REGION

December 01, 2007 The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a must-see destination in all seasons, but an autumn or winter visit is always delightful—and less crowded. Today was especially fun because Jill Nokes held a book-signing in the gift shop. Here she is holding a copy of her new ...

December 01, 2007 The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is a must-see destination in all seasons, but an autumn or winter visit is always delightful—and less crowded. Today was especially fun because Jill Nokes held a book-signing in the gift shop. Here she is holding a copy of her new ...

November 02, 2007 Aside from the new-ish Hartman Prehistoric Garden, my favorite section of Zilker Botanical Garden is the venerable Taniguchi Japanese Garden. Created as a labor of love and opened in 1969, . . . the Garden was built by Mr. Taniguchi when he was seventy years old. Working ...

October 31, 2007 Bronze dinosaur in Hartman Prehistoric Garden During my visit to Zilker Botanical Garden this week, I made sure to stroll through Hartman Prehistoric Garden, a favorite of mine. My family visited on opening day in 2002, and since then I’ve witnessed the phenomenal growth of this garden’s ...

October 30, 2007 When a travel opportunity knocks, I’m usually grabbing my suitcase on the way to the door. This year I resolved to mesh my love of travel and of gardens by visiting local gardens on my trips. Since August I’ve explored and blogged about Chicago’s and San Antonio’s ...

October 19, 2007 Miscanthus sinensis ‘Purpurascens’ (Flame Grass) At the Chicago Botanic Garden last week, we bypassed several other gardens in order to see Evening Island before we had to catch the train back to town. It wasn’t yet evening when we crossed the bridge onto this 5-acre island garden, ...

October 17, 2007 During last week’s 6-hour visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden, we found ourselves rushing to get to Evening Island before we had to catch our train back to the city. So, after a nice lunch at the visitor’s center, we walked briskly past the Model Railroad Garden ...

October 17, 2007 One of my garden goals is to learn more about Japanese gardens, ideally through a trip to Japan. (Have you noticed that I like to travel?) Last spring I was inspired by Tom Spencer’s beautiful garden photos from Japan. Despite my appreciation for their quiet, reflective beauty, ...

October 16, 2007 After unseasonable heat for the Chicago Marathon weekend, our last day in Chicago, October 9th, dawned clear and cooler, with highs in the 70s. Ahhh, much better! Taking advantage of the beautiful day, we took a 45-minute train ride north of town to the Chicago Botanic Garden ...

October 11, 2007 Cloud Gate, popularly known as the Bean, in Millennium Park I would return to Chicago for the gardens alone. From street-corner planting boxes filled with tumbling perennials and annuals to prairie-style Lurie Garden to the vast Botanic Garden, Chicago had my head swiveling to take it all ...

September 11, 2007 Conserving water is integral to “green” gardening in central Texas. Although Austin receives an average of 32 inches of rain a year, much of our rainfall is concentrated in spring and fall and in heavy showers that run off quickly rather than soaking into the soil. Yet ...

September 06, 2007 At summer’s end, Pride of Barbados ( Caesalpinia pulcherrima) steals the show at the entrance to the Botanical Garden, paired with butterfly weed and a tall ornamental grass. On a business trip in San Antonio last week, I lucked into an hour to spare before I needed ...

May 18, 2007 The homeowner’s front porch. Do you sense that a garden lover lives here? We headed to central Austin’s tony Tarrytown neighborhood for the last garden of the tour. I didn’t expect much from this garden, frankly, after looking at the black-and-white brochure photo. Shot in winter, with ...

May 17, 2007 I’d never seen a green roof before, and as this is the first one in Austin I didn’t want to miss my chance. So mom and I drove down to southwest Austin’s Circle C neighborhood, which is near the Wildflower Center, the sponsor of this tour and ...

May 16, 2007 A twisted live oak frames a sweeping lawn of ‘Palisades’ zoysia and a potting shed in this estate-sized garden. Our next stop on the garden tour led us to a luxurious home in a West Austin neighborhood. Surrounded by the open, palatial St. Augustine lawns of the ...

May 15, 2007 The second stop on our tour included two gardens on a cul-de-sac in the hills of northwest Austin, one belonging to Cathy Nordstrom, owner of San Souci Gardens, the second belonging to her client and next-door neighbor. We visited the designer’s garden first. Native bee balm and ...