I love gardening although I don't get time to do too much anymore.

It's an extension of the home interior, the same rules of design apply just in a different medium. I love clustering and combining plants to create visual interest in the garden.

TX Hill Country Container Gardens

In a recent trip to the Texas hill country, my husband and I stopped off in Gruene, TX (pronounced "grin") for lunch.

The Gristmill, a historic mill turned restaurant has a beautiful container garden that I love to see. They use old wooden barrels, all bunched together at the front of the restaurant to greet customers when they walk up. Notice the prickly pear amongst the zinnias above?

Such a nice textural combination.

TX Hill Country container gardens are full and blooming at The Gristmill restaurant.

The garden in the front is in full sun and boasts zinnias, periwinkle, sweet potato vine, even some herbs thrown in there.

Love the sweet potato vine in these containers.

The old barrels are a perfect container for this historic Texas town sidewalk. What a gorgeous combination of color and texture.

The prickly pear in the midst of the flowers makes for an interesting textural combination.

I've tried to recreate this look in my back garden, but things don't thrive quite as well. I'm sure these pots are watered and tended much more than mine.

Love the combination of color and texture in these large barrel containers.

Rosemary grows well all over the hill country, usually a very dry climate in the summer.

The shady area by the bar in the back is not forgotten, with sweet potato vine and philodendren. Again, such a lovely combination of leaf sizes, colors, and the fluffy texture of the asparagus fern in the back.