My book recommended by Better Homes and Gardens!

My book recommended by Better Homes and Gardens!

April 20, 2016 Last night I was sprawled on the couch reading the new issue of Better Homes and Gardens (May 2016). Halfway through the magazine, I turned the page and saw the cover of my new book, The Water-Saving Garden, pictured along with four other gardening titles. “Our favorite ...
Lone screech owl and other creature features

Lone screech owl and other creature features

March 24, 2016 Every day, through the open window, I hear the thin cries of cedar waxwings as they strafe the back yard, flying from ligustrums to yaupons in the greenbelt behind our house to polish off the late-season berries. With their sleek, tan feathers and robbers’ masks, they are ...
The public side of writing a book

The public side of writing a book

March 03, 2016 This may be stating the obvious, but to write a book you have to be able to sit in a quiet room for hours a day, for months and months, and be alone with your thoughts, and write. Words may flow like honey, or they may ooze, ...
Formal gardening with native plants in Wildflower magazine

Formal gardening with native plants in Wildflower magazine

February 24, 2016 Native plants have come so far in the past 20 or so years. Once considered weeds, they’re now treasured by those who make gardens that attract pollinators and other wildlife, need less irrigation to thrive, and convey a unique sense of place. Enthusiasts readily fill their cottage ...
Happy Friday, friends!

Happy Friday, friends!

February 12, 2016 Thank you, Amazon editors, for naming The Water-Saving Garden one of your Best Books of February in Crafts, Hobbies and Home! Happy Friday, y’all! _______________________ Upcoming Events and News Join me for my kick-off garden talk for my new book, The Water-Saving Garden, on February 27, at ...
I'm on Central Texas Gardener talking about water-saving gardens

I’m on Central Texas Gardener talking about water-saving gardens

February 05, 2016 I’m on Central Texas Gardener this week! Huge thanks to producer Linda Lehmusvirta and host Tom Spencer for having me on to talk about my new book. The show airs on KLRU, Austin’s PBS station, this Saturday at noon and 4 pm and again on Sunday at ...
Look for me in Rodale's Organic Life magazine

Look for me in Rodale’s Organic Life magazine

August 05, 2015Organic Life’s “The Water Issue”Are you a former reader of Organic Gardening? That venerable magazine folded in late 2014, after 7 decades of publication (wow!), and it was relaunched earlier this year, with a broader focus, as Organic Life. I wasn’t a reader of the former, so I ...
Digging receives two Garden Writers Association awards!

Digging receives two Garden Writers Association awards!

July 02, 2015 I’m really excited to announce that I’ve received two Silver Awards of Achievement for garden writing in the 2015 Garden Writers Association Media Awards Program (GWA is now GardenComm). One award is for the category Blog-Writing. The judges, in making their decision, specifically considered three of my ...
You put Digging in Better Homes and Gardens magazine!

You put Digging in Better Homes and Gardens magazine!

June 12, 2015 It’s all thanks to you! I opened the new issue (July 2015) of Better Homes and Gardens magazine yesterday to find Digging listed on page 8 along with the other 2015 Blogger Awards winners. There I am — woot! I found out in March that Digging had ...
My Dry and Mighty article is in Wildflower magazine

My Dry and Mighty article is in Wildflower magazine

May 21, 2015 If you’re a member of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, you’ll soon find the Summer 2015 issue of Wildflower magazine in your mailbox. I’m thrilled to announce that I wrote the cover story, “Dry & Mighty.” What’s it all about? “A dry garden doesn’t have to ...
My former garden is in Great Backyards magazine

My former garden is in Great Backyards magazine

April 18, 2015 I don’t tend to feel nostalgic about my former garden, which I loved but left almost 7 years ago. After all, it lives on in years of blog posts (see Categories: 1st Garden in my sidebar). Even so, I’m pleased that Green Hall Garden is getting another ...
Look for me in Austin Woman and Consumer Reports magazines this month

Look for me in Austin Woman and Consumer Reports magazines this month

April 03, 2015 When it rains, it pours. After the Southern Living publicity in February, a writer for Austin Woman contacted me for an interview about blogging and gardening in Austin. I was happy to oblige, and now the issue with my interview is out. You can pick up a ...
The Water-Saving Garden and Southern Living Bloggers to Follow

The Water-Saving Garden and Southern Living Bloggers to Follow

February 03, 2015 Two really nice things happened yesterday. First I learned that Southern Living, a magazine I’ve been reading since I was a teenager, named me one of 30 Bloggers To Follow in 2015. “From food to home and everything in between, we share the list of bloggers that ...
Wildflower Center pulls plug on spring garden tour; fall tours land on same date

Wildflower Center pulls plug on spring garden tour; fall tours land on same date

January 08, 2015 First the bad news for avid attendees of Austin garden tours: our city has lost one of its best-known and highly regarded garden tours, the annual springtime Gardens on Tour, which benefits the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. According to Director of Horticulture Andrea DeLong-Amaya, the tour, ...
I'm in HGTV Magazine October 2014 issue

I’m in HGTV Magazine October 2014 issue

September 08, 2014 While waiting in line at the grocery store checkout this morning, I flipped through the latest issue of HGTV Magazine and was absurdly pleased to see my own name on page 27, in their monthly feature, “How Bad Is It…” You’re right, it really doesn’t take much ...
My article about John Fairey wins GWA Gold Award!

My article about John Fairey wins GWA Gold Award!

August 28, 2013 They might have heard me whooping all the way up in Quebec City last Monday when I learned that I’d won the 2013 Gold Award from Garden Writers Association (now GardenComm) for Best Magazine Writing. I couldn’t make it to the GWA symposium, held in Canada this ...