Agave and cactus splendor in the garden of Matt Shreves
May 16, 2017 For Foliage Follow-Up this month, I’m taking you on a tour of Matt Shreves’s garden near Lake Travis. A succulent and cactus lover (check out his spikealicious Instagram page), Matt has turned an ordinary yard into a tapestry of foliage texture, color, and bold form. Let’s start ...
Wildflower fields abloom at Wildseed Farms
March 24, 2017 A wildflower photo safari is my springtime ritual, and I especially like to drive out to the Texas Hill Country to photograph wildflowers against the rugged hills, rocks, and prickly pear. This spring, thanks to a mild winter, Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) are carpeting roadsides a few ...
Rainbow of ceramic succulents and flowers at Hill Country Water Gardens
March 09, 2017 Their Instagram feed was my undoing. On Monday one of my favorite local nurseries, Hill Country Water Gardens & Nursery in Cedar Park, posted a picture of new garden decor hitting their shelves, and I was up there the next day, poking through the display before they ...
Lucinda’s Dia de los Muertos garden
November 01, 2016 My friend Lucinda Hutson celebrates Dia de los Muertos like no one else I know. Her colorful, Mexican-inspired home and garden in the Rosedale neighborhood of central Austin grows even more vibrant for Day of the Dead, and inside she stages elaborate table displays and beautiful altars ...
Leaves of sunshine and moonlight in Chanticleer's Tennis Court Garden
July 11, 2016 The Tennis Court Garden at Philly-area Chanticleer (which I visited in early June with my friend Diana) sits a dozen feet below the main path, so you enjoy an overlook before entering. Back when Chanticleer was a private estate property, this space held a tennis court. Today ...
Blue twilight garden
May 07, 2016 Cobalt blue may be overused in gardens, but I don’t care. It’s such a lovely color to complement the green plants, and it’s so cooling in Austin’s hot climate. Add a little turquoise and robin’s-egg blue to the mix, and it’s even better. I added more blue, ...
Crimson poppy fields at Wildseed Farms
April 01, 2016 Mom and I stopped at Wildseed Farms, just east of Fredericksburg, Texas, on the way home from our Hill Country wildflower drive on Tuesday. Wildseed Farms grows wildflowers for their seed, which it sells to landscapers, retail customers, and highway departments that seed wildflowers along roadsides. With ...
Orange you glad it’s spring?
March 08, 2016 The weather’s not yet hot, but the flowers are. I’m embracing orange and reveling in the saturation. Thanks to an unusual, freeze-free winter, the garden has a jump-start on lush growth. Mexican honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera) is smothered in pumpkin-colored blossoms, framed by Mexican weeping bamboo (Otatea acuminata ...
Christmas in Mexico at Lucinda Hutson's home and garden
December 21, 2015 Lucinda Hutson‘s purple cottage in the Rosedale neighborhood of central Austin is a wonderland of Mexican folk art, colorful furnishings, and brightly painted walls. I had the pleasure of re-visiting last Friday, and brought along new friend Paula Panich, a Los Angeles writer and teacher of garden ...
Christmas in Mexico at Lucinda Hutson’s home and garden
December 21, 2015 Lucinda Hutson‘s purple cottage in the Rosedale neighborhood of central Austin is a wonderland of Mexican folk art, colorful furnishings, and brightly painted walls. I had the pleasure of re-visiting last Friday, and brought along new friend Paula Panich, a Los Angeles writer and teacher of garden ...
Garden decor lust sparks desperate question: where is Austin’s Potted?
October 11, 2015 I first visited Potted, the stylishly playful Los Angeles garden shop co-owned by Mary Gray and Annette Gutierrez, two years ago, while passing through town on the way to Santa Barbara and Lotusland. Since that first visit, I’ve ordered from their online store and received gifts from ...
Colorful LA garden of Potted maven Annette Gutierrez
September 25, 2015 I was in Los Angeles/Pasadena last weekend for the annual Garden Writers Association symposium, and boy oh boy, do I have some cool gardens to show you! Not all were on the GWA tours, which were limited to 3 private gardens and one public garden (the fabulous ...
Golden brocade garden of Marion Jarvie: Toronto Garden Bloggers Fling
June 28, 2015 All that is gold does not glitter, especially in the Toronto, Ontario, garden of designer and speaker Marion Jarvie. Her home garden was our midday stop on the 2nd day of touring at Toronto Garden Bloggers Fling. High and bright, the sun flattened and shadowed my photos ...
Purple prickly pear for Foliage Follow-Up
May 16, 2015 Purple pot and purple prickly pear — ten years after planting I’m still enjoying the color echo, especially against the gray deck railing. Vivid orange pomegranate blossoms add a fun color contrast in the background. So what leafy love is going on in your May garden? Please ...
Feeling blue? This contemporary garden is designed for sunny relaxation
May 10, 2015 Recently I was invited to visit a brand-new contemporary garden designed by Fertile Ground Gardens. Co-owner and designer Alexa Villalobos gave me a tour, explaining that the two-tone, blue-painted house is a vacation home for Portland photographer Ray Hendricks. The interior of the new home is all ...
50 shades of grey (and blue) in the garden
April 02, 2015 Like Anastasia Steele, I’ve been seduced by Mr. Grey. Grey paint, that is. I’ve started staining the front-garden lattice fence a dark grey-green (Sherwin-Williams Black Alder), matching it to the lattice mirrors I recently hung on the house, visible in the background. Going to the dark side ...
