Southwest

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

April 13, 2008 On Sunday after the Garden Bloggers Spring Fling, the out-of-towners who stayed an extra day joined some of the Austin garden bloggers for a personal tour of herbal-cookbook author Lucinda Hutson’s garden. The other Spring Flingers may remember Lucinda from the happy hour at my house on ...

April 13, 2008 On Sunday after the Garden Bloggers Spring Fling, the out-of-towners who stayed an extra day joined some of the Austin garden bloggers for a personal tour of herbal-cookbook author Lucinda Hutson’s garden. The other Spring Flingers may remember Lucinda from the happy hour at my house on ...

April 04, 2008 On her Blotanical “Plot” (site no longer active), in her entry for Garden to See Before I Die, Carol of May Dreams Gardens has written, “All those gardens of the Austin garden bloggers!” As it happens, a number of the Austin garden bloggers have had a burning ...

April 04, 2008 On her Blotanical “Plot” (site no longer active), in her entry for Garden to See Before I Die, Carol of May Dreams Gardens has written, “All those gardens of the Austin garden bloggers!” As it happens, a number of the Austin garden bloggers have had a burning ...

February 15, 2008 A glorious allee of crape myrtles leads to a whimsical toad fountain at the Dallas Arboretum, which I visited on Wednesday. Another view. I’d never seen a crape myrtle allee before, and their smooth trunks and twisting branches are well suited to this kind of display. I’m ...

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 ...

December 01, 2007 The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a must-see destination in all seasons, but an autumn or winter visit is always delightful—and less crowded. Today was especially fun because Jill Nokes held a book-signing in the gift shop. Here she is holding a copy of her new ...

December 01, 2007 The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a must-see destination in all seasons, but an autumn or winter visit is always delightful—and less crowded. Today was especially fun because Jill Nokes held a book-signing in the gift shop. Here she is holding a copy of her new ...

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 ...

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 ...

October 30, 2007 When a travel opportunity knocks, I’m usually grabbing my suitcase on the way to the door. This year I resolved to mesh my love of travel and of gardens by visiting local gardens on my trips. Since August I’ve explored and blogged about Chicago’s and San Antonio’s ...

September 11, 2007 Conserving water is integral to “green” gardening in central Texas. Although Austin receives an average of 32 inches of rain a year, much of our rainfall is concentrated in spring and fall and in heavy showers that run off quickly rather than soaking into the soil. Yet ...

September 06, 2007 At summer’s end, Pride of Barbados ( Caesalpinia pulcherrima) steals the show at the entrance to the Botanical Garden, paired with butterfly weed and a tall ornamental grass. On a business trip in San Antonio last week, I lucked into an hour to spare before I needed ...