.
May 11: Save the date for Austin Home’s Great Outdoors Tour on 5/11.
June 1-2: Take a two-day bar and garden tour in and around Austin at the annual Austin Pond and Garden Tour, held on February 1 and 6 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $20 to $25.
Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I host in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners several times a year in Austin. 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 request to be added. Season 8 begins in the fall of 2024. Stay tuned for more information!
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