Falling for the Folly Bowl, a garden amphitheater
October 07, 2015 Twelve years ago, Los Angeles garden designer Susanna Dadd and her husband, artist James Griffith, built a back-yard amphitheater in a ravine alongside their Altadena home. Dubbing it The Folly Bowl, they’ve been hosting free, or nearly free, public concerts each summer, choosing unique performers that will ...
Late garden party at Kris Peterson’s ocean-view oasis
September 27, 2015 Kris Peterson, Los Angeles blogger at Late to the Garden Party, saw her blog title unexpectedly come true last week. Or rather, my friend Diana and I did. With flight complications, we arrived in L.A. four hours later than planned and were indeed late to the garden ...
Dreamy green courtyard and water-saving garden in San Antonio
September 15, 2015 My friend Shirley of Rock-Oak-Deer in San Antonio recently uttered the magic words: Come see a few gardens! So last Friday I hopped in my car, drove south to the Alamo City, and met Shirley to tour three gardens. Two of the gardens will be on this ...
Oxblood lilies pop up after first fall rain
September 12, 2015 Maybe last week’s inch of rain — the first in two months — wasn’t technically the first fall rain. After all, it still sweltered into the 90s that day and the day after. But by the reckoning of the oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida), the soil is refreshed ...
The Gardener of Good and Evil makes my garden look good
August 28, 2015 Water visually cools Pam’s back garden. Photo by Lori Daul. Although she claims both a halo and a pitchfork in her blog name, Lori Daul of The Gardener of Good and Evil is purely a force for good — or at least that’s what I believe after ...
The garden knows summer is slipping away
August 20, 2015 As yet another long, hot Austin summer drags on, with no real relief expected until early October, I start combing the garden for signs of a change in season. Late yesterday afternoon I found quite a few — hallelujah! The dangling seedheads of inland sea oats (Chasmanthium ...
Farewell visit to James David’s Austin garden, part 1
May 19, 2015 James and Gary’s entry garden, a gravel garden featuring agaves, aloes, succulents, and other dry-adapted plants from around the world After 36 years devoted to creating an extravagantly plant-rich, terraced, one-of-a-kind garden on two acres in Austin’s Rollingwood neighborhood, landscape architect James David and his partner Gary ...
Soggy garden blues make me happy
May 12, 2015 During the horrible drought year of 2011, I swore I’d never complain about rain again, and I’m not tempted now. My garden has had nearly 5 inches of rain since last Tuesday, washing out a gravel path twice and incubating a healthy crop of mosquitoes. And how ...
West Texas meets the Big Easy in the courtyard garden of Curt Arnette
May 04, 2015 Each time I visit the garden of landscape architect Curt Arnette in southwest Austin, I am absolutely agog over the front courtyard, which occupies a corner lot on a typical suburban street of nicely kept lawns and foundation shrubs. His garden stands out in the best way ...
Owl’ll be watching you
April 28, 2015 After weeks of live oak litter, first leaves and then pollen catkins, and weeks of me raking, blowing, and bagging, the garden is finally visible again. Sunday evening I went outside with no expectation of doing any spring chore: no clean-up, no pruning, no planting, no mulching, ...
Rock Rose garden abloom before the hailstorm
April 27, 2015 Two weeks ago my friend Jenny Stocker, blogger at Rock Rose and gardener extraordinaire, offered me a division of a water iris for my pond. When I arrived, mid-morning on a sunny, warm day, Jenny gave me a tour and then kindly set me loose to wander ...
Going waterwise at Rollingwood City Hall
April 21, 2015 Putting their money where their mouth is, more and more cities that urge citizens to reduce their water usage are replacing thirsty lawns around courthouses and city halls with xeric landscaping. Rollingwood, a tiny city of around 500 homes just three miles from downtown and surrounded by ...
Classical beauty with a modern edge in Margie McClurg’s garden
April 17, 2015 I’ve been fortunate this spring to visit a number of new-to-me gardens. One of my favorites is this one, the creation of talented landscape architect Jackson Broussard. Located in the Rollingwood neighborhood, the garden belongs to Margie McClurg and is a refresh of an existing garden that, ...
The great unfurling
March 24, 2015 Petals unfurl seemingly overnight, new blossoms appearing each morning. Every garden stroll is a small voyage of discovery right now. This week I’m seeing masses of dainty, lilac spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis). A single summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum) with flowers like dancing ladies in white ballgowns trimmed with ...
Spiderwort, Blue Elf aloe, and other spring blooms
March 18, 2015 Spring is in earnest now. Every time I stroll through the garden I see something new blooming, and around town the redbuds and Texas mountain laurels are at peak bloom. Mexican plums and Bradford pears are past peak, and the Texas bluebonnets are just starting. The joyous ...
Evergreens, color, and hardscape carry garden through winter into spring
March 11, 2015 A recent conversation on Linda Lehmusvirta‘s Facebook page got a few Austin gardeners talking about winter interest. Tracie, a local gardener, wrote that her mostly native garden looks great spring through fall but is “asleep” in winter, and she wanted ideas. Lori at The Gardener of Good ...
