Xeric plants

May 10, 2007 Does this look like Texas to you? More specifically, does it look like Austin? I hope so. I posted two days ago about The Landscaping Revolution, which proposes, among other things, that homeowners make their landscaping look less homogenous and more regionally diverse—and therefore more interesting—by using ...

May 10, 2007 Does this look like Texas to you? More specifically, does it look like Austin? I hope so. I posted two days ago about The Landscaping Revolution, which proposes, among other things, that homeowners make their landscaping look less homogenous and more regionally diverse—and therefore more interesting—by using ...

May 01, 2007 See the 5-ft. bloom stalk on this plant? It’s not from the prickly pear you see in front, nor an agave, perhaps, hidden behind it. It’s the inflorescence of a Nolina lindheimeriana that I’d thought was Nolina texana until now, although I had often wondered why the ...

April 25, 2007 BSN’s modest sign welcomes visitors, along with roses tumbling over agave and prickly pear. Hmm, I wonder where I picked up that roses-and-cactus aesthetic? With sunny skies and warm, humid temperatures promising a typical spring day in Austin, I decided to pay a visit to an atypical ...

April 20, 2007 Purple prickly pear (Opuntia macrocentra) flower Blazing! No, I’m not describing the temperatures in Austin yet. It’s been remarkably temperate for the past few weeks, and today has been lovely too, about 80 degrees with a cool breeze. No, it’s the late-spring light that’s blazing, causing certain ...

February 24, 2007 Sedum mexicana ‘Angelina’ With temperatures a little cooler yesterday—in the mid-70s—I took advantage of the balmy weather to plant a few beauties I found at Natural Gardener. Above is an orange-and-chartreuse sedum I’m adding to my new pomegranate bed in the front garden. Next to the sedum ...

January 25, 2007 Roly-poly Buddhas, fleshy succulents, and spiny cacti mingle in towering, rusted-steel saucers and planters, the signature look at Big Red Sun, an eastside Austin nursery where East meets West. I get the Big Red Sun blues (with a nod to songwriter Lucinda Williams) every time I visit ...

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 ...

November 27, 2006 Smooch! On Sunday afternoon we drove downtown, parked under MoPac, and walked the 3-mile loop around Town Lake. Reds, oranges, yellows—the trees along the lake blazed with color. Well, they blazed by Austin’s standards. It was a gorgeous day—about 79 degrees and partly cloudy—and we strolled along, ...

November 13, 2006 My weather wish was granted over the weekend: cool temperatures, blue skies, decidedly fall-ish weather. It was perfect for a Saturday trip to Independence, Texas, and a pilgrimage to the Antique Rose Emporium. Along with Barton Springs Nursery and Natural Gardener, it’s one of my favorite nurseries ...

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 ...

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 ...

June 09, 2006 Whale’s Tongue agave Since August arrived early, I’ve been griping about the heat—like it doesn’t do this every year. There have been maybe two relatively cool, rainy summers since I moved to Austin 12 years ago, but let’s face it: this is not a hospitable climate from ...

June 06, 2006 The first black-eyed Susan of the summer has opened under the vitex. This is Rudbeckia goldsturm. In the opposite corner of the front garden, in full sun, the orange flowers of flame acanthus contrast with silver Powis Castle artemesia. This small hedge of Mexican oregano is blooming ...

May 22, 2006 Bill of Prairie Point pointed out that the sphinx moth in my previous post looks like a prop plane. Speaking of propellers, this military helicopter (a Chinook?) just buzzed our house while I was in the garden this morning. A National Guard camp is located less than ...

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 ...