Vines

March 03, 2008 Spring called to me yesterday, and I spent a good deal of time in the garden just puttering around. I shot some photos, I pulled one or two weeds, I watered some moonflower vine seedlings I’m growing. But mostly I just looked and touched and smelled and ...

February 28, 2008 Mexican plum (Prunus mexicana ) flowering white against a blue, blue sky. After our up-and-down temperatures earlier in the week, the forecasters promise us perfect spring weather through the weekend, with highs in the low 70s F (low 20s C) and maybe even a sprinkling of rain, ...

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 ...

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 ...

November 08, 2007 Berries are reddening on the weeping yaupon holly. Yaupon holly is so versatile, with varieties ranging from little, round balls to the punctuation marks of ‘Will Fleming’. But the weeping yaupon remains one of my favorites. This is one of the very few plants I didn’t plant ...

October 16, 2007 After unseasonable heat for the Chicago Marathon weekend, our last day in Chicago, October 9th, dawned clear and cooler, with highs in the 70s. Ahhh, much better! Taking advantage of the beautiful day, we took a 45-minute train ride north of town to the Chicago Botanic Garden ...

October 15, 2007 ‘Little John’ dwarf bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis ‘Little John’) October Bloom Day in Austin should be quite lovely. But my garden peaked early this year, and I spent yesterday cutting back my salvias and roses to try to stimulate one more good bloom cycle this fall—completely forgetting about ...

October 15, 2007 ‘Little John’ dwarf bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis ‘Little John’) October Bloom Day in Austin should be quite lovely. But my garden peaked early this year, and I spent yesterday cutting back my salvias and roses to try to stimulate one more good bloom cycle this fall—completely forgetting about ...

August 09, 2007 Last spring my neighbor Janet was given this scarlet passion flower by several friends in memory of her late husband, Domingo, who loved, she said, red flowers. Domingo was an old-fashioned yard guy who assiduously tended his small lawn, a couple of shade trees, and a bank ...

August 06, 2007 American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana ) is one of my favorite harbingers of autumn. At the point in a typical Austin summer when you think you just can’t take the heat and humidity anymore—about now, actually, though this summer has been atypically cool—this understory shrub goes all purple ...

April 14, 2007 Purple prickly pear On Bloom Day this April, sweet spring is in full swing in the garden. Sensory impressions: the delicious scent of ‘Marie Pavie’ roses; hot pink roses near the street that I’ve dubbed “Stop ’em dead roses”; birdsong in the back garden and peep-peeps from ...

April 14, 2007 Purple prickly pear On Bloom Day this April, sweet spring is in full swing in the garden. Sensory impressions: the delicious scent of ‘Marie Pavie’ roses; hot pink roses near the street that I’ve dubbed “Stop ’em dead roses”; birdsong in the back garden and peep-peeps from ...

March 23, 2007 Welcome back to our coop No, this isn’t an old post. Yes, I recently posted pics of my ‘Tangerine Beauty’ crossvine. But I can’t help it. The flowers are so exuberant right now that I can’t help but post about them again. Didn’t I say they were ...

March 21, 2007 Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the crossvine, of course. Two days after I posted a photo of this crossvine in bud, it’s gloriously in full bloom. The coral-orange trumpets blaze at me whenever I glance out my kitchen window into the back ...

March 19, 2007 Quiet, little purple oxalis has begun flowering under the daylily foliage. The green eyes pick up the green of the daylily leaves, and the pale lilac petals faintly echo the eggplant-colored oxalis foliage. The polar opposite of dainty oxalis, crossvine (Bignonia capreolata ‘Tangerine Beauty’) flowers shout, “Look ...