Ponds

September 25, 2010 Most of my earlier posts about Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin, have shown long views, like the cleome border above. But I do have more-intimate images to share as well. A yellow jacket or some other type of wasp gathering nectar Swamp sunflower, I believe Simple ...

September 19, 2010 A week ago I was on my way home from a visit to Madison, Wisconsin. I am still going through all my photos from the captivating Olbrich Botanical Gardens, set on 16 acres alongside Lake Monona, one of two lakes that frame the city. I plan to ...

September 06, 2010A heads-up for those who don’t like pictures of spiders: just skip the first 3 images to see a water snake and the inspiration for this post. I dragged invited my DH and teenage son along to the Wildflower Center yesterday afternoon, in 95-degree heat, to stroll the ...

September 06, 2010A heads-up for those who don’t like pictures of spiders: just skip the first 3 images to see a water snake and the inspiration for this post. I dragged invited my DH and teenage son along to the Wildflower Center yesterday afternoon, in 95-degree heat, to stroll the ...

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 ...

August 08, 2010 Summertime is the stock-tank pond’s shining season. Situated as a focal point at one end of the garden, the pond is viewable from many angles. A circular stone path runs all the way around it. The gravel path at back-left leads into the hillside garden. But forget ...

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 ...

June 13, 2010 Morning strolls are best during hot, sticky Austin summers. But the best light in my back garden comes in late afternoon. Luckily, for the virtual garden tour, you can have both—and stay in the comfort of your air-conditioning. Pictured above, my new Agave stricta from the recent ...

June 12, 2010 When the Germinatrix came to visit her Austin Twitter and blogging pals last Wednesday, we capped off a day of garden visits with a happy hour at the East Side Patch, Philip and Leah’s magical garden in east Austin, which, by the way, will be open to ...

May 27, 2010 If a star fell to earth, I think it would look like Nymphaea, one of the most beautiful flowers ever. This one is called ‘Colorado,’ and it greets me every day with large, rosy apricot flowers that open with the sun and close in late afternoon. ‘Colorado’ ...

May 27, 2010 If a star fell to earth, I think it would look like Nymphaea, one of the most beautiful flowers ever. This one is called ‘Colorado,’ and it greets me every day with large, rosy apricot flowers that open with the sun and close in late afternoon. ‘Colorado’ ...

May 20, 2010 Linda from Each Little World recently asked whether she’d missed a post about the paving around my stock-tank pond. I did post a few pics of my new sunburst path after I got the stone laid, but I decided to hold off on more until I’d finished ...

May 11, 2010 The next garden I visited on Saturday’s Gardens on Tour 2010 was the Forest Trail garden, located in Tarrytown, the same west Austin neighborhood as the Bridle Path garden. The most eye-catching—and nose-catching—scene in this garden was a stunning star jasmine vine, in full bloom, arching across ...

March 22, 2010 Over spring break we drove 3,200 miles (5,149 km) round-trip to Florida, with stops in Orlando, Miami, Everglades National Park, the Keys (all the way to Key West), and finally Naples to see the brand-new botanical garden there. Planted last August and opened to the public in ...

November 30, 2009 On Saturday we returned to the Hill Country to see Westcave Preserve, a 75-acre nature sanctuary located about 40 miles west of Austin. Westcave is known for its beautiful grotto hidden at the end of a sheltered canyon “created more than 100,000 years ago by the gradual ...

August 27, 2009 Softleaf yucca (Y. recurvifolia) I nearly always read the last page of a magazine first. So when my Garden Design (Sept/Oct 2009) arrived today I flipped to the back to read about Arizona landscape architect Christy Ten Eyck. I’ve seen her work featured in magazines, and I ...