Upcoming Garden Symposium and New Blooms at Mayfield Park

Mayfield Park is holding its annual fundraiser, the Trowel and Error Garden Symposium on April 2, 2011, and I am honored to be one of the guest speakers. I will be discussing “The Wildlife Garden: Beauty and Function with Native Plants,” and I will be joined by Austin American-Statesman’s Renee Studebaker, who will be sharing her Bucket Garden List for easy container gardening, and by Cher Groody, who will be speaking about antique heirloom roses. In addition to the symposium lectures, there will be a tour of the restored cottage, a plant sale, and a garden goodie raffle. I do hope that you will come out and join us to help support Mayfield Park!

Mayfield Park is one of Austin’s historic and most serene preserves. The 19th-century cottage and 23 acres of woodlands were purchased by the Mayfield family in 1909, and over the years daughter Mary Mayfield and her husband Milton Gutsch added onto the cottage and built the ponds and stone walls that characterize the park’s homestead and garden areas.

My family and I stopped by the park last week to visit the grounds’ peacocks and cottage garden. Much of the plant life was still waking up after its winter sleep , with just the tiniest of buds present during our visit, but early bloomers were kind enough to welcome us with color, including the fragrant Mexican plum above, and the vibrant redbud below. For more information on the delightful pink blooms around Austin, please visit my Redbuds post over at Beautiful Wildlife Garden.

The grounds include one of the largest stands of towering Sabal Mexicana palms north of the Rio Grande Valley, and in keeping with the way Mary Mayfield gardened, the caretakers and volunteers grow many bulbous flowers, including irises, tulips, lilies, daffodils, and snowbells. Blended with the Mayfield plants are native trees, understory plants, and perennials, which also line the woodland trails that take visitors down to the nearby lagoon.

Along with the beautiful gardens and woodland trails, Mayfield Park is probably best known for its plentiful peafowl. The Mayfields were given their first peafowl in 1935, and their birds’ descendants still grace the park.

This peacock was obsessed with his reflection in a truck’s bumper, attempting to thwart any potential threat, metallic or otherwise, to his chance with the ladies.

In addition to the India Blues, Mayfield Park has several white peafowl, including these two white peahens taking a brief respite from insect hunting in order to groom one another.

What I think I love about this park so much is the tranquility it offers in the middle of an ever-growing, bustling city. One feels impelled to whisper rather than disturb the peaceful sounds of nature. Do visit when you have a chance, and if you can make it out on April 2, all the better!