Flower pop! Hope blooms with the promise of fall
September 29, 2011 Another 100-degree day (37.7 C), and still no rain. But over the past couple of weeks we’ve heard actual thunder, spotted clouds (clouds!) in the sky, and occasionally seen temps dip into the lower 90s. A “cold” front tonight is supposed to bring us 90-degree days through ...
Color-rich Farley Garden at Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling
August 17, 2011 Kate Farley’s west Seattle garden, which I visited on Day 3 of the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling, is a garden of exploration from front to back. I’m going to start in back, because the Peruvian lilies (Alstroemeria) were blooming spectacularly, a huge swath glowing salmon-orange in the ...
Happy people, great views: Seattle’s Bellevue Botanical Garden, Pike Place Market and Mt. Rainier
August 14, 2011 Crocosmia (Seattle’s signature plant during the Fling) and Helenium at the Bellevue Botanic Gardens During the last month’s Garden Bloggers Fling in Seattle I witnessed a lot of happy bloggers and a lot of beautiful views. We 70+ garden bloggers would be delighted to visit with each ...
Nursery tour: Ravenna Gardens in Seattle, a color explosion
August 10, 2011 What could top off a day of garden touring at the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling? A happy hour, complete with swag bags, at stylish urban nursery/garden shop Ravenna Gardens. Located in an upscale outdoor mall just a couple of blocks from our hotel in the University District, ...
Dunn Gardens at Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling
August 09, 2011 Anneliese of The CobraHead Blog strikes a pose in the Dunn Gardens Following two private-garden visits on Day One of the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling, we were bused to the Dunn Gardens for lunch and a docent-led tour. In 1915, in what is now the Broadview neighborhood, ...
Shelagh Tucker garden at Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling
August 07, 2011 Six Austin garden bloggers journeyed to Seattle for the Garden Bloggers Fling. That’s me on the left, Caroline of The Shovel-Ready Garden, Becky of Wolf’s Garden, Vicki of Playin’ Outside, Jenny of Rock Rose, and Diana of Sharing Nature’s Garden. Look! Scarves & cardigans in July! The ...
Portland nursery visits: Joy Creek & Cistus
August 05, 2011 Joy Creek Nursery While visiting Portland before the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling, I was treated to nursery visits with Loree of Danger Garden. Fresh out of sun-baked, drought-stricken Austin, and plunked amid the lush greens—and chartreuse and burgundy—of Portland’s landscape, I’m ashamed to say I moaned and ...
Two summer lovers for July Bloom Day
July 15, 2011 Water lilies, Turk’s cap, sweet almond verbena, globemallow, catmint, Mexican oregano, hymenoxys, flame acanthus, Mexican honeysuckle, golden thryallis, plumbago, agastache, Salvia coccinea — all are blooming in my garden this Bloom Day. But you know what? After 31 days at or above 100F so far this summer, ...
Plant This: Sweet pink rain lilies
July 31, 2010 Looking out my living room window toward the stock-tank pond, this caught my eye: dozens of sugar-sweet rain lilies (Zephryanthes ‘Labuffarosea’) blooming with abandon after our recent rains. Because they celebrate the rain, I feel a kinship with them. Summer rain is always welcome here. I also ...
Plant This: Globemallow sizzles with electric color
May 22, 2010 Labeled as an orange globemallow, which I’ve coveted since seeing one in South of the River‘s garden years ago, my globemallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua) surprised me by turning out to be red. It doesn’t bother me one bit. I love red. But now I need an orange one ...
Plant This: Senorita Rosalita cleome thrives in the heat
July 28, 2009 Of all the Proven Winners plants I’m trialing, ‘Senorita Rosalita’ cleome has impressed me the most. I’d never grown a cleome before, and I understand they can be rather prickly, smelly, and invasive. Not so with ‘Senorita Rosalita.’ She is thornless, non-stinky, and sterile. I’m actually disappointed ...
A visit to Chanticleer: Gravel Garden and Ruin
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 ...
A visit to Chanticleer: Hydrangeas & House Garden
July 21, 2008 I’m sure something shines brightly every month that Chanticleer is open (April through October). But I felt fortunate to see the hydrangeas in full bloom since I rarely see one in Austin. I can never decide whether I prefer the pink or the blue. The lacecaps are ...
Plant This: Pride of Barbados
September 04, 2007 During a quick visit to the San Antonio Botanical Garden (more on that later), I spent a good five minutes just admiring this Pride of Barbados (Caesalpinia pulcherrima ) in a parking-lot island. Also known as dwarf poinciana and red bird of paradise, this showy tropical is ...
Esperanza and a new camera
August 27, 2007Esperanza (Tecoma stans ) means hope in Spanish. With that in mind, I have a few hopes to share, along with a few quick photos of newly blooming esperanza (also known as yellow bells) taken this evening with my new camera, the Canon Powershot S3 IS. I hope ...
Orange crush
August 18, 2007 The flame acanthus (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii ) in the south corner of the front garden is kicking into gear with the return of the heat and sun. My kids asked me to buy a hummingbird feeder the other day. I told them we already had several ...
