Flowering in the heart of Austin

Linda and I hosted a dinner party in one of Austin's finest homes Saturday night. The flowers were provided by Talulah Bleu, the new incarnation of Austin's oldest flower shop. Formerly Tarry Town Florist, Lauren Tolley's shop is going far beyond being just a place to buy pretty plants. She's going to use the land behind her shop to start a Farmer's Market that happens twice a month, complete with live music. And she is featuring the work of many local artisans, such as jewelers, in her retail space.

As luck would have it, I was interviewing her for my newspaper column Tuesday afternoon.

Lauren (shown here) took me around back to show me this natural spring behind the store. Does this look like we're out in the country? Well, about we're just a matter of maybe one hundred feet from busy Exposition Blvd. in the heart of west Austin, not far south of West 35th. And yes, that is a natural spring in the background.

Just a historical note--Tarrytown Florist was run by iconic Austinite R.A. Lewis from 1946 until his death. He used to go crawfishing in the spring shown here. His father held the first agricultural permit in Texas for this land.