Fall florals to fall for at Terrain garden shop

Fall florals to fall for at Terrain garden shop

October 22, 2023 It’s good for my wallet that we don’t have a Terrain in Austin, or even in Texas. I know, I know, Terrain has an online store. But my infatuation with this beautiful garden shop stems from its immersive, gorgeous, creative store displays and merchandising. Especially when it’s ...
Marfa love affair

Marfa love affair

August 05, 2023 Last week I made my first real visit to Marfa, the tiny (population 1,750) and improbable art mecca in far West Texas. I’d passed through Marfa once before, at the tail end of a spring break trip to drought-bleached Big Bend with small children, and I confess ...
Plants and pots at Shades of Green nursery in San Antonio

Plants and pots at Shades of Green nursery in San Antonio

June 22, 2023 Friends in San Antonio told me they like to shop at Shades of Green nursery, so when I was in town a few weeks ago I decided it was time for a visit. The place looks small from the outside, but as soon as I walked in, ...
On the hunt for a Shantung maple at Metro Maples

On the hunt for a Shantung maple at Metro Maples

April 18, 2023 One thing that may surprise you about North Texas gardens is they frequently indulge a passion for Japanese maples. In the leafy, older neighborhoods of Dallas–Fort Worth, Japanese maples fill the understory with wine-red leaves and a ballerina’s grace. Although they need deep soakings during droughty Texas ...
Teri Speight shares Black Flora stories at Garden Spark

Teri Speight shares Black Flora stories at Garden Spark

October 22, 2022 Author Teri Speight came to Austin this week to share inspiring stories from her new book, Black Flora, at my Garden Spark speaker series. An enthusiastic audience came out to hear Teri’s talk under the big live oak at beautiful Barton Springs Nursery. Here are a few ...
New succulent nursery by OG Agave spikes up Lakeway

New succulent nursery by OG Agave spikes up Lakeway

May 16, 2022 Austin gardener Matt Shreves is crazy about cacti and succulents. His own gorgeous garden is a spiky showcase of agaves, barrel cactus, yuccas, Argentine saguaro and other columnar cacti, as well as small container-sized succulents. I’ve featured his garden twice — here and here — so check ...
Poppies a-popping at Antique Rose Emporium, plus Round Top shopping

Poppies a-popping at Antique Rose Emporium, plus Round Top shopping

May 10, 2022 A month ago it wasn’t blazing summer in Austin but gentle spring. Early April found me on a wildflower safari with Patterson Webster, visiting from Canada, and my friend Diana Kirby. The Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham We drove out to Brenham for lunch at Truth BBQ ...
Wisteria-scented Garden Spark at Barton Springs Nursery

Wisteria-scented Garden Spark at Barton Springs Nursery

April 16, 2022 Last week I hosted one of my Garden Spark talks at Barton Springs Nursery, and their beautiful outdoor classroom was made even more beautiful by a wisteria in full bloom. If you know anything about Chinese wisteria, you know it’s a monster of a vine. But its ...
Texas mountain laurel bliss - and books! - at Barton Springs Nursery

Texas mountain laurel bliss – and books! – at Barton Springs Nursery

April 05, 2022 Last week Barton Springs Nursery was marinating in grape Kool-Aid fragrance thanks to a bumper crop of Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora) blossoms. Purple clusters of sweet-smelling flowers greeted me at the entrance to the nursery yard. More grapey trees — including a giant of about 15 ...
Gardens galore at Paxson Hill Farm, part 1

Gardens galore at Paxson Hill Farm, part 1

February 09, 2022 Paxson Hill Farm’s crossroads, where inviting paths branch in every direction A friend asked me how I find gardens to see when traveling. Aside from online research a lot comes down to asking gardeners who live in the area. And it pays to build in time for ...
Pumpkin spice florals at Terrain garden shop

Pumpkin spice florals at Terrain garden shop

February 04, 2022 While in Pennsylvania last fall, I couldn’t miss a shopping excursion at Terrain, an eye-candy garden shop/nursery that’s a sister-store to Anthropologie. I visited the flagship Terrain in Glen Mills a few years ago (click for my tour). This time I checked out the Devon location, and ...
Ceremony garden shop in Wimberley

Ceremony garden shop in Wimberley

December 30, 2021 While at Wimberley Market Days in early December to shop at my friend Cynthia’s booth, she told me about a must-see garden boutique in the town center called Ceremony. My friends and I made a beeline for it right after a catfish lunch along Cypress Creek. Ceremony ...
Chilly October excursion to the Hamptons

Chilly October excursion to the Hamptons

December 15, 2021 Cooper’s Beach in Southampton Before I trekked to the eastern end of Long Island during my Northeast road trip, all I knew about the Hamptons and Montauk was from Sex and the City (drunken beach parties in the Hamptons) and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (an ...
Garden Spark talk held under the stars at Barton Springs Nursery

Garden Spark talk held under the stars at Barton Springs Nursery

September 26, 2021 Photo: Barton Springs Nursery After a hiatus of a year and a half, my Garden Spark speaker series returned last Thursday with a presentation by always-inspiring landscape architect Tait Moring, in a beautiful new outdoor classroom at Barton Springs Nursery. I’ve been trying to get Tait for ...
Fun stuff at Austin nurseries this spring

Fun stuff at Austin nurseries this spring

June 03, 2021 In my mad rush from nursery to nursery this spring, buying plants to fill holes left by the snowpocalypse, I’ve spotted a lot of funny and eye-catching decor. Let me share some of it with you! Humor at Barton Springs Nursery At Barton Springs Nursery, the bed-headed ...
Bluebonnet safari in Round Top and Brenham

Bluebonnet safari in Round Top and Brenham

April 16, 2021 I kept hearing that bluebonnets were a bit of a no-show in Central Texas this year due to a dry fall and winter, not because of the February freeze. Friends who’d gone west into the Hill Country looking for denim-blue fields came back disappointed, and my own ...