El Jardin Encantador -- the Enchanting Garden -- reads a hand-carved wooden gate in Lucinda Hutson's garden. When you step through, prepare to be enchanted.
Lucinda's Casita La Morada (little purple house) stands out even among the tropical-fruit-bowl hues of neighboring houses. For 41 years, she's lived in her 1940s Gothic cottage, transforming the small front, back, and side yards -- even the driveway! -- into a series of courtyard rooms lush with a profusion of flowers and colorful Mexican folk art. Designed for entertaining, her exuberant, one-of-a-kind garden is a fiesta for the senses.
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| Our Lady of La Tina, the bathtub goddess that protects the garden |
Having grown up on the Mexican border in El Paso, Lucinda absorbed the unique "Texican" culture of the region and imported it to Austin.
"My garden allows my guests and me to go south of the border without leaving Austin," she says. "My bright purple house is surrounded by outdoor courtyard theme gardens: a Mexican mermaid grotto, a raised kitchen garden, a salad 'bar,' a deck for salsa dancing and fiestas, and a tequila cantina. Throughout, one finds whimsical folk art, colorful mosaics, and a wild array of plants: edibles, exotics, aromatics, herbs, colorful flowers, and kumquat trees."
Lucinda is a garden, food, lifestyle, and spirits writer and speaker, and the author of The Herb Garden Cookbook (in print for 27 years) and ¡VIVA TEQUILA! Cocktails, Cooking, and Other Agave Adventures.
As one of our generous sponsors, Lucinda will have a book-signing at our Sunday happy hour -- where we're pretty sure we'll be serving up a tequila cocktail or two! -- and it'll be a great opportunity to pick up her popular books (¡VIVA TEQUILA! especially makes a great gift) and tell her how much you loved visiting her garden.
Because we're sure you will.