Rock-Oak-Deer = xeric-woodland-meadow!

I was so excited when Shirley, who blogs at Rock-Oak-Deer,  invited me on a tour of her garden this week.  As an avid follower of her blog, it was such a treat to explore her garden “in real life.”Walking to her front door you are greeted by majestic Texas live oaks and surrounded 360 degrees by her beautiful front yard xeriscape.In my opinion, all of her beds strike the perfect balance between structural plants, flowing grasses, and colorful xeric perennials.  Shirley is a master of arranging her plants for maximum impact.  I think her barrel cactus trio looks AMAZING.What struck me by surprise, is when you leave the front xeric area, you enter a very private woodland garden area.  It is beautiful…so natural and serene.  The forest floor is littered with oak leaves Shirley left in place to act both as a perfect mulch for this area, and they also look and smell wonderful adding ambiance.The shade of the woodland garden makes it comfortable to be in, despite being almost 100 degrees outside.  Shirley and Mr. R-O-D built a very natural fountain with rocks from their property – it fits in beautifully and adds tranquility to this woodland area.  Leaving the woodland garden, you exit under a live oak limb arching gracefully over the gate propped up cleverly by an old hackberry tree.Enter the sunny native buffalo grass and wildflower meadow!  Buffalo grass is so soft and flowy and has a beautiful blue green color.There are many different wildflowers that seed out naturally – Shirley lets them be….welcomes them actually.Shirley created this amazing circle garden and it is FULL of native plants and movement….movement from plants….…and MANY butterflies swirling around your head as you walk around this area.  It was captivating! …so alive……and full of HOT color!Now I am excited to share a few things about Shirley you may not know…at least I didn’t.  She is an artist!  This project she is working on is going to be beautiful when it is done.Shirley upcycles plates and old glass bowls she finds at thrift stores and creates glass flowers, and whimsical garden art.Another thing I did not know…Shirley grows A LOT of edibles!!!!  She has many vegetables, and several fruit trees that she and Mr. R-O-D enjoy.  Shirley has to get creative to keep the deer out.Look at the size of her pomegranates!Here is a picture of her lemonquat tree, and a fig tree in the back.  She also has an ‘orange frost’ satsuma tree as well.

I have several more pictures of Shirley’s garden – it is full of color, and incredible plant combinations.  What I really wanted to get across in this post, however, is how many truly different garden areas she has on her property, and how well she gardens and treats those areas differently.  Or more accurately, how Shirley and Mr. R-O-D allow their property to remain natural and work with it to play up those areas, rather than change them into something they are not.  That was my main take-away from Shirley’s garden.  I loved being in it…and I enjoyed her and Mr. R-O-D’s energy and hospitality.  What a cool couple!

Thank you Shirley and Mr. R-O-D!

If you want to go on another June tour of Shirley’s garden, head over to Digging to see the master photography skills of Pam Penick.

If you want to see more of Shirley’s amazing garden all the time through all the seasons, and learn a lot in the process, follow Rock-Oak-Deer by e-mail like me. :)

• Posted in: Gardens I visit
• Tagged: Rock-oak-deer, san antonio xeriscape