Silhouettes and Sunsets

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Garden Visit

Beautiful silhouettes

I recently had the opportunity to visit A Tasteful Place at The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. What a beautiful design for the community and what a wonderful resource to celebrate the movement  for a healthier lifestyle via garden-to-table living. A Tasteful Place is set overlooking White Rock Lake. The garden includes lovely architectural features, ornamental displays, and even seasonally planted potagers. 

The Barbara and Bob Bigham Scenic Overlook, a perfect location for weddings, wine tastings, seated dinners and picnics, overlooking downtown Dallas and White Rock Lake.Located at the base of The Tasteful Place and overlooking White Rock Lake and downtown Dallas, the Scenic Overlook is surrounded by semi-circular pergolas, flowers, herbs, vegetables and vines.”

Majestically overlooking White Rock Lake with clear views of the Dallas skyline, A Tasteful Place was designed as an ornamental garden by SWA Group, Buchanan Architecture and the Dallas Arboretum’s Horticultural team. P. Allen Smith, television host and lifestyle expert, served as a program consultant for the project.

The Charlotte and Donald Test Pavilion, a 3,600-square-foot building with 180 degree views of the garden, lagoon and walkways, features event space and teaching kitchen to showcase chefs who will demonstrate preparation of garden-to-table cuisine. It’s also a site for cooking classes, educational programs and special events. Russell Buchanan of Buchanan Architecture designed the magnificent Pavilion. Rogers O’Brien Construction, served as the general contractor.

Ruthie Pack’s Tasting Plaza A site of daily tastings of seasonal vegetables and fruit prepared with professionally chosen recipes.

The Tim Wallace Garden to Table Walkway, a wide center walkway from the Pavilion to the overlook, suitable for garden-to-table dinners

Rob Rider and Leah Hales, representing SWA Group, were the lead landscape designers for A Tasteful Place. 

Potager Display Gardens: Four individual quadrants comprise the ornamental kitchen  garden, or “potager,” pronounced, pot·a·ger or ˈpätijə(r) as it is called by the French, which is a productive working garden that is also visually beautiful, drawing on European gardening principals and artful arrangement. The Potager Gardens are a signature element of the development with in-season vegetables, herbs and flowers, planted ornamentally and interspersed with flowers to attract pollinators and beneficial insects.  Of the four potagers, one is named for Marilyn R. Corrigan and the other for her daughter, Catherine A. Corrigan.

The Three Sisters Outlook, the trellis covered patio provides a shaded spot to view A Tasteful Place, the lagoon and meandering walkways and downtown Dallas; it’s also a site for intimate celebrations.

The Margaret and Jay Simmons Lagoon, a signature feature of A Tasteful Place and more than an acre, it sits just below the main garden and provides a large, natural body of water.  The center will feature a beautiful, lighted fountain that changes shape and pattern. The edges of the lagoon are surrounded by large boulders and lush lawns. A bridge crosses a cascading stream that pours into the lagoon. Meandering paths allow visitors to enjoy the ambience and beauty of this new garden.

Kevin Clark of Kevin Clark/Naud Burnett Landscape Architects designed the lagoon and hillside.