Arbors

March 24, 2011 How we wonder whether we have a nesting pair of screech owls or a solitary, shy male in our nesting box. Our dining table is situated so that we can watch him perching drowsily in the opening as we sit down to dinner each evening. If we ...

March 22, 2011 I’m joining my colleagues at Garden Designers Roundtable today on the topic “Vertical.” Introducing vertical elements into the garden is a time-honored technique for bridging the gap between earth and sky. You can do so much more than just plant a tree! Here are my favorite techniques ...

March 14, 2011 Today is the official launch of Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces, a new book by Susan Morrison and Rebecca Sweet, my friends and colleagues at Garden Designers Roundtable. To celebrate, Rebecca and Susan are hosting a cyber book party with 7 great ...

February 05, 2011 An inch of beautiful, powdery snow—the most snow Austin has received since 2004, the Statesman reported today—greeted us when we awoke on Friday. Three days of below-freezing weather (since Tuesday!) had made the ground cold enough for it to stick. School was cancelled, and our kids took ...

February 05, 2011 An inch of beautiful, powdery snow—the most snow Austin has received since 2004, the Statesman reported today—greeted us when we awoke on Friday. Three days of below-freezing weather (since Tuesday!) had made the ground cold enough for it to stick. School was cancelled, and our kids took ...

January 16, 2011 On this chilly, wet Foliage Follow-Up, let’s revisit the fabulous Tex-Asian garden in east Austin designed and built by Grace Riggan and Joshua Bowles. Its intriguing name? Fatal Flower Garden. Aren’t you just dying to see what’s behind the wall? Me too. Just don’t look for a ...

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 ...

January 06, 2011 Austin has so many mild winter days that it’s really a shame not to be out enjoying your garden at this time of year. But what if your flowery perennial garden dies back in winter and you’re left with brown grass, leaf-strewn beds, and a shade tree ...

November 30, 2010 My northwest Austin garden experienced its first hard freeze of the season on the 26th, but I didn’t have a chance to inspect what got zapped until Sunday, when I took these pictures. ‘Radrazz’ Knock Out rose is, not surprisingly, unfazed. I’ve been wanting a metal arbor ...

November 04, 2010 A couple of weeks ago, blogging friends Carol Janov and Ron Bomer invited me to visit their country garden and organic farm outside of Dripping Springs, Texas. I met Carol and Ron in April 2008, at the first Garden Bloggers Spring Fling in Austin, and I’ve been ...

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 ...

October 14, 2010 Yesterday the Director of Flora & Fauna at Lake Austin Spa, the talented Trisha Shirey, gave me an early morning tour of the spa’s gardens, which she has tended for more than 26 years. A staff of nine full-time gardeners assists her in organically maintaining and updating ...

September 16, 2010 During our visit to Madison, Wisconsin, last weekend, I noticed that big, bold tropical plants were used everywhere to great effect far from their natural climate. For this month’s Foliage Follow-Up, I’ll show you what caught my eye at Allen Centennial Gardens on the University of Wisconsin ...

September 07, 2010 Sea holly, or eryngo (Eryngium leavenworthii) I tried watching an instructional DVD about using my new camera on Sunday but fell asleep halfway through. When I awoke I decided a real-life test drive should be the first step, at least to try out the semi-automatic settings. So ...

August 21, 2010 For a nursery located within spitting distance of downtown, on South Congress Avenue, The Great Outdoors is surprisingly large, which befits a place featuring a nearly life-size topiary elephant as its mascot and another on its sign. From the street you glimpse a colorful mural, a screen ...

July 19, 2010 Playful wall decor in a Lancaster Avenue garden Wrapping up my series about Garden Bloggers Buffa10, I’ve saved some of the best gardens for last, as did our hosts in arranging access to the remarkable Lancaster Avenue gardens for the final day of the event. We had ...