Visit to Umlauf Sculpture Garden

Visit to Umlauf Sculpture Garden

May 19, 2009 In mid-April we took out-of-town visitors to Umlauf Sculpture Garden, located near Barton Springs and Zilker Park on the site of Charles Umlauf (1911-1994) and his wife’s former home and studio. More than 130 of Umlauf’s sculptures, drawings, and paintings are on display here, including Lovers V ...
Jill Nokes's welcoming garden

Jill Nokes's welcoming garden

April 27, 2009 The Austin garden bloggers met up on Sunday in the walled gardens of two talented local gardeners: designer and author Jill Nokes and our own Jenny Stocker, whom you may know as Lancashire Rose on her blog, Rock Rose. I didn’t take an official count, but I ...
Jill Nokes's welcoming garden

Jill Nokes’s welcoming garden

April 27, 2009 The Austin garden bloggers met up on Sunday in the walled gardens of two talented local gardeners: designer and author Jill Nokes and our own Jenny Stocker, whom you may know as Lancashire Rose on her blog, Rock Rose. I didn’t take an official count, but I ...
Nymph & satyr

Nymph & satyr

August 13, 2008 So many garden bloggers have been posting pictures of their naked ladies that I thought I should follow suit. These statues grace Woodward Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The city’s terrible ice storm last winter left lasting damage to the park’s stately trees, and many of the trails ...
Nymph & satyr

Nymph & satyr

August 13, 2008 So many garden bloggers have been posting pictures of their naked ladies that I thought I should follow suit. These statues grace Woodward Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The city’s terrible ice storm last winter left lasting damage to the park’s stately trees, and many of the trails ...
A visit to Chanticleer: Gravel Garden and Ruin

A visit to Chanticleer: Gravel Garden and Ruin

July 23, 2008 Among all the beautiful, bold, and imaginative gardens at Chanticleer, why do I like the Gravel Garden best? It so resembles the dry gardens of west Austin that I feel a little sheepish to admit that in this lush, Pennsylvania garden I preferred the familiarity of home ...
A visit to Chanticleer: Teacup & Tennis Court Gardens

A visit to Chanticleer: Teacup & Tennis Court Gardens

July 20, 2008 If you haven’t been to Chanticleer, you must go. Hop on a plane or jump in the car and go. Now. Dubbed “a pleasure garden” in its brochure, it lives up to the billing. From the moment we arrived, just after lunchtime on a quiet Sunday in ...
Switch Willo Stables

Switch Willo Stables

June 13, 2008 During the past week of 100-degree days, I enjoyed a twice-daily visit to Switch Willo Stables in northwest Austin, where my daughter attended a riding day camp. What a beautiful, lush oasis tucked away in a neighborhood that nowadays is practically in-town. When Switch Willo opened back ...
Tom Spencer's TexZen garden

Tom Spencer's TexZen garden

May 14, 2008 Blue pot with dianthus Can a garden you’ve visited only three times, briefly, seem almost as familiar as your own? It can if it’s Tom Spencer’s. At Soul of the Garden, Tom has been chronicling his garden—and “exploring the garden of life”—with stunning photographs and introspective essays ...
Tom Spencer's TexZen garden

Tom Spencer’s TexZen garden

May 14, 2008 Blue pot with dianthus Can a garden you’ve visited only three times, briefly, seem almost as familiar as your own? It can if it’s Tom Spencer’s. At Soul of the Garden, Tom has been chronicling his garden—and “exploring the garden of life”—with stunning photographs and introspective essays ...
Nursery tour: Hill Country Water Gardens & Nursery

Nursery tour: Hill Country Water Gardens & Nursery

May 03, 2008 A naturalistic stream chattering around boulders and splashing into a large pond is the centerpiece of my garden—that is, the garden I dream of having one day. In reality, my small, flat garden is never likely to support this vision, so I make do with a 100-gallon ...
Nursery tour: Hill Country Water Gardens & Nursery

Nursery tour: Hill Country Water Gardens & Nursery

May 03, 2008 A naturalistic stream chattering around boulders and splashing into a large pond is the centerpiece of my garden—that is, the garden I dream of having one day. In reality, my small, flat garden is never likely to support this vision, so I make do with a 100-gallon ...
Visit to Wildseed Farms

Visit to Wildseed Farms

February 25, 2008 Front-porch “farmer” at Wildseed Farms It’s 89 degrees on my shady back porch right now, at 3 in the afternoon. I just came inside from weeding the sunny front garden, and it must be at least 90 or 92 out there. Summer-like temps in February, you might ...
Visit to Dallas Arboretum

Visit to Dallas Arboretum

February 14, 2008 Taiwanese pear in full bloom at the Dallas Arboretum After a 3-hour landscape design class at the Dallas Arboretum yesterday, and before the 3 1/2-hour drive back home, I took a quick stroll through the gardens, which I’d never seen, despite having stayed over in Big D ...
Zilker Botanical Garden: Isamu Taniguchi Japanese Garden

Zilker Botanical Garden: Isamu Taniguchi Japanese Garden

November 02, 2007 Aside from the new-ish Hartman Prehistoric Garden, my favorite section of Zilker Botanical Garden is the venerable Taniguchi Japanese Garden. Created as a labor of love and opened in 1969, . . . the Garden was built by Mr. Taniguchi when he was seventy years old. Working ...
Zilker Botanical Garden: Hartman Prehistoric Garden

Zilker Botanical Garden: Hartman Prehistoric Garden

October 31, 2007 Bronze dinosaur in Hartman Prehistoric Garden During my visit to Zilker Botanical Garden this week, I made sure to stroll through Hartman Prehistoric Garden, a favorite of mine. My family visited on opening day in 2002, and since then I’ve witnessed the phenomenal growth of this garden’s ...