Admission to each garden is $5 per garden, or $20 for a day pass ticket
which includes all five gardens open on this date. Day pass tickets are
available now at all local Calloway's store locations, and on May 21st at each participating private garden.
Gardens
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Blue Lotus Gardens 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
9347 Angora Street
Dallas, TX 75218Blue Lotus Gardens offers landscape concepts and unique plant
material. The garden offers a rare approach to drought tolerant
gardening which includes a rain water catchment system. The front garden
is consumed with large five-foot specimen agaves and various sizes of
cactus and yuccas. The garden emanates a great west Texas feel. The
front landscape also includes a disappearing fountain that attracts many
Texas native wild birds. As you approach the back garden the atmosphere
becomes eclectic with vintage and modern touches. Nestled within is a
quaint iron bed and a long modern hedge of the Holy Fire lotus flowers.
The garden also includes honey bee hives and stucco turtle sanctuary.Directions: This garden is in the East Dallas
Arboretum/Casa Linda neighborhood. From downtown Dallas, take I-30 East
to East Grand North. East Grand will turn into Garland Road. Turn right
onto Forest Hill Boulevard and then right again onto Angora Street in 4
miles. -
Ken Row & Sergio Ramirez 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
1704 West Colorado Boulevard
Dallas, TX 75208Carved into the north-facing incline in the historic Kessler
Park area of Dallas, this 1920s terraced garden was clearly the original
vision of a family who loved gardens and outdoor entertaining. In that
spirit, it has been an eleven-year restorative, work-in-progress,
hands-on, learn-as-you-go process for the current owners. The owners
have worked to faithfully add elements such as walls, ponds and
fountains that might have been evident eighty-five years earlier, and
worked hard to restore stone terraces, staircases, and pathways that
lead visitors to room after room of outdoor living. The plant palette is
focused on materials that contribute to the design aesthetic, but is
sensitive to the sometimes brutal summers of the north Texas locale. A
literal mile of clipped hedges of Texas-tough dwarf yaupon provide the
structure expected within a garden of this vernacular, and the plants
within are allowed to “do their own thing.” Numerous variety of salvia,
Texas Earth Kind® roses, cold-tolerant olives, and palms live in concert
with the one non-Texas weather-friendly feature—the hydrangea. A small
collection gathered from numerus trips to places where they thrive, the
owners have tucked them into areas where the micro-climate helps them
survive and planted them en masse. The early spring show can stop
traffic and often does.Directions: This garden is in the Kessler Park/Oak
Cliff neighborhood. West of downtown Dallas, take I-30 West to the
Sylvan Avenue exit, turn left. Turn right onto Kessler Parkway and
follow along the golf course to where it meets Colorado Boulevard.
Number 1704 is where Kessler Parkway meets Colorado Boulevard. Parking
is best around the island across the street, along Kessler Parkway or
Kensington Avenue, the small street east of garden. -
Munsterman Garden 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
726 Tenna Loma Court
Dallas, TX 75208This garden, owned by horticulturist and garden contractor Mike
Munsterman, features a variety of plants. The organized chaos of the
plantings is anchored by the structure of boxwood hedges. The front
garden has both shade and sun areas and is planted to accommodate these
different exposures while trying to maintain balance. The backyard is
designed for outdoor living. The back garden appears much larger through
the implementation of the “garden rooms” concept. There are rooms for
entertaining and outdoor dining, relaxing, quiet areas to read or sit by
the fountain, enjoy time by the fire, grow vegetables, and even a space
for a flock of backyard chickens.Directions: This garden is in the Kessler Park/Oak
Cliff neighborhood. From downtown Dallas go west on I-30, 5.7 miles.
Take Exit 42/Hampton Road. Keep left at the fork, follow signs for
Hampton Road South and merge into North Hampton Road. Go 1.1 miles and
turn left onto North Plymouth Road. Take the first right onto North Oak
Cliff Boulevard. Go 0.3 miles and take first right onto Frouts Lane.
Take first left onto Tenna Loma Court. Garden is on left. -
Rister-Armstrong Garden 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
5226 Homer Street
Dallas, TX 75206Hidden away in the middle of the city, the garden of Alan Rister
and partner Greg Armstrong feels like it is almost anywhere but Dallas.
After completing an addition to the original 1926 Tudor-style cottage,
the passionate gardeners were able to purchase the lot next door.
Landscape architect Susi Thompson worked closely with them to expand the
garden and add two decorative and very useful buildings, the carriage
house, which contains a garage, storage, and a work space; and the
garden pavilion, a conservatory which houses their gardening library, a
small kitchen, and a space for entertaining. The styles of the
English-inspired garden and of the garden architecture, in particular
the Arts-and-Crafts-style pavilion, are intended to complement each
other as a unified whole. The three separate structures ensconce the
garden into an intimate enclosure. The framework of the garden is very
formal, with strong axial relationships between the architectural
elements and a series of distinct garden rooms. However, exuberant
planting softens the lines and adds texture, color, and interest at
every turn, for this is a plant-lover’s garden. The hardscape elements
are a rich mix of brick, cast stone, and natural stone both roughly
squared and intricately cut to create formal medallions. In less than
one third of an acre, you will find a sunken lawn, a pergola garden, an
Italianate folly, outdoor fireplace, dining terrace, a perennial border,
and four water features. Although the garden is English in style, Texas
native and adapted plants play a large role in this small landscape.
The owners do all the planting and organic maintenance themselves.Directions: This garden is in the Knox/Henderson
neighborhood. From downtown Dallas, take Highway 75/Central Expressway
North. Take Exit 2/Knox-Henderson. Turn east onto North Henderson
Avenue. Go four blocks to Homer Street and turn right. The garden’s
entrance is at #5226, 75 feet from the intersection of Henderson and
Homer. Parking is available on both sides of Homer Street. MAPSCO number
35V.Photo: Charles Davis Smith AIA.
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Sharolyn & Stan Herndon 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
6522 Tulip Lane
Dallas, TX 75230An unused backyard pool was filled in and replaced by a koi pond
with multiple rills and streams. An intimate fireplace patio and
tumbling waterways along changes in elevation create separate rooms with
hidden walkways awaiting discovery. Beautiful gates add substance and
mystery to the lushly planted entries. Successive waves of perennials
enliven the seasons and feed the bees who live in two hives near the
rear fence.Directions: This garden is in the North Preston
Hollow neighborhood. From North Central Expressway and Royal Lane: Go
west on Royal Lane past Hillcrest Road. Turn left onto Thackery Road.
Turn right onto Tulip Lane.
From Dallas North Tollway and Royal Lane, go east on Royal Lane. Turn right onto Edgemere Road. Turn left onto Tulip Lane