Vicki Blachman likes playin’ outside in her rosy, leafy garden
May 05, 2014 I met Vicki Blachman, who blogs at Playin’ Outside, at the first Garden Bloggers Fling here in Austin in 2008. She’s been a warm, light-hearted, steady presence at the Fling and other local blogger events ever since, and I’m glad to know her — not least because ...
Oxblood lilies in bloom and other garden excitement
September 18, 2013 The red flags of oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida) bloomed for two or three days in the front garden, but by yesterday they were shriveled in the heat and hanging at half mast. A short but sweet show. I have only a few bulbs in this area, sprinkled ...
Cocktail party at Shirley Watts’ Garden: San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling
July 12, 2013 Early arrivals to San Francisco for the recent Garden Bloggers Fling were invited to a cocktail party at designer and artist Shirley Watts‘ home in Alameda. Shirley graciously opened her home and garden to about 50 complete strangers, and we eagerly trooped through her kitchen and into ...
Happy about these garden blues
May 07, 2013 I’m singing the blues with majestic sage (Salvia guaranitica)… …with a blue bottle tree, purple skullcap (Scutellaria wrightii), and ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (Agave ovatifolia)… …with Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis)… …and with more purple skullcap and bluebonnets, plus velvety mullein. Another view of the purple skullcap and mullein, ...
Globemallow lurker
December 01, 2012 I leaned in for a close-up shot of the ruffled, frosted leaves of the orange globemallow (Sphaeralcea incana) and didn’t notice until I sat at the computer that a camouflaged hunter lay in wait amid the silvery leaves. Thank heavens for being human-sized. All material © 2006-2012 ...
Garden Designers Roundtable: 5 Ways to Spice Up Your Garden with DANGER (just a little)
October 23, 2012 Is the scariest thing in your garden the risk of stepping in a pile of fresh dog doo? While real danger isn’t good—rotting deck boards, a spiny agave leaning out over the front walk, or a heavy piece of statuary that isn’t secured in place, especially if ...
Tarantula in the garden
May 26, 2012 Look at this: a tarantula in my garden! I’ve never seen one here before, and this hairy fellow had made it all the way up from the lower garden (where I assume he came in from the greenbelt) to the top of the hillside gravel path, near ...
Visit to Dragonfly Farms Nursery, & goodbye Seattle Fling
August 20, 2011 The final event of last month’s Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling was an afternoon visit to Dragonfly Farms Nursery—“Where Abnormality is the Normality!”—in Kingston, WA, and a fun happy hour on the lawn. Dragonfly Farms offers not only an enticing selection of plants for sale but beautiful and ...
Plant This: Whale’s Tongue agave
July 18, 2011 Moby, my ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave (Agave ovatifolia), sails through hot summer days in part-sun/bright shade, perched above most of the garden in a terraced bed. It’s a ghostly white whale of a plant, about 5 feet in diameter, an iconic presence in my former garden and in ...
Bluebonnets, ‘Chocolate Chips’ & more in bloom
April 07, 2011 Is this perhaps the prettiest week in central Texas? Or will it be next week? I don’t know, but early April is looking mighty fine in my own garden and I hope in yours as well. Our state flower, the Texas bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis), adorns a miniature ...
Gardens of Lake Austin Spa
October 14, 2010 Yesterday the Director of Flora & Fauna at Lake Austin Spa, the talented Trisha Shirey, gave me an early morning tour of the spa’s gardens, which she has tended for more than 26 years. A staff of nine full-time gardeners assists her in organically maintaining and updating ...
Intimate views at Olbrich Gardens
September 25, 2010 Most of my earlier posts about Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin, have shown long views, like the cleome border above. But I do have more-intimate images to share as well. A yellow jacket or some other type of wasp gathering nectar Swamp sunflower, I believe Simple ...
Wildlife garden instead of lawn
September 09, 2010 On Labor Day we spent the afternoon with my husband’s family in southwest Austin. My in-laws have a lovely native-plant garden designed to attract wildlife by providing food for butterfly larvae (i.e. caterpillars), nectaring plants for butterflies and bees, berrying plants for birds, and sheltering layers of ...
Snips and snails & puppy dog tails
September 06, 2010A heads-up for those who don’t like pictures of spiders: just skip the first 3 images to see a water snake and the inspiration for this post. I dragged invited my DH and teenage son along to the Wildflower Center yesterday afternoon, in 95-degree heat, to stroll the ...
Snips and snails & puppy dog tails
September 06, 2010A heads-up for those who don’t like pictures of spiders: just skip the first 3 images to see a water snake and the inspiration for this post. I dragged invited my DH and teenage son along to the Wildflower Center yesterday afternoon, in 95-degree heat, to stroll the ...
More wildlife in the garden
August 26, 2010 Since I wrote about inviting wildlife into the garden for Tuesday’s Garden Designers Roundtable, I’ve been looking more carefully to see who is visiting my garden. Lurking among the orange narrowleaf zinnias (Zinnia angustifolia), a tiny spider waits for lunch. At the stock-tank pond, a scruffy (perhaps ...
