May 04, 2006 Tonight around 10:30 a hailstorm blew in from the north, with 70-mile-an-hour wind gusts reported at a weather station about a mile away from the house. Penny-sized hail pounded the house and garden and blew past the front door horizontally. It went on for at least 10 …

May 04, 2006 The first rock rose (pavonia) blossom appeared this morning. More cheerful pink! Pavonia is a great plant for central Texas. It’s tough enough to withstand our heat and scant rainfall, and it blooms all summer long. The flowers open in the morning and close in the afternoon, …

May 01, 2006Over the weekend we visited Scarborough Faire, a renaissance festival near Dallas, in Waxahachie. I think the subculture of people who dress up and, in character, attend these sorts of festivals for a month and a half of weekends is odd. But you know what—they’re pretty good at …

April 26, 2006 Salvia guaranitica Ahhhhh! A cool north wind blew in yesterday and brought a gorgeous spring day back to Austin. Just when I thought summer had arrived, we got a reprieve. It is supposed to remain relatively cool (high 70s, low 80s) through the weekend. White skullcap is …

April 23, 2006 I seem to have become a wildlife-in-the-garden reporter lately, but I enjoyed this butterfly’s visit to my coneflowers yesterday …

April 21, 2006 Recently I posted a picture of a sphinx (or hawk) moth that I photographed in my front garden. Today I spotted several large caterpillars on the gaura under the vitex tree, and after looking them up on the internet I learned they are the larvae of the …

April 19, 2006 Purple coneflower Last night a “cold” front blew in, bringing the temperature down today to the mid- to upper 80s—still unseasonably warm, but not by much. Some areas received golf-ball-sized hail and torrential rain as the front came through, but at my house we got only a …

April 19, 2006 Purple coneflower Last night a “cold” front blew in, bringing the temperature down today to the mid- to upper 80s—still unseasonably warm, but not by much. Some areas received golf-ball-sized hail and torrential rain as the front came through, but at my house we got only a …

April 18, 2006Another day, another weather record broken. Yesterday’s high in Austin (at Camp Mabry) was 98 degrees. In southwest Austin it was 100. It’s like August in April. According to the newspaper this morning, the demand on the electrical grid exceeded the supply, and rolling blackouts were applied throughout …

April 17, 2006Easter Sunday brought us a high temperature of 95 degrees here in Austin. There are predictions of record heat continuing through most of this week. So much for spring. It looks like an early summer this year …

April 15, 2006While walking the dog this evening, I admired my neighbors’ gardens, which are either colorfully in bloom or fresh and green with the first flush of spring. Kids were out hunting Easter eggs. Aside from the occasional voracious mosquito, it was a perfect spring evening. I planted two …

April 10, 2006The front garden looks very English-cottage right now, full of pink roses, tall coneflowers, sweeps of yellow, and a blue agave. Wait, that’s not very English. Well, it works for Austin. Here are several images from this evening. The Belinda’s Dream rosebush is attracting the neighbors’ attention this …

April 06, 2006 Springtime has the sparrows in a nesting frenzy. There are babies in this fellow’s nest already—I’ve heard them cheeping—but maybe he’s doing a little home remodeling. The back garden is suffused with the almost-too-sweet scent of star jasmine. The other fragrant flower, Marie Pavie rose, grows nearby …

April 04, 2006 I’m happy to be able to share this photo. I love to watch hawk moths, and yet—because they usually appear at dusk and move so fast—I’ve never been able to photograph one before. Early this morning I spotted one flitting around the salvia greggii (Autumn sage), dipping …