Xeric plants

August 30, 2008 We picked a good time to sell our garden—er, home. Thanks to the recent rain and slightly cooler temperatures (though it’s still in the upper 90s today), the garden has responded with a flush of new flowers. Best of all, the Autumn sage (Salvia greggii ) that ...

August 05, 2008 Undaunted by the heat of this rainless summer in Austin, commonplace old Autumn sage (Salvia greggii ) has decided to make a stand. Without even waiting for me to trim back the spent blooms, it burst into full flower again this week, creating billowing, pink clouds held ...

July 27, 2008 Have the drought and summer’s heat got you down? Then check out the incredible collection of cacti and succulents at Oracle Gorge Nursery today, the final day of its mid-summer sale and open house. These babies need no babying, except perhaps from the cold—and who among us, ...

July 23, 2008 Among all the beautiful, bold, and imaginative gardens at Chanticleer, why do I like the Gravel Garden best? It so resembles the dry gardens of west Austin that I feel a little sheepish to admit that in this lush, Pennsylvania garden I preferred the familiarity of home ...

July 08, 2008 Recently I posted about my summer garden-book reading list, and Sharp Gardening was one I’d picked up. I haven’t read it yet, but I’m already doing some sharp gardening myself. Pictured above: purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea ) and softleaf yucca (Yucca recurvifolia ). I love sharp plants ...

June 25, 2008 Mexican oregano (Poliomintha longiflora ) is one of my favorite summer-blooming perennials. It loves sunny days and hot weather, and it laughs in the face of drought, although, like most xeric plants, it appreciates a good drink every 10 to 14 days when it’s dry. Its tubular ...

June 10, 2008 Last Saturday morning I had the pleasure of meeting professional photographer Rob Cardillo and observing as he photographed my front garden. He was scouting for images of regional design for his upcoming fourth book with Nancy Ondra, about perennial maintenance, and for ideas he can pitch to ...

May 14, 2008 Blue pot with dianthus Can a garden you’ve visited only three times, briefly, seem almost as familiar as your own? It can if it’s Tom Spencer’s. At Soul of the Garden, Tom has been chronicling his garden—and “exploring the garden of life”—with stunning photographs and introspective essays ...

May 14, 2008 Blue pot with dianthus Can a garden you’ve visited only three times, briefly, seem almost as familiar as your own? It can if it’s Tom Spencer’s. At Soul of the Garden, Tom has been chronicling his garden—and “exploring the garden of life”—with stunning photographs and introspective essays ...

April 30, 2008 This month’s topic for Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop, hosted by Gardening Gone Wild, is Front-Yard Gardens. Unlike many people who start gardening in back and work their way out front, I took the opposite approach. Before I’d even moved into this house, before I gave thought to ...

April 30, 2008 This month’s topic for Garden Bloggers’ Design Workshop, hosted by Gardening Gone Wild, is Front-Yard Gardens. Unlike many people who start gardening in back and work their way out front, I took the opposite approach. Before I’d even moved into this house, before I gave thought to ...

April 04, 2008 On her Blotanical “Plot” (site no longer active), in her entry for Garden to See Before I Die, Carol of May Dreams Gardens has written, “All those gardens of the Austin garden bloggers!” As it happens, a number of the Austin garden bloggers have had a burning ...

April 04, 2008 On her Blotanical “Plot” (site no longer active), in her entry for Garden to See Before I Die, Carol of May Dreams Gardens has written, “All those gardens of the Austin garden bloggers!” As it happens, a number of the Austin garden bloggers have had a burning ...

March 29, 2008 Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis ) in blue and pink combine with succulents and a writhing variegated agave to make a springtime scene the out-of-town Spring Flingers are not likely to see at home. “Amen!” they may be thinking. I’ll admit, I didn’t plan for those pinkbonnets to ...

March 14, 2008 Remember that Yucca flaccida ‘Bright Edge’ I bought while shopping for pond plants (how does this happen?) at Hill Country Water Gardens? I’d stuck it in a glazed pot until I could decide where to plant it. Here is its new, permanent home—I hope. I hope it ...

March 14, 2008 Remember that Yucca flaccida ‘Bright Edge’ I bought while shopping for pond plants (how does this happen?) at Hill Country Water Gardens? I’d stuck it in a glazed pot until I could decide where to plant it. Here is its new, permanent home—I hope. I hope it ...