November 03, 2025
Let’s continue with a sneak peek of the November 8th Garden Conservancy tour in Travis County. Today I’ll show you Este Garden.
Quick side notes: I’ll be manning a book-signing table at one of the gardens during the tour, at Belmont Parkway Garden. For tour information and tickets — each garden is sold individually — click here. Two of the gardens have timed entry due to limited parking, so get your tickets ASAP if you want to see those.
Este Garden
Este Garden is located behind Este restaurant in East Austin. Este took over the spot from the beloved Eastside Cafe, which closed in 2019. In front, I admired bristly beaked yucca underplanted with gauzy grasses.
Este Garden is out back on a third of an acre, surrounded by neighboring homes. Farmers Anamaria Gutierrez and Lea Scott grow enough produce here to supply three restaurants: Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti. According to the Garden Conservancy’s write-up, “The garden produces thousands of pounds of vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers year-round, employing environmentally-conscious growing practices including, but not limited to, low-till farming, avoidance of pesticides or chemicals, and companion planting.”
Charmingly, the garden is open to the community. I’m sure the neighbors must enjoy the beautiful view. Behind Este, you enter the garden through a sturdy arbor.
A stone paver path leads through the garden, which is bursting with passionflower, cosmos, and other pollinator-attracting flowers as well as vegetables and herbs.
Here I met Anamaria harvesting long beans.
They are noodle-like and purple.
A sunny mural on a shipping container brightens one side of the garden.
Veggie rows
Here’s a plant I’d never encountered — roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa). The calyx and flower can be used for tea and jam.
Its cranberry-red stems and calyces stand out amid narrow green leaves.
Pink-tinged white flowers with red centers are pretty too.
I admired morning glory tumbling over a fence.
Purple martin houses hang in the center of the garden.
Cosmos adding orange flowers for fall
Hand-illustrated signs identify summer squash and other vegetables.
Passionflower rambles on a split-rail fence.
Its frilly purple flowers look almost alien.
Basil in flower
Ruffly kale
Sunflowers were attracting monarchs.
Lunchtime!
More squash
Malabar spinach
Zinnias and cosmos
A painted lady butterfly dropped in for a taste…
…while a sparrow perched on an okra stem.
In a shade house, prickly pear pads were drying on a string. I should have asked Anamaria why they do this.
Bundles of other plants were drying too.
Sunflower drying on its own stem
On the far fence, coral vine was in full, frothy pink bloom.
You exit the garden through a tunnel of it.
What a display!
I’m not a vegetable gardener myself, but I found Este Garden to be peaceful and lovely, with plenty of ornamental beauty along with food production. To get tickets for this garden, click here.
Up next: Belmont Parkway Garden on the Open Day Tour. For a look back at the Pollinators’ Paradise Garden, click here.
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Digging Deeper
My new book, Gardens of Texas: Visions of Resilience from the Lone Star State, is here! Find it on Amazon, other online book sellers, and in stores everywhere. It’ll make a great holiday gift for anyone who loves gardens or the natural beauty of Texas. More info here.
Come see me on tour! I’m speaking in cities across Texas to celebrate the release of Gardens of Texas. Appearances in November include: Garden Spark in Austin on 11/6; Travis County Open Day Tour at Belmont Pkwy Garden in Austin on 11/8; Community Gardens in Bastrop on 11/9; Redenta’s Garden Shop in Dallas on 11/15; North Haven Gardens in Dallas on 11/16; Wichita River Native Plant Society of Texas in Wichita Falls on 11/17; Grapevine Garden Club in Grapevine on 11/18, and Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin on 11/22. Join me to learn, be inspired, and get a signed copy of the book!
Nov. 6: Learn about garden design and ecology at Garden Spark! I organize in-person talks by designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners a few times a year in Austin. The next talk on 11/6 is my own — a presentation on resilient Texas gardens! Tickets available here. Subscribe to Garden Spark by clicking here to email — subject line: SUBSCRIBE.
Nov. 8: Tour 5 Austin gardens on the Open Day Tour for Travis County, sponsored by the Garden Conservancy. I’ll be at the Belmont Parkway Garden with a book-signing table for Gardens of Texas, so come say hi! Tickets for each garden must be purchased online in advance, and some gardens limit attendance, so reserve your spot early. Find full details and ticket links here.
All material © 2025 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
