Oxblood lilies are baaaaack!
September 13, 2018 Five inches of rain soaked the soil last week, and the oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida) have raised their celebratory red flags in response. Popping up from dormancy seemingly overnight, they’ve splashed color along the front of the raised beds in the back garden. The herald of the ...
Maple on fire at last
December 19, 2017 Under a soft blanket of fog yesterday, the Japanese maple’s blushing leaves glowed amid the greens of river fern and sedge. Dampened by the fog, its graceful limbs were like dark strokes from a calligrapher’s pen. So after walking the dog, there I was, crouching amid the ...
Fall color and grassy plumes for December Foliage Follow-Up
December 16, 2017 Despite our one-day snow last week, it still looks pretty autumnal in my garden this Foliage Follow-Up. The Japanese maple stubbornly refuses to acknowledge fall until December, when the Christmas lights go up on the house and red balls go up on the agave by the door ...
Chihuly in the Forest and American art at Crystal Bridges Museum
November 05, 2017 While in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, last weekend, my husband and I drove to nearby Bentonville to see the remarkable collection of American art at Crystal Bridges Museum. The museum is surrounded by pleasant walking trails, and an exhibit of Chihuly glass sculptures, Chihuly in the Forest, was ...
Leaf-peeping, zombies, and Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas
November 03, 2017 Last Friday my husband and I drove up to northern Arkansas for an extended weekend just before Halloween, hoping to see colorful fall foliage while making a first-time visit to Eureka Springs. I didn’t know what to expect from Eureka Springs aside from hilly terrain, natural springs, ...
Pumpkins in the land of Oz at Dallas Arboretum
October 12, 2017 Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! But the woman in front of the curtain? That’s Diana, my friend and fellow explorer last weekend at the annual Pumpkin Village at Dallas Arboretum. This year the Arboretum carries you off like a tornado to “The Wonderful ...
New foundation bed, sedge lawn update, and fall color
September 29, 2017 The front garden by the house has undergone some major changes since we lost a tree last winter. But after some summer angst as formerly shaded foundation shrubs burned up, and some fixes, I’m feeling good about it again. Here’s how it looked before, with the live ...
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 ...
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 ...
Maple and mangave for Foliage Follow-Up
December 16, 2016 I’ve been celebrating a belated fall here at Digging and on Instagram this week, as our Japanese maple flamed into orange and then red. Although it’s a little odd to see brilliant fall color at Christmastime, we deprived Texas gardeners happily take it whenever we can get ...
Peak color aflame on Japanese maple
December 14, 2016 I’ve been out front gazing up at the Japanese maple again today (see yesterday’s pics for the rapid color change), enjoying those beautiful, blushing leaves. I believe we’re at peak redness, folks. I expect the leaves to drop this weekend during the predicted Arctic blast. But until ...
At last, some fall color! Thanks, Japanese maple
December 13, 2016 Just a couple of weeks ago I wrote that fall color is a dud this year in Austin. That’s still true, but as if in defiance of that observation, the Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) at the front corner of our house is flaming orange and red in ...
Purple pom-poms and stripey leaves
December 01, 2016 I’m drinking up this grapey, effervescent combo of ‘Grapes’ gomphrena and variegated flax lily (Dianella tasmanica ‘Variegata’) in my garden right now. The tiny purple blooms of ‘Grapes’ look like miniature pom-poms, and it certainly cheers its way through autumn, its spindly stems supported by white-striped flax ...
Bull Creek beauty worth fighting for
November 30, 2016 Bull Creek winds through one of the most scenic areas of Austin, under vertical limestone cliffs softened with maidenhair fern and dripping with water from numerous springs. In spring and summer, Austinites love to swim in the creek’s deep-water holes (although high levels of bacteria, often from ...
Autumn stroll around Lady Bird Lake
November 28, 2016 Autumn rarely sets our trees aflame here in central Texas, and this year’s fall color looks to be more of a dud than usual. But still, you can find a few russet tinges if you squint, especially in the coppery needles of bald cypresses around Lady Bird ...
Catch me on CTG, at Wildflower Center book-signing & more!
October 13, 2016 It’s back-to-the-garden time in Texas, and it’s also garden-talk season! I’m making a few appearances around Texas this fall (see below), and you can also catch me this weekend on Austin’s own Central Texas Gardener TV show. Last fall, right before my garden was on tour, CTG ...
