Tucked away in the open space between the Silos and food truck park, is our garden at Magnolia. It’s lined with overflowing flower beds, planter boxes, and a little greenhouse that makes for a great photo op year-round.
Like our shops and menus, the garden changes seasonally. This spring, we’re sharing about the team who makes this transformation happen, as well as giving a look at the Silos grounds in full bloom. Keep reading to learn more.
The Planning Process
Our garden team at Magnolia is made up of eight full-time employees who plan, plant, and tend the garden beds and planter boxes on every Magnolia-owned property. Think: the Silos grounds, four vacation rentals, Magnolia Table restaurant, Magnolia office properties, and the Gristmill where Jo’s cooking show is filmed.
Many months before a new season arrives, our garden team considers what that season means from a high level perspective. Spring is associated with new beginnings. After a long, dormant winter, it’s a season that reveals itself in growth and the promise of new life. Gray skies give way to sun rays peeking through, rain showers nurture new soil, and delicate blooms sprout from the ground.
With that in mind, the team chose a spring color palette with soft pinks, apricots, lavender, ivory, white, and green.
The Planting Process
The process of spring planting typically happens in two parts: plants that can be planted before the last frost date (the last day of the year when temperatures reach 32 degrees or lower) and plants that should be planted after.
The average last frost date in Waco is in mid-March, the same time as our Spring at the Silos event. In order to ensure the grounds are in full bloom for Spring at the Silos, our team avoids planting anything that needs to be freeze-covered. Unlike many other flowers, tulips and daffodils are known for being hardy and resilient to cold snaps, which is why our team plants those first.
This year, the team planted 11 varieties of tulips and five varieties of daffodils throughout the Silos grounds. The timeline for planning and planting spans many months—the bulbs were ordered in August, then planted in January, and are in full bloom by mid-March—just in time for Spring at the Silos!
Here's a look at each variety:
Frequently Asked Questions
Our garden is one of the most beautiful spaces at the Silos, especially during springtime. Every year, guests ask about the efforts that go into maintaining it. Here are the answers to some of our most-asked questions:
How many hours and people does it take to plant for spring?
It takes a team of eight and more than 750 labor hours over two weeks to plant all of the bulbs for spring.
How many total bulbs are planted at Magnolia entities for spring?
26,000
What’s Jo’s favorite kind of flower?
Favorite cutting flower: Chocolate Lace Dara (this also gets planted for spring!)
Favorite tulip: Copper Image
Bring the Garden Home
We hope you get a chance to see the Silos in full bloom this spring. And when you do, we encourage you to start growing something good of your own at home!
