2nd garden–2010

April 16, 2010 For April’s Foliage Follow-Up (a celebration of foliage on the day after Bloom Day), let’s see how the one-month-old garden in the deer-infested front yard is holding up. It’s mostly a foliage garden, after all. In case you’re wondering, by “deer-infested” I mean that a half-dozen to ...

April 08, 2010 My back garden slopes down steeply from the house to the fence. Previous owners installed lovely rock retaining walls and beds, plus a stone stair that leads from the upper patio by the house to the mid-level patio around the pool. What I call the lower garden ...

April 07, 2010 When I’m not in the garden, I can’t stop looking out the window. So much is happening that I dare not look away lest I miss something, like the first Knock Out ‘Radsunny’ roses… …or the peak bloom of Shoshana’s irises… …or the raging orange ‘Tangerine Beauty’ ...

April 06, 2010 Azure carpets of Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) on the roadsides are wowing central Texans this spring. I’ve never seen such a good show in my 16 years in Austin. In my own garden, a very small patch in a raised bed brings the show home and elevates ...

April 05, 2010 These beautiful but temperamental irises do not bloom every year. In times of drought, they dry up too and stubbornly refuse to set buds. But the rains this winter enticed them into glorious, ruffled bloom this spring, and I’m delighting in them again. If the friend who ...

April 05, 2010 The Mouse & Trowel Awards have returned, after a year’s hiatus, allowing readers once again to “show your favorite garden blogs a little love.” Dubbed the Mousies, they are the people’s choice awards of the garden-blogging world. Anyone can make nominations and vote, non-bloggers and bloggers alike ...

April 05, 2010 The Mouse & Trowel Awards have returned, after a year’s hiatus, allowing readers once again to “show your favorite garden blogs a little love.” Dubbed the Mousies, they are the people’s choice awards of the garden-blogging world. Anyone can make nominations and vote, non-bloggers and bloggers alike ...

April 03, 2010 with all the frills upon it you’ll be the grandest lady in the Easter parade. I’ll be all in clover and when they look you over I’ll be the proudest fellow in the Easter parade. Have a happy Easter! Song by Irving Berlin. To see Bing Crosby ...

April 02, 2010 If recent tweets among Austin garden bloggers are any indication, we’ve snapped up pot after pot of ‘Senorita Rosalita’ cleome at the Natural Gardener and at Home Depots all over town this spring, and I made sure to grab two for myself in the buying frenzy. Last ...

April 01, 2010 No fooling! Aloes may require protection from the occasional cold winter in Austin, but the payoff comes in early spring, when red or coral flowers rocket skyward. This is ‘Blue Elf’ aloe, which generally blooms a month earlier, starting at the end of February. But this year’s ...

March 31, 2010 ‘Amethyst Flame’ bearded iris, which I purchased on a whim from Barton Springs Nursery several years ago, produces a profusion of lovely purple flowers in early spring as reliably as clockwork. Bearded irises grow on practically every street corner in Austin, thriving in sun or part sun ...

March 30, 2010 Thanks to daylight saving time, I’ve been able to work in the garden after dinner. But I’m finding it hard to get anything done when the light gets caught in the new green leaves on the live oaks (Quercus fusiformis) and the Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana) below ...

March 28, 2010 A week ago I planted out my redesigned island bed in the front yard—my first personal garden in a deer zone, though I’ve designed such for others. ‘Color Guard’ yucca (Y. filamentosa ‘Color Guard’) guards the island with un-tasty leaves but yummy, yummy golden-yellow color. Everyone who ...

March 28, 2010 A week ago I planted out my redesigned island bed in the front yard—my first personal garden in a deer zone, though I’ve designed such for others. ‘Color Guard’ yucca (Y. filamentosa ‘Color Guard’) guards the island with un-tasty leaves but yummy, yummy golden-yellow color. Everyone who ...

March 27, 2010 A sweet Saturday filled with friends and gardening and gardening friends lies ahead. As I make the rounds in the springing-to-life garden this morning, I think a picture of my chirpy succulent dish is in order. I hope you have a happy day in the garden too! ...

March 25, 2010 Tender green leaves, new buds and flowers, balmy air, June bugs flying around crazily, rain dripping from the eaves—yup, it’s springtime. Join me for a twilight stroll around my garden. Pictured above, left to right: ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (A. ovatifolia); iris and dianthus foliage; potted ‘Angelina’ sedum, ...