Pease Park after dark

Pease Park after dark

September 08, 2021 I recently returned to Kingsbury Commons at Pease Park to see the Treehouse and other new features after dark. It turns out, nighttime Pease Park may be even better than daytime Pease Park! (Click for my first visit to Pease). I mean, look at the Treehouse, glowing ...
Exploring reimagined Waterloo Park in downtown Austin

Exploring reimagined Waterloo Park in downtown Austin

August 30, 2021 Shade trees are precious in a hot climate, 200-year-old heritage live oaks even more so. As Waterloo Park in downtown Austin emerges from a massive, 10-year redesign and overhaul, two grand old live oaks on the west side of the park greet visitors as if lovingly presented ...
Playing at revamped Kingsbury Commons in Pease Park

Playing at revamped Kingsbury Commons in Pease Park

July 12, 2021 I recently rounded up the family to explore the newly redesigned section of Austin’s Pease Park known as Kingsbury Commons. The biggest draw for me was seeing the Treehouse, a rusty orb of rebar and steel beams — less a treehouse than a giant ball of pollen! ...
Exploring the Children's Garden: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 5

Exploring the Children’s Garden: Missouri Botanical Garden, part 5

June 30, 2021 After being closed for a year due to the pandemic, the Doris I. Schnuck Children’s Garden had recently reopened when I visited Missouri Botanical Garden earlier this month, and the kids were clearly loving it. The splash pad was the hot spot, with water jets popping up ...
Modern ranch garden embraces water collection and wildflowers in New Braunfels

Modern ranch garden embraces water collection and wildflowers in New Braunfels

May 17, 2021 Last spring Cody and Michelle Koehler finished their garden installation at their home in New Braunfels, Texas. Less than a year later, February’s epic freeze killed most of their large specimen plants, including Weber agaves, olive and palo verde trees, and toothless sotol. Like everyone else in ...
Early spring blooms and Athena the owl at Wildflower Center

Early spring blooms and Athena the owl at Wildflower Center

March 20, 2021 When they’re offered, I take advantage of late-admission hours to gardens. The light is better for photography in the early evening, and you have a better chance of seeing wildlife. On Thursday our local native-plant botanical garden, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, stayed open late, and ...
Origami sculpture in the Culinary and Adventure gardens at San Antonio Botanical Garden

Origami sculpture in the Culinary and Adventure gardens at San Antonio Botanical Garden

December 10, 2020 Part 3 of my recent visit to San Antonio Botanical Garden to see the Origami in the Garden exhibition by Santa Fe artist Kevin Box takes us through the relatively new Culinary and Family Adventure gardens. Two festive Christmas trees greeted me just inside the entrance. Zachry ...
Grow a hedge using native Texas plants

Grow a hedge using native Texas plants

November 30, 2020 I want to share a little more Wildflower Center inspiration, this time from the maze in the Family Garden. Traditionally mazes are defined by clipped boxwood or yew hedges that grow at least to head-height — about 6 feet tall. Here at Austin’s native-plant botanical garden, the ...
Hide out at Fortlandia at the Wildflower Center

Hide out at Fortlandia at the Wildflower Center

November 21, 2020 Bring your child — or just your inner child — and explore the collection of architectural play forts at Fortlandia. This hands-on exhibit at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center occurs every fall through winter, with local architects, designers, and artists creating one-of-a-kind forts that are spaced ...
Bigtooth maples and more fall foliage at the Wildflower Center, part 2

Bigtooth maples and more fall foliage at the Wildflower Center, part 2

November 19, 2020 Did a few bigtooth maples from Lost Maples Park lose their way and end up at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center? It sure looked that way last week, when I spotted pumpkin-spice trees in the Family Garden. This is part 2 of my tour. Big, colorful ...
San Antonio Botanical Garden reopening, part 1

San Antonio Botanical Garden reopening, part 1

May 19, 2020 After a month and a half self-isolating at home, I was craving a garden visit when I got the news that both the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and San Antonio Botanical Garden were opening back up at limited capacity. I immediately went online and secured tickets ...
Fortlandia is here for one more fortnight at the Wildflower Center

Fortlandia is here for one more fortnight at the Wildflower Center

January 07, 2020 Thinking back on forts I made as a kid — from blanket forts to a climbable stack of firewood between two trees (aka the Batcave) to branch-outlined “houses” in the wooded lot next door — I find myself nostalgic for the pleasure of a hideaway. But we’re ...
Hideaway garden at Davern Oaks: Austin Open Day tour

Hideaway garden at Davern Oaks: Austin Open Day tour

November 16, 2019 An Old Austin-style garden awaited across the street from the Greenway Garden on The Garden Conservancy‘s Open Day tour two weeks ago. What does Old Austin style look like? To me it means a mature tree canopy and a lush understory of sturdy subtropical evergreens like boxwood, ...
A city park floating on air: Klyde Warren Park in Dallas

A city park floating on air: Klyde Warren Park in Dallas

November 03, 2019 A remarkable green space floats overhead, literally flashing before your eyes as you commute or pass through downtown Dallas. Built above 3 blocks of the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, Klyde Warren Park is a remarkable green roof that has become a beloved public park. Traffic flows beneath the ...
Children's Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling

Children’s Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling

July 17, 2019 Part of the Mordecai Children’s Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens, which I visited during the Denver Fling (June 2019), sits atop a parking garage, making it one very large rooftop garden. A pretty alpine garden, including this crevice garden, greets you as you enter, and it surprised ...
Party under the willow tree in Judy Seaborn's garden: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling

Party under the willow tree in Judy Seaborn’s garden: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling

July 13, 2019 Grandmother Willow offers sage advice in Pocahontas. Old Man Willow terrorizes the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings. The Whomping Willow bashes the unwary and guards a secret passageway in the Harry Potter series. Why does the willow figure so prominently in our cultural mythology? Perhaps ...