Evergreens, color, and hardscape carry garden through winter into spring
March 11, 2015 A recent conversation on Linda Lehmusvirta‘s Facebook page got a few Austin gardeners talking about winter interest. Tracie, a local gardener, wrote that her mostly native garden looks great spring through fall but is “asleep” in winter, and she wanted ideas. Lori at The Gardener of Good ...
Flower power out front; in back a serene, green garden
March 02, 2015 Last year I featured this Houston Heights garden in a Drive-By Gardens post. But last Saturday, while in Houston to visit family, I had the pleasure of meeting the owner, David Morello, who kindly gave me a full tour. David owns the design and build company David ...
Still musing on wall color
November 17, 2014 The color saga continues, with no progress but lots of reader suggestions and various inspiration since my first attempt at choosing colors for my new stucco walls. (Click and read the comments on that post if you’re into color discussion!) My first stab at a red was ...
Blazing red wall
November 12, 2014 I threw a coat of paint on two of my new stucco walls before the cold blew in on Tuesday, and holy smokes — the Dunn-Edwards ‘Hot Jazz’ red on the curved wall sizzles my eyeballs. It definitely picks up every bit of red in my garden, ...
Why don’t we see more colored walls in Austin?
October 03, 2014 In 2008 I read an article in Wildflower magazine by Tucson designer Scott Calhoun in which he makes the case for colored walls in the garden. (Here’s my original post about it, in which I fantasize about adding colored walls to my own garden.) It was a ...
Garden magic and whimsy at Floramagoria: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling
August 13, 2014 As we entered the intriguingly named Floramagoria garden on the recent Portland Garden Bloggers Fling, thunder rumbled and raindrops pelted our group of 40 or so bloggers. The reasonable — and hungry — among us ran for the two covered pavilions with box lunches in hand. The ...
The Dancing Ladies Garden of Linda Ernst: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling
August 11, 2014 Do you ever fantasize about another gardener living right next door? Linda Ernst and Joanne Fuller are living the fantasy. Aside from being friends and next-door neighbors, they both love to garden, and each tends a beautiful space linked by a friendly gate in back and a ...
JJ De Sousa’s bold garden digs: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling
July 31, 2014 What’s black and white and red-orange all over? The stylishly mod yet playful garden of JJ De Sousa, that’s what. Owner of Digs Inside & Out home-and-garden shop, which I visited pre-Fling, JJ has an enviable talent for creating inviting, colorful garden rooms, perfect for entertaining, which ...
All-American blue and red in my garden
May 26, 2014 I threw a little soiree in honor of an out-of-town friend last week and got my garden all spruced up for the occasion. The last of the live oak leaves — or as close to last as I’m going to get — were finally banished, chairs and ...
And the front door’s new color is…
May 25, 2014 Turquoise, with a greenish bronze on the sidelights. Something different, eh? You wouldn’t believe how many bad color choices I made last week to get here. Or maybe you would. I am picky about color, but I have never been able to pick the right color on ...
Drive-By Gardens: Lawn-gone and neighbor-friendly in central Austin
May 12, 2014 Coming home from a garden tour last Saturday, I traded the backed-up traffic on MoPac for a meandering drive through the charming central Austin neighborhoods of Pemberton, Rosedale, and Allandale. I had my camera with me, and for your enjoyment I furtively snapped photos of front-yard gardens ...
Visit to Desert Botanical Garden and Chihuly Exhibit: Archer House garden and Desert Living Trail
April 29, 2014 If you’re a birdwatcher, you really must visit Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. I arrived around 10 am on April 4th and saw more birds than I could identify, photograph, or count. Imagine an early morning visit, when all the birds are waking up! This dove ...
Living colorfully in Civano, Tucson’s green-home community
April 22, 2014 I made a quick visit to Tucson while in Arizona earlier this month, and one of my stops included the green, master-planned community of Civano on the southeast side of town. One of my favorite garden authors, Scott Calhoun, wrote about building his home and garden there ...
Color-drenched walls and desert beauty in Steve Martino-designed Palo Christi Garden
April 19, 2014 Forget Easter egg pinks and lilacs. Yellow, I discovered two weeks ago, is the color of spring in Arizona. A sunny, egg-yolk yellow. My friend David Cristiani introduced me to Phoenix landscape architect Steve Martino, who pioneered the use of desert natives in area gardens decades ago ...
Wildflower season in Texas, a magic carpet of color
April 11, 2014 A red, white, and blue patriotic spring is in full swing in the fields of east-central Texas. Guessing that the early wildflowers were in full bloom east of Austin, I made a wildflower run right after school dropoff yesterday — a little late for the golden hour ...
Drive-By Gardens: Cottage garden color explosion in Houston Heights
March 31, 2014 Go see the flower garden on Peddie Street, my sister urged when I told her I’d be in Houston for a garden tour. It was the same advice I’d recently gotten from a Digging reader, who told me the garden on Peddie was not to be missed, ...
