In the news

December 11, 2010 Fine Gardening is one of my favorite gardening magazines, so I’m especially pleased to be a contributor to the February 2011 issue, which just arrived in my mailbox and should be available on newsstands soon. My regional picks for tough roadside plants for the southern plains are ...

November 20, 2010 Check out the December 2010 issue of Southern Living magazine, and you’ll find an article about possumhaw holly (Ilex decidua) with a couple of quotes from yours truly. I grew up reading Southern Living, so I’m delighted to have been contacted by its garden editor for information ...

October 18, 2010 I’m delighted to announce that I’m guest posting today on At Home in the Garden, the garden blog of MarthaStewart.com. I hope you’ll take the time to check it out. My thanks to garden editor Stacey Hirvela for inviting me to contribute a regional report. And if ...

October 18, 2010 I’m delighted to announce that I’m guest posting today on At Home in the Garden, the garden blog of MarthaStewart.com. I hope you’ll take the time to check it out. My thanks to garden editor Stacey Hirvela for inviting me to contribute a regional report. And if ...

July 02, 2010 When photographer and all-around nice guy Rob Cardillo photographed my former garden two years ago, he explained that he’d be pitching his images to a magazine for a story idea about regional or xeric design. I was delighted and flattered by his interest but didn’t really expect ...

June 19, 2010 If you happen to pick up the Summer 2010 issue of Fresh Home magazine, and if you happen to turn to page 79 as you read the article “The Magic of Motion”… …you’ll see one of my photographs, an image of a rill and pool from Chanticleer ...

December 30, 2009 When “Central Texas Gardener” host Tom Spencer sold his well-known garden (and home) recently, many Austinites mourned its passing and the chance to see it again. Tom had generously shared Possumhaw Hollow with the public over the years through garden tours and his beautiful photos at Soul ...

December 30, 2009 When “Central Texas Gardener” host Tom Spencer sold his well-known garden (and home) recently, many Austinites mourned its passing and the chance to see it again. Tom had generously shared Possumhaw Hollow with the public over the years through garden tours and his beautiful photos at Soul ...

August 13, 2009 I’m excited to be featured on WOW today! Founded by Lesley Stahl, Whoopi Goldberg, Candice Bergen, Lily Tomlin, and other well-known women in media, WOW — “The Women on the Web” — is an online network for women over 40. Recently WOW asked me and six other ...

April 27, 2009 In January I criticized garden bloggers who accept compensation in cash or goods in return for posting a favorable review of a product without disclosing (and this is key) that their post is, essentially, paid advertising. Seventy-six readers commented here on that post, and it stirred up ...

March 13, 2009 Austin demonstrated yesterday that it’s pretty easy being green. The National Wildlife Federation certified our city as a Community Wildlife Habitat. Austin is the largest U.S. city and the first in Texas to achieve certification. As explained on the NWF’s website, “The Community Wildlife Habitat project is ...

February 05, 2009 ‘Macho Mocha’ mangave Syndicated garden columnist Marty Ross called me a few months ago to talk about garden coaching, after which pleasant conversation I promptly forgot all about it. So I was surprised last Saturday when Indianapolis garden bloggers Debbie (Garden Thyme with the Creative Gardener) and ...

December 12, 2008 Lately an unassuming container made for ranch life has been appearing in creative and stylish urban gardens: the stock tank, or cattle trough. It’s Old Texas meets New Texas, and boy howdy, it works. Warehoused among poultry feed, hog fencing, and deer corn at farm-supply stores like ...

August 15, 2008 If you’re visiting because of my article on the gardening page of the Austin American-Statesman, welcome! Regular readers of Digging know that I’m a huge fan of using stock tanks in the garden, and I can never resist the chance to show a few more pics of ...

July 03, 2008After learning that Layanee of Ledge and Gardens co-hosts a call-in gardening radio show, Garden Guys, on Sundays in the Boston/Providence area, I wrote to tell her I’d listened to some of the shows online. I thought they were great—informative, educational, and engaging with their callers. To my ...

July 03, 2008After learning that Layanee of Ledge and Gardens co-hosts a call-in gardening radio show, Garden Guys, on Sundays in the Boston/Providence area, I wrote to tell her I’d listened to some of the shows online. I thought they were great—informative, educational, and engaging with their callers. To my ...