Devil in the details
January 17, 2007 Hymenoxys (four-nerve daisy) The icicles are long and dagger-like on the eaves, but they are melting. Drip, drip, drip—we can hear it indoors. When I stepped gingerly into the front garden this morning to poke around, evidence of melting and refreezing overnight was written on the plants ...
Winter wonderland at the Wildflower Center
December 13, 2006 This is what winter looks like in Austin: autumn leaves persistently hanging on, ornamental grasses bending in a north breeze, evergreen live oaks and cedars (junipers, actually), and bright blue skies. It may not be everyone’s idea of a winter wonderland, but I love it. I visited ...
Nursery tour: Natural Gardener
November 05, 2006 In the spirit of my recent Open Days tour, I took my camera along during an afternoon trip to Natural Gardener nursery for a pot of oxalis. It was a simple enough errand, and the cool, gray skies made a tour of the nursery’s gardens very appealing ...
Tour of Poth-Gill garden
October 27, 2006 Low, curving walls set the front garden apart, with a spiraling design that draws you in. Colorful perennials and informal designs had been scarce on the Open Days Austin tour up until this point. Green, formal gardens ruled the day with clipped boxwoods, allees, precise runnels, and ...
Tour of David-Peese garden
October 23, 2006 Entry garden. A gravel path flows around this sunny, graveled berm. It literally stopped me in my tracks as I gazed at the intriguing plant combinations. “Does this make me look fat?” I heard Gary Peese ask someone, fussing with his shirt as the Open Days tour ...
A rose by any other name
October 17, 2006 Whale’s tongue agave ‘Tis but thy spines that are my enemy. My apologies to Shakespeare (Romeo and Juliet), but I really am reminded of a rose when I look at this agave. It’s a gorgeous, blue rose . . . with teeth. This is a fairly new ...
First rock rose
May 04, 2006 The first rock rose (pavonia) blossom appeared this morning. More cheerful pink! Pavonia is a great plant for central Texas. It’s tough enough to withstand our heat and scant rainfall, and it blooms all summer long. The flowers open in the morning and close in the afternoon, ...
August 2005
August 11, 2005 The cruelest month has arrived, but I managed to get into the garden anyway by planting a desert plant. Impressed by local gardener and public TV personality Tom Spencer’s website, Soul of the Garden (no longer online), in which he fairly gushes over agaves and shows off ...
