Sheds

May 21, 2010 The purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) I’m growing from seed collected from my former garden are starting to bloom. One by one, they unfurl their hot-pink petals… …and pop up their glowing orange coneheads. What an easy, simple, and yet beautiful flower. Time has lapsed on the building ...

October 20, 2008 Y’all know how the Austin garden bloggers (36 at last count) delight in abandoning the virtual page for real-life meet-ups, right? On Sunday thirteen of us had the pleasure of touring and socializing in the East Austin gardens of two men who are garden blogging in our ...

October 13, 2008 When Annie and I visited the gardens on the Open Days Austin tour two weekends ago, I was bowled over by Stone Palms and Fatal Flower, where the hand of the owners was plainly visible in the creativity of design and plant choices. Two more gardens on ...

September 24, 2008 Like this bee on blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum ), I’ve been buzzing around the garden, dividing a few plants and taking down garden decor, all while keeping the garden looking good for prospective buyers. (Hello? Are you out there? The stock market may be scary, but it’s ...

July 24, 2008 Our final stop on our early July visit to Chanticleer was the Cut Flower & Vegetable Garden. How sweet, green, and lush it appeared—like an April garden in Austin. Old-fashioned lovelies like hollyhocks (above) and sunflowers gave height to the rows of cutting flowers. Bent-twig arches also ...

February 10, 2008 Evergreen Carolina jessamine cloaks my fence in buttery yellow flowers in late winter. The scent is even more delightful than the cheerful flowers. Ahhh! I spotted a tiger swallowtail butterfly on the jessamine this afternoon, as big as the palm of my hand. Its early appearance surprised ...

January 01, 2008 Many months after I set out to remodel my garden shed, its makeover is complete. Nearly. The frame around the new screen door still requires painting, but everything else is done, several months after starting this project. Isn’t it amazing how seemingly simple projects get dragged out? ...

November 05, 2006 In the spirit of my recent Open Days tour, I took my camera along during an afternoon trip to Natural Gardener nursery for a pot of oxalis. It was a simple enough errand, and the cool, gray skies made a tour of the nursery’s gardens very appealing ...

June 03, 2006 I’ve been away for a week in Tulsa, Oklahoma, visiting my mom. We spent several pleasant (mosquito-free!) afternoons in her cottage garden brimming with hollyhocks. Crowded around her purple garden shed, towering more than 6 feet tall, with flowers as broad as salad plates, Mom’s hollyhocks bloom ...