Aloes

March 09, 2011 Balmy weather last week and a few hot days this week (Tuesday’s high reached 85F/29.4C), and my garden is sitting up and taking notice. A warm, golden glow lights the afternoons. The aloes—the ones that survived the deep freeze this winter—are seizing the moment and sending up ...

March 09, 2011 Balmy weather last week and a few hot days this week (Tuesday’s high reached 85F/29.4C), and my garden is sitting up and taking notice. A warm, golden glow lights the afternoons. The aloes—the ones that survived the deep freeze this winter—are seizing the moment and sending up ...

February 28, 2011 Winter has ceded ground in Austin, and I’ve caught a bad case of spring fever. The garden and I are showing distinct symptoms. What are they, you wonder? Well, doctor, I’m seeing… New plants! This is the worst symptom of spring fever: the unchecked buying of new ...

February 03, 2011 The monster winter storm of the upper Midwest has extended its icy claws all the way down to Austin, giving us a taste of real winter (send it back!) and making a miniature ice-skating rink of the stock-tank pond. Some of my evergreens are beginning to resemble ...

February 01, 2011 Austin’s winter weather is like the punchline of the old joke: Chili today, hot tamale (chilly today, hot tomorrow). Or, in this case, the reverse. It was warm on Sunday and Monday, with highs in the upper 70s (25 C). But during the wee hours this morning, ...

January 29, 2011 Mild temperatures this week lured me to the nurseries, where I told myself I was merely browsing. But two beautiful agaves tempted me, and I ended up bringing them home. I hope they will prove winter-hardy here (online info indicates they will), but just to be safe ...

January 18, 2011 The sun came out and I went out, out into the garden to explore after several dreary days spent indoors. Delightfully spongy earth, fungi on the coir doormats, and a revitalized winter garden attested to our recent rainfall—who knows how much, as I had turned my gauge ...

January 18, 2011 The sun came out and I went out, out into the garden to explore after several dreary days spent indoors. Delightfully spongy earth, fungi on the coir doormats, and a revitalized winter garden attested to our recent rainfall—who knows how much, as I had turned my gauge ...

October 19, 2010 My third stop on Saturday’s Garden Conservancy tour took me to the elegant, hilltop garden overlooking downtown Austin. Surrounding a New Orleans-style Pemberton Heights home and shaded by majestic live oaks, the garden felt lush, green, and classically serene. Pictured above, a cut-stone path edged in dwarf ...

October 11, 2010 Afternoon is the golden time in my garden. Morning light only briefly touches it. Agaves, yuccas, bamboos, and grasses are clustered on the west end of my garden because it gets the most sun, and they look illuminated from within as the setting sun shines through their ...

August 16, 2010 It’s August. It’s Austin. It’s incredibly hot and humid. Flowers for Bloom Day were pretty scarce, but foliage is, as always, carrying the garden through the toughest months. My faves for Foliage Follow-Up this month are visually cooling, with variegated or glaucous leaves. But really, anything that ...

August 06, 2010 Good morning! Let’s stroll the garden before it gets too hot. It’s going to be 100 degrees (37.7 C) again today, so early morning or evening strolls, dripping wet from the pool, are recommended. And yet I was crazy enough desperate enough for fall to plant a ...

June 11, 2010 While visiting Jeff Pavlat’s succulent and cactus garden on Wednesday, I couldn’t resist snapping a few more photos than I showed you yesterday on my post about The Germinatrix’s visit. Pictured above is his millstone fountain, given an Asian flavor with the addition of smooth, gray Mexican ...

May 24, 2010 Hot, muggy days in the 90s (33 C) signal that summer has arrived in central Texas, even if the calendar says it’s still spring. When the mercury creeps skyward, I take satisfaction in knowing that certain plants, even those in small containers, in full sun, won’t require ...

May 01, 2010 Variegated American agave, recovering from a winter freeze that claimed its lower leaves and reaching for the stars The month of May may bring spring flowers to more temperate climes in the Northern Hemisphere, but it brings hot, sticky summer to Austin. Many of our plants respond ...

April 22, 2010 Flowers like exploding fireworks are blazing above the Aloe saponaria (aka A. maculata). The orange blossoms add sizzle and pop to the green and blue color scheme. When the bloom stalk appears and begins to soar skyward, the flower is green and pointed like this. And then…Ka-pow! ...