Bugs

August 24, 2010 Just in from a morning stroll through my garden, and what delights I witnessed. A tiny, blurry-winged hummingbird making the rounds from Mexican oregano to flame-leaf acanthus to Turk’s cap to Agastache. Honeybees spelunking for pollen. A leggy, spotted fawn tucked into a stand of bamboo muhly ...

August 14, 2010 I spotted this cicada while taking out the trash. We’ve had to raccoon-proof our trash bin with a bungee cord get-up, and the cicada was astraddle it like John Travolta on the mechanical bull. You’ve seen Urban Cowboy, right? Getting my shot I spooked him, and he ...

July 21, 2010 Dozens, maybe hundreds, of brown, cicada-shaped husks are clinging to walls, fences, plants, and furniture in my garden this summer, showing where the buzzing insects sloughed off their old skins. Those unpromising looking shells would make anyone think the cicada an unlovely insect. But a chance encounter ...

May 06, 2010 Faces of stone, metal, and bronze greeted me at the Wildflower Center on Monday—part of a sculpture show on display throughout the gardens. I’ve photographed her before. I think she’s part of the garden’s permanent collection. A pensive face for a green glade near the stream. Jumping ...

November 23, 2009 When Proven Winners asked me last spring if I’d trial some of their plants, I requested they send me only xeric plants, explaining that I am not a zealous waterer. So imagine my surprise when, among a nice selection of drought-tolerant plants, this ‘King Tut’ papyrus arrived ...

November 23, 2009 When Proven Winners asked me last spring if I’d trial some of their plants, I requested they send me only xeric plants, explaining that I am not a zealous waterer. So imagine my surprise when, among a nice selection of drought-tolerant plants, this ‘King Tut’ papyrus arrived ...

November 15, 2009 Sunny Dahlberg daisies (Thymophylla tenuiloba) make up for a lack of sun this November morning. The star of Bloom Day this month has to be pineapple sage (Salvia elegans), which blazes crimson above yellow-green foliage that smells like pineapple when crushed between your fingers. It’s just gotten ...

November 15, 2009 Sunny Dahlberg daisies (Thymophylla tenuiloba) make up for a lack of sun this November morning. The star of Bloom Day this month has to be pineapple sage (Salvia elegans), which blazes crimson above yellow-green foliage that smells like pineapple when crushed between your fingers. It’s just gotten ...

November 09, 2009 Garden path at the Antique Rose Emporium Rose Garden: two words that induce irrepressible yawns. I’ve never enjoyed traditional rose gardens, where different varieties of roses are spaced out across a sunny square and unaccompanied by any other plants. It makes for a hodgepodge of color and ...

September 14, 2009 On Sunday afternoon, with temps in the low 80s and rain-heavy clouds in the sky, the kids and I dropped by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for an hour-long stroll. During our hot summers I tend to avoid outings that don’t involve a steady supply of ...

May 26, 2009 After a holiday weekend with a surprise one-inch rainfall, much swimming in the pool, and a few extra kids hanging out with us, I poked around the garden yesterday to see what was new and found this interesting bloom on the sparkler sedge (Carex phyllocephala ‘Sparkler’). Cool, ...

October 29, 2008 This metallic green bee was struggling in the pool this afternoon. I rescued it with a liriope leaf and set it on the cedar bench to dry. After a few moments in the sun, she used her antennae like windshield wipers to clean her face. Then off ...

October 16, 2008 Road trip! If I didn’t already have plans, I’d be southward bound on I-35 this Saturday. Two very tempting gardening events are going on in San Antonio. The Antique Rose Emporium at San Antonio is throwing its 6th Annual Festival of Roses this weekend. For those of ...

July 17, 2008 Fragrant lavender edges sunny paths in the King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York, which we visited at the end of June. The name “King’s Garden” is a bit misleading because this formal, ornamental garden did not exist when the French built the nearby fort ...

December 18, 2007 Is anyone else being overrun with ladybugs? Every December or January, ladybugs pop up all over our house, inside and out. We find them crawling on door frames, windowsills, lamps, and must flick them into our palms in order to rescue and release them outdoors. I put ...

November 06, 2007 Bigtooth maple in Lost Maples State Natural Area Leaf peeping can be a disappointing pursuit here in central Texas. Absent the flaming oranges, yellows, and reds of eastern hardwood forests, our trees either stay green all winter (live oaks and junipers) or their leaves color faintly before ...