Origami sculpture in the Culinary and Adventure gardens at San Antonio Botanical Garden

Origami sculpture in the Culinary and Adventure gardens at San Antonio Botanical Garden

December 10, 2020 Part 3 of my recent visit to San Antonio Botanical Garden to see the Origami in the Garden exhibition by Santa Fe artist Kevin Box takes us through the relatively new Culinary and Family Adventure gardens. Two festive Christmas trees greeted me just inside the entrance. Zachry ...
Tropical conservatory and origami sculpture at San Antonio Botanical Garden

Tropical conservatory and origami sculpture at San Antonio Botanical Garden

December 09, 2020 Rising Peace I’m not much for conservatories, as regular readers know. They give me mall vibes. But maybe I’m starting to come around a little, thanks to the Origami in the Garden exhibit of Kevin Box‘s sculptures at San Antonio Botanical Garden. This is Part 2 of ...
Origami sculpture and Christmasy cactus garden at San Antonio Botanical Garden

Origami sculpture and Christmasy cactus garden at San Antonio Botanical Garden

December 07, 2020 I first admired Kevin Box‘s playful origami sculptures on Canyon Road in Santa Fe. Now he’s exhibiting his work at San Antonio Botanical Garden through early May 2021. I kept wanting to visit this fall but couldn’t find time until last weekend, when my husband and I ...
Bigtooth maples and more fall foliage at the Wildflower Center, part 2

Bigtooth maples and more fall foliage at the Wildflower Center, part 2

November 19, 2020 Did a few bigtooth maples from Lost Maples Park lose their way and end up at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center? It sure looked that way last week, when I spotted pumpkin-spice trees in the Family Garden. This is part 2 of my tour. Big, colorful ...
The garden of Redenta's Garden owner Ruth Kinler

The garden of Redenta’s Garden owner Ruth Kinler

October 12, 2020 It was the colorful, modern Fermob furniture that first lured me into Redenta’s Garden, a beloved Dallas nursery “for the modern gardener.” (Click for my tour.) So when I visited the home garden of owner Ruth Kinler, I was happily unsurprised to see more of that fabulous ...
She made her garden dreams come true

She made her garden dreams come true

September 28, 2020 Mandevilla vine I’ve known Amy since I was 17 years old. We met as freshmen at Rice University and became good friends. She was a bridesmaid at my tiny wedding in South Carolina, and I was there for her when she and husband Gary tied the knot ...
Houston Botanic Garden's surprising cactus garden and more - part 2

Houston Botanic Garden’s surprising cactus garden and more – part 2

September 25, 2020 During my inaugural visit to the brand-new Houston Botanic Garden last weekend, my eyes widened when I rounded a bend and saw this — a rocky garden of agave, yucca, and cactus. After all, this is Houston, city of sauna-like summers and 50 inches of annual rainfall ...
Brand-new Houston Botanic Garden showcases tropical and subtropical plants - part 1

Brand-new Houston Botanic Garden showcases tropical and subtropical plants – part 1

September 24, 2020 Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio all have botanical gardens, but until now, the biggest and most international city in Texas did not. Last weekend Houston finally got its due with the long-anticipated opening of Houston Botanic Garden. I road-tripped with my daughter three hours east ...
Hilltop getaway at Two Coves Garden: Austin Open Day tour

Hilltop getaway at Two Coves Garden: Austin Open Day tour

November 21, 2019 The last garden I visited on the Open Day tour sponsored by The Garden Conservancy was designed by B. Jane Gardens, and which B. has continued to maintain for the last three owners. Located off City Park Road, the Two Coves Drive Garden perches atop a hill ...
Hideaway garden at Davern Oaks: Austin Open Day tour

Hideaway garden at Davern Oaks: Austin Open Day tour

November 16, 2019 An Old Austin-style garden awaited across the street from the Greenway Garden on The Garden Conservancy‘s Open Day tour two weeks ago. What does Old Austin style look like? To me it means a mature tree canopy and a lush understory of sturdy subtropical evergreens like boxwood, ...
Colorful fall at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Colorful fall at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

November 13, 2019 Before the big freeze I squeezed in a short visit to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, unintentionally joining throngs of families streaming in to explore Fortlandia on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I’d intended to photograph both the flowering gardens and Fortlandia but decided to save the ...
A city park floating on air: Klyde Warren Park in Dallas

A city park floating on air: Klyde Warren Park in Dallas

November 03, 2019 A remarkable green space floats overhead, literally flashing before your eyes as you commute or pass through downtown Dallas. Built above 3 blocks of the Woodall Rodgers Freeway, Klyde Warren Park is a remarkable green roof that has become a beloved public park. Traffic flows beneath the ...
Chinoiserie enchantment at Chandor Gardens, part 2

Chinoiserie enchantment at Chandor Gardens, part 2

October 31, 2019 Given 3-1/2 acres of cow pasture in North Texas, it turns out you can do quite a lot with it. Continuing with my mid-October visit to Weatherford’s Chandor Gardens (click for part 1 of my visit), here’s more of the romantic English-Chinese garden that portraitist Douglas Chandor ...
TatTopia garden embraces stonework and sustainability: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling

TatTopia garden embraces stonework and sustainability: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling

July 09, 2019 When the construction dust settled at Tatiana Maxwell’s new energy-wise home, studio, and guest house in Boulder, Colorado, in 2010, the yard was just an expanse of bare dirt. Her first thought was to build an English-style cottage garden. But after brainstorming with stonemason artist Thea Alvin ...
Spring flowers and foliage at Dallas Arboretum

Spring flowers and foliage at Dallas Arboretum

April 25, 2019 At Dallas Arboretum last week, masses of foxgloves were blooming throughout the gardens. Hot pink is lovely… …but I like even better these lilac and mauve foxgloves planted under gnarled vitex trees. Pretty from any angle Honeybees enjoy the freckled flowers too. We stopped in A Woman’s ...
Foxgloves and cacti: A Texas-English garden, part 1

Foxgloves and cacti: A Texas-English garden, part 1

April 09, 2019 Ah, let us return to the always-stunning garden of Jenny Stocker, aka Rock Rose. Born and raised in England, Jenny and her husband, David, years ago adopted Texas as their home. Jenny’s garden, a series of stucco-walled courtyards surrounding their contemporary house, reflects her English roots but ...