Austin Open Days Tour 2010: Utility Research Garden

Austin Open Days Tour 2010: Utility Research Garden

October 17, 2010 ‘Sharkskin’ agave and ‘Whale’s Tongue’ agave at the Utility Research Garden The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Austin tour was held yesterday, with 6 private gardens open to the public. My first stop was the ambiguously named Utility Research Garden, which I imagined to be an experimental garden ...
Who me? Chicken?

Who me? Chicken?

October 01, 2010 Having a little fun in the garden today. I hope you are too. All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited ...
Thai sala at Olbrich Botanical Gardens

Thai sala at Olbrich Botanical Gardens

September 23, 2010 While my husband rested up for his big race in Madison, Wisconsin, two weekends ago, I stole a few hours with my friend and local guide Linda Brazill of Each Little World. Our first stop was Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Knowing I was short on time, she attempted ...
In the garden of Each Little World

In the garden of Each Little World

September 17, 2010 Each Little World is one of my regular reads. Written by Linda Brazill and illustrated with gorgeous photos by her husband, Mark Golbach, their blog gives me tantalizing glimpses into the green, serene garden they’ve created together in Madison, Wisconsin. When the garden blogger meet-up was held ...
Foliage with wow power at Allen Centennial Gardens

Foliage with wow power at Allen Centennial Gardens

September 16, 2010 During our visit to Madison, Wisconsin, last weekend, I noticed that big, bold tropical plants were used everywhere to great effect far from their natural climate. For this month’s Foliage Follow-Up, I’ll show you what caught my eye at Allen Centennial Gardens on the University of Wisconsin ...
Wildlife garden instead of lawn

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 ...
Camera practice at the Wildflower Center

Camera practice at the Wildflower Center

September 07, 2010 Sea holly, or eryngo (Eryngium leavenworthii) I tried watching an instructional DVD about using my new camera on Sunday but fell asleep halfway through. When I awoke I decided a real-life test drive should be the first step, at least to try out the semi-automatic settings. So ...
Mellow yellows in the late summer garden

Mellow yellows in the late summer garden

August 30, 2010 Like the school bus in August, bright yellow usually indicates that summer is winding down and autumn is on the way. Around here, the hot yellows of Mexican mint marigold and copper canyon daisy will soon join summer’s sunny hymenoxys and black-eyed Susans. I’m not afraid of ...
Nursery tour: The Great Outdoors

Nursery tour: The Great Outdoors

August 21, 2010 For a nursery located within spitting distance of downtown, on South Congress Avenue, The Great Outdoors is surprisingly large, which befits a place featuring a nearly life-size topiary elephant as its mascot and another on its sign. From the street you glimpse a colorful mural, a screen ...
August doldrums Bloom Day

August doldrums Bloom Day

August 15, 2010 This Bloom Day post may fool those who skim the pictures without reading the text. You could be led to think that quite a lot is blooming in my garden right now, when really it’s just a few agastaches, some ornamental grasses, and a few tiny, scattered ...
Hoot

Hoot

August 12, 2010 It’s a little hoot outside today. I think I’ll stay in. All material © 2006-2010 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited ...
Garden stroll on a fine Friday morning

Garden stroll on a fine Friday morning

August 06, 2010 Good morning! Let’s stroll the garden before it gets too hot. It’s going to be 100 degrees (37.7 C) again today, so early morning or evening strolls, dripping wet from the pool, are recommended. And yet I was crazy enough desperate enough for fall to plant a ...
In Elizabeth's and Jim's gardens at Buffalo Garden Bloggers Fling

In Elizabeth’s and Jim’s gardens at Buffalo Garden Bloggers Fling

July 18, 2010 A week ago today Garden Bloggers Buffa10 was wrapping up with a self-guided tour of the incredible Lancaster Avenue gardens (more pics tomorrow). Before we hit Lancaster, however, my travel partner Diana and I opted to stop by co-host Elizabeth Licata’s Allentown garden for a second, less-crowded ...
High tea in the garden of Mike and Kathy Shadrack: Buffalo Garden Bloggers Fling

High tea in the garden of Mike and Kathy Shadrack: Buffalo Garden Bloggers Fling

July 16, 2010 Two buses carrying the garden bloggers of Buffa10 jounced slowly down a long, skinny driveway in the woods near Hamburg, New York, to deliver us to the creekside glen that is Kathy and Mike Shadrack‘s garden. A former London bobby with a sly wit, Mike has authored ...
Japanese Garden in Buffalo's Delaware Park: Buffalo Garden Bloggers Fling

Japanese Garden in Buffalo’s Delaware Park: Buffalo Garden Bloggers Fling

July 14, 2010 One of the stops on Friday’s bus tour at Garden Bloggers Buffa10 was the Japanese Garden in Delaware Park. Part of Buffalo’s historic Olmsted Parks System, the garden was constructed in 1974 by its Japanese sister city, Kanazawa, but as Buffalo fell on hard times the park ...
Buffalo's charming Cottage Garden District: Buffalo Garden Bloggers Fling

Buffalo’s charming Cottage Garden District: Buffalo Garden Bloggers Fling

July 14, 2010 Exuberantly planted front-yard gardens, colorful window boxes, lush container plantings, shady nooks, garden art, and Crayola-hued houses make the Cottage District in Buffalo, New York, a delight to explore. It’s one of the most popular neighborhoods to tour during Garden Walk, which begins in two weeks. Lucky ...