Design

August 04, 2008 It was 105 degrees F (40.5 C) in central Austin yesterday, and we’re expecting the same today. After more than a month of triple-digit temperatures and no rain, I can tell you that things are looking brown and parched around town. And from the news and garden ...

June 22, 2008With Austin on track for our hottest summer on record, I’ve sworn off any real gardening for the pleasures of garden book reading—inside, preferably under a ceiling fan with a cold Diet Dr. Pepper in my hand. Recent trips to Barnes & Noble and Half Price Books have ...

June 02, 2008 Aside from the painted-wall eye candy, the Summer 2008 Wildflower magazine also has an interesting article about Lotusland in Montecito, California. I’d never heard of this fantastical garden until Chuck visited Lotusland and posted about it. Now it’s on my must-see-gardens list. According to landscape architect Gary ...

May 31, 2008 Imagine how thrilling this pale-yellow Opuntia flower would look against a lavender wall. Or maybe a leaf-green wall, which would contrast with the purple pads of the cactus, especially in winter when its color is strongest. I’ve just read the Summer 2008 issue of Wildflower, the magazine ...

April 30, 2008 This month’s topic for Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop, hosted by Gardening Gone Wild, is Front-Yard Gardens. Unlike many people who start gardening in back and work their way out front, I took the opposite approach. Before I’d even moved into this house, before I gave thought to ...

April 30, 2008 This month’s topic for Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop, hosted by Gardening Gone Wild, is Front-Yard Gardens. Unlike many people who start gardening in back and work their way out front, I took the opposite approach. Before I’d even moved into this house, before I gave thought to ...

March 27, 2008 Squid agave (Agave bracteosa ), silver ponyfoot (Dichondra argentea ), Manfreda ‘Macho Mocha,’ and Hinckley’s columbine in my first stock-tank planter. Over at Gardening Gone Wild, they’re talking about container plantings for this month’s Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop. You know what that means here at Digging—cattle troughs! ...

February 11, 2008 Flipping open to the middle of my first issue of Horticulture—a gift from my mother (thanks, Mom!)—I sucked in a deep breath in pure admiration of the garden featured in the article “Photo Finish” (Dec/Jan 08). Saturated in deep purple, chartreuse, and red, and anchored by all ...

February 11, 2008 Flipping open to the middle of my first issue of Horticulture—a gift from my mother (thanks, Mom!)—I sucked in a deep breath in pure admiration of the garden featured in the article “Photo Finish” (Dec/Jan 08). Saturated in deep purple, chartreuse, and red, and anchored by all ...

February 05, 2008 Front garden, Early Summer 2007. Purple coneflower and ‘Belinda’s Dream’ roses harmonize, while silver artemesia and chartreuse Salvia greggii foliage add a little punch. Like many gardeners, I love color in the garden. Pinks reign in the front, reds and blues in the back. At this time ...

February 05, 2008 Front garden, Early Summer 2007. Purple coneflower and ‘Belinda’s Dream’ roses harmonize, while silver artemesia and chartreuse Salvia greggii foliage add a little punch. Like many gardeners, I love color in the garden. Pinks reign in the front, reds and blues in the back. At this time ...

January 24, 2008 Don’t you just love this wisteria-and-morning glory cloaked pergola in my garden? NOT! I wish. I have no arbors or pergolas in my garden, and this month I’m sorely feeling the lack. The folks over at Gardening Gone Wild have designated January’s design workshop topic “Arbors and ...

January 24, 2008 Don’t you just love this wisteria-and-morning glory cloaked pergola in my garden? NOT! I wish. I have no arbors or pergolas in my garden, and this month I’m sorely feeling the lack. The folks over at Gardening Gone Wild have designated January’s design workshop topic “Arbors and ...

January 20, 2008 This not-so-gentle giant—my arms still bear scratches from transplanting it last week—takes center stage in my new foundation planting. I fell in love with this variegated agave’s writhing arms and green-and-yellow racing stripes last spring after I spotted one sprawling out of a simple concrete trough at ...

December 12, 2007 Entry to my front garden via the driveway The folks at Gardening Gone Wild have selected fences and walls for this month’s design workshop. My garden is not blessed with any walls, but I can show you my front-garden fence, which, being in the front yard, makes ...

November 12, 2007The folks at Gardening Gone Wild have taken a page out of Carol’s book by issuing a community-building invitation to post about aspects of garden design—a different topic each month. The first topic, for November, is paths and walkways. Limestone, decomposed-granite, stepping-stone, cypress mulch, and concrete paths all ...