Decor

January 21, 2011 Winter-blooming ‘Marilyn’s Choice’ abutilon is dangling her red-and-yellow bells under evergreen “maple” leaves. Since trying ‘Marilyn’s Choice’ as my first abutilon a couple of years ago, I’ve added prostrate ‘Candy Corn’ and a no-name pink that flourishes even in dry shade. I just picked up a 4-inch ...

January 15, 2011 On this rainy, chilly Bloom Day I’m just not going to venture into the garden to poke around for a tiny rosemary bloom or withered Knock Out rose petal. Instead I’m treating you to a reprise of images from the Stone Palms garden, located in the Clarksville ...

November 12, 2010 Gazing up from the watery depths, I spied a mysterious figure in the garden. Who could it be? All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited ...

October 21, 2010 Continuing my westward route across Austin on Saturday’s Open Days tour, I headed to the Westlake garden at the Jones residence multimillion-dollar, 11,000 square foot mansion (as per Trulia). This is the view from their elevated front terrace. What? Those buildings? Downtown Austin, of course. I was ...

October 20, 2010 Deborah Hornickel added on to her charming Bryker Woods home a couple of years ago, extending its footprint into her back garden, which you can see pre-remodel in my Open Days 2006 post about Deborah’s garden. Visiting post-remodel on Saturday’s Open Days tour, I found it to ...

September 29, 2010 Blissful weather has this Austin gardener walking on air. Summer is banished this week, with dry, cool air from the north and highs in the lower to mid-80s, and lows in the upper 50s giving us a little nip in the air in the morning. The garden ...

August 26, 2010 Since I wrote about inviting wildlife into the garden for Tuesday’s Garden Designers Roundtable, I’ve been looking more carefully to see who is visiting my garden. Lurking among the orange narrowleaf zinnias (Zinnia angustifolia), a tiny spider waits for lunch. At the stock-tank pond, a scruffy (perhaps ...

July 14, 2010 Exuberantly planted front-yard gardens, colorful window boxes, lush container plantings, shady nooks, garden art, and Crayola-hued houses make the Cottage District in Buffalo, New York, a delight to explore. It’s one of the most popular neighborhoods to tour during Garden Walk, which begins in two weeks. Lucky ...

April 29, 2010 Taffy by TerraSculpture When concrete donkeys and St. Francis of Assisi statues won’t do (and no disrespect intended toward either; they have staying power!), TerraSculpture fills a stylistic void with a line of contemporary sculpture pieces that would look great in just about any kind of garden ...

April 28, 2010 While my dad was in town last week, I invited us over to Jenny Stocker’s garden for a visit, knowing that it would be spectacular at this time of year. Jenny, who blogs at Rock Rose, kindly overlooked the pushiness of my request by not only welcoming ...

April 28, 2010 While my dad was in town last week, I invited us over to Jenny Stocker’s garden for a visit, knowing that it would be spectacular at this time of year. Jenny, who blogs at Rock Rose, kindly overlooked the pushiness of my request by not only welcoming ...

January 31, 2010 Ding-dong, amaryllis calling! OK, it’s official—the neighbors think I’m nuts. But don’t you agree that my new green door is a good backdrop for the red-and-white candy stripes? This is one of my bargain-sale amaryllis from Target, which has turned into a bodacious blooming beauty. Gorgeous color! ...

January 23, 2010 Before. The original dark-stained door and peachy orange color on the door surround just weren’t my style. Lackluster porch ornaments thrown into place after our recent move weren’t helping either. After. A leafy green paint job on the door brightens the entry, and painting the surround to ...

January 13, 2010 An Austin nursery landmark has succumbed to the ailing economy. Gardens — a boutique nursery, home-and-garden gift shop, and design firm located on 35th Street — announced a 40- to 70%-off sale yesterday. I heard about it on Twitter and then via a forwarded email from Gardens ...

December 31, 2009 A new year is upon us, a fresh start, a chance to cast off the disappointments of 2009 and look ahead with hope for economic turnaround, world peace, and…more time in the garden! What better way to celebrate than with a few new goodies for the garden? ...

December 31, 2009 A new year is upon us, a fresh start, a chance to cast off the disappointments of 2009 and look ahead with hope for economic turnaround, world peace, and…more time in the garden! What better way to celebrate than with a few new goodies for the garden? ...