February 25, 2005 Back garden in winter; ‘Blue Elf’ aloe in blue pot is about to bloom I purchased four cedar Adirondacks and a teak table to replace our old metal dining set. It feels a lot cozier out on the patio now, and nothing beats taking a book and …

October 15, 2004 American beautyberry in fruit October ushers in my favorite season. After the endless Texas summer, cool northern breezes begin to push back the Gulf humidity by the end of October, earlier if we’re lucky. As a child, I loved October because it is my birthday month, though …

August 17, 2004 Moonflower vine in bloom I’ve grown moonflower vines from seed for several years from an original plant. Every winter I collect dozens of seeds, and come spring I scarify about a dozen and plant them in little pots. I usually get a 25% return on the seeds, …

July 09, 2004 Butterfly’s-eye view of a purple coneflower We recently bought a digital camera, and I’ve been experimenting with close-ups of flowers. The purple coneflowers look great, like alien pods. This must be a butterfly’s-eye view. Here’s another angle. We’ve been lucky to have a wet and fairly cool …

June 09, 2004 ‘Razzmatazz’ purple coneflower in full bloom My mother gave me six bare-root ‘Razzmatazz’ purple coneflowers she’d ordered from a catalog nursery. Only two of them survived, but what fantastic double-flowering blooms! I’m anxious to see whether they will come back next spring and whether they will seed …

April 28, 2004Here are some images of the back garden. View from the back porch Note that a Mexican plum is in leaf in front of the slide, where the smoke tree used to be. Beneath it, in flower, are Gulf Coast penstemons. Close-up of Gulf Coast penstemons and an …

March 17, 2004 Mexican feathergrass and damianita The Mexican feathergrass and damianita that I planted along the street come to life beautifully in the early spring. Feathergrass is true to its name, and I can’t help running my fingers through the feathery tops when I walk by. The damianita, which …

October 31, 2003 Spring 2003—Vitex in full bloom The second spring brought tremendous growth to the garden. The vitex, shown above, tripled in size and looked lovely with purple spires tipping each lush branch. The sign beneath it was given to me by the city of Austin’s Green Garden program, …

October 16, 2002 August 2001—New fence and limestone courtyard This is the front yard, as it appeared in the summer of 2001. The St. Augustine/Bermuda lawn was mostly dead, thanks to a hot, dry summer with no water and an application of Round-Up. The wood-and-wire fence and the courtyard/path went …