Possumhaw berries blazing at winter’s end
February 26, 2018 It’s the in-between season in Austin, when Mexican plums and redbuds and daffodils color the twiggy landscape, but winter still lingers in bleached grasses, cut-back perennials, and piles of soggy leaves. Into the breach, the ripe berries of possumhaw holly (Ilex decidua) blaze a most unspringlike, cheery ...
Hungry garden visitors
February 19, 2018 High-pitched, whistling cries have filled the skies lately, alerting me to our cedar waxwing visitors. Flocking into berry-laden junipers (i.e., “cedars”), possumhaw and yaupon hollies, hackberries, and even invasive ligustrum to gorge themselves, these beautiful crested and masked birds can strip a tree clean of berries in ...
New Central Library – “Austin’s front porch” – boasts rooftop garden and more
December 15, 2017 Austin is head over heels in love with our new Central Library, a marvelous civic structure by Lake|Flato that is much more than a library. It’s a community space for all of Austin in a prime location on Cesar Chavez Street near Austin City Hall and across ...
Sedgey front garden and xeriscape terrace
December 06, 2017 For one West Austin homeowner, this is the view from her front door: an undulating, rhythmic front walk of poured-concrete pavers wending through a meadowy swath of Berkeley sedge, soap aloes, and purple heart, with a scrim of yaupon hollies shielding the view of the street. A ...
Sharing nature’s beauty in the garden of Diana Kirby
December 03, 2017 I’ve enjoyed many a visit at the garden of my good friend Diana Kirby, designer at Diana’s Designs, garden columnist at the Austin American-Statesman, and publisher of the blog Sharing Nature’s Garden. But inexplicably I’ve never done a photo tour of her lovely garden, and I’m remedying ...
Autumn stroll around my garden
October 27, 2017 Autumn is my favorite season in the garden, when the Death Star abates and cool breezes blow in from the north, pushing that Gulf Coast humidity back to Houston where it belongs. The sky goes china blue, fall perennials burst into bloom, and fall-blooming grasses incandesce in ...
Oxblood lilies trumpet summer’s end
September 12, 2017 Whoo-hoo, we made it through another summer here in Texas! For almost a week, lower temperatures (80s and low 90s) with even lower humidity, combined with recent rains, have rejuvenated my gardening spirit. The plants are feeling it too, perking up and starting to bloom again. But ...
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens: Colorful perennial and heather gardens
August 28, 2017 I was not expecting this. None of us were. As we made our way up Highway 1 along the coast of Northern California in early August, naturally I’d planned a few garden stops, including a visit to Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg, expecting little more ...
Garden of Gary Ratway and Deborah Whigham and their Digging Dog Nursery
August 23, 2017 Stepping through a dark-leaved doorway in a beech hedge into the display gardens at Digging Dog Nursery, located in Albion, California, you feel a bit like Alice falling into the rabbit hole. What awaits on the other side? A potted boxwood draws you through the hedge… …and ...
Willowsford Farm market stand & Fling wrap-up: Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling
July 20, 2017 I’m not a food gardener myself, but I enjoyed the Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling welcome-event visit to Willowsford Farm, a 300-acre farm surprisingly located within a recently developed planned community in Ashburn, Virginia, about an hour’s drive northwest of Washington, D.C. After a lovely outdoor reception, ...
Final fall foliage as winter’s icy breath freezes Austin
December 18, 2016 Austin plummeted from a high of 80 F (26.6 C) yesterday afternoon to 26 F (-3.3 C) this morning, and today the Japanese maple is clinging shiveringly to far fewer leaves than yesterday, when I took this photo. That’s Texas winter weather for you. In preparation for ...
Roses, butterflies & garden goodness at Antique Rose Emporium
November 08, 2016 On Saturday my mom and I drove out to Brenham, Texas, for the Antique Rose Emporium‘s Fall Festival of Roses, where I was one of the day’s speakers. A gray sky spit rain on us during the 2-hour drive, but it held off as we strolled around ...
Roses, butterflies & garden goodness at Antique Rose Emporium
November 08, 2016 On Saturday my mom and I drove out to Brenham, Texas, for the Antique Rose Emporium‘s Fall Festival of Roses, where I was one of the day’s speakers. A gray sky spit rain on us during the 2-hour drive, but it held off as we strolled around ...
Urban meadow and security landscaping at Austin forensics center and police station
October 23, 2016 How many police stations have landscaping like this? I spotted this raised meadow while driving through East Austin recently and slammed on the brakes to get a better look. From the street — 812 Springdale Road, in the Govalle neighborhood — you see this along one side ...
Bugs and butterflies at the Wildflower Center, part 2
October 04, 2016 Continuing our garden stroll through Austin’s Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (here’s part 1 of my visit), let’s enter the Family Garden, where paving by the restrooms and shade pavilion is softened with rain gardens planted with water-appreciating native plants. A rain garden, Texas-style, planted with mistflower, ...
Early autumn color at the Wildflower Center, part 1
October 02, 2016 Showy palafoxia (Palafoxia hookeriana) That first hit of cool autumn air early last week sent me running (well, battling Austin traffic) for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. Arriving on a solemn, overcast morning, I was surprised to see quite a few other visitors there too. But ...
