1st garden–2007

November 18, 2007 On Sunday afternoon this yellow sulphur butterfly dropped by to visit a late-blooming Echinacea purpurea. Many other butterflies visited the shrubby white boneset, but I didn’t get photos. Maybe tomorrow. Another look ...

November 16, 2007 Once again I find that the Germinatrix and I are on the same wavelength. It must be the Texas connection. Ivette, whose agave fascination is more fully realized than mine, just posted about stringing party lights in her garden as a permanent fixture. Some of her more ...

November 14, 2007 ‘The Fairy’ rose Warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico keeps Austin feeling not-quite-fallish. Despite the warm temperatures, I see fall reflected in the garden, although it may not appear so to more-northern gardeners. The ornamental grasses wave their feathery, tan seedheads in the breeze, and ...

November 14, 2007 ‘The Fairy’ rose Warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico keeps Austin feeling not-quite-fallish. Despite the warm temperatures, I see fall reflected in the garden, although it may not appear so to more-northern gardeners. The ornamental grasses wave their feathery, tan seedheads in the breeze, and ...

November 12, 2007The folks at Gardening Gone Wild have taken a page out of Carol’s book by issuing a community-building invitation to post about aspects of garden design—a different topic each month. The first topic, for November, is paths and walkways. Limestone, decomposed-granite, stepping-stone, cypress mulch, and concrete paths all ...

November 08, 2007 Berries are reddening on the weeping yaupon holly. Yaupon holly is so versatile, with varieties ranging from little, round balls to the punctuation marks of ‘Will Fleming’. But the weeping yaupon remains one of my favorites. This is one of the very few plants I didn’t plant ...

November 07, 2007 In the past month, three different visitors to my garden have commented on its fragrance as they walk through the front gate. “It’s just the Salvia greggii ,” I say, taking for granted the clean, minty scent of this shrubby native that I’ve planted on either side ...

November 06, 2007 Bigtooth maple in Lost Maples State Natural Area Leaf peeping can be a disappointing pursuit here in central Texas. Absent the flaming oranges, yellows, and reds of eastern hardwood forests, our trees either stay green all winter (live oaks and junipers) or their leaves color faintly before ...

November 03, 2007 Some fall color: yaupon (Ilex vomitoria ) berries redden over toasty inland sea oats seedheads. Warm, dry, sunny days and cool nights make for delightful fall weather here in Austin. The garden remains in bloom, with the first freeze probably still several weeks, or even a month, ...

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 ...

November 01, 2007It’s like a landslide of garden bloggers around here these days. I was happy to discover another Austin garden blogger today, although I noticed that Annie and MSS have been commenting on her site and didn’t let me know about her. Hey, I like to keep Austin’s braggin’ ...

November 01, 2007It’s like a landslide of garden bloggers around here these days. I was happy to discover another Austin garden blogger today, although I noticed that Annie and MSS have been commenting on her site and didn’t let me know about her. Hey, I like to keep Austin’s braggin’ ...

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 31, 2007 Happy Halloween! ...

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 ...

October 30, 2007 Grasses, yuccas, agaves, and salvias make a great fall show, and many remain evergreen or can be left standing for winter interest. From left to right: Gulf muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris ), Nolina texana (in pot), ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (background), Yucca recurvifolia (foreground), pink Autumn sage (Salvia greggii ...