Berries

December 18, 2009 Walking through the garden I came across several still-life arrangements of pyracantha berries and buckeyes from the Mexican buckeye tree. Who collected and arranged them so deliberately? No squirrel or raccoon, that’s for sure. My daughter and her friends like to make collections from the garden for ...

November 08, 2009 A monarch and honeybee share space on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundiflora) Twelve Austin garden bloggers caravaned to San Antonio on Saturday to visit San Antonio Botanical Garden and the Antique Rose Emporium, with a stop along the way at Madrone Nursery in San Marcos, a native-plant ...

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 14, 2008 Blue pot with dianthus Can a garden you’ve visited only three times, briefly, seem almost as familiar as your own? It can if it’s Tom Spencer’s. At Soul of the Garden, Tom has been chronicling his garden—and “exploring the garden of life”—with stunning photographs and introspective essays ...

May 14, 2008 Blue pot with dianthus Can a garden you’ve visited only three times, briefly, seem almost as familiar as your own? It can if it’s Tom Spencer’s. At Soul of the Garden, Tom has been chronicling his garden—and “exploring the garden of life”—with stunning photographs and introspective essays ...

November 08, 2007 Berries are reddening on the weeping yaupon holly. Yaupon holly is so versatile, with varieties ranging from little, round balls to the punctuation marks of ‘Will Fleming’. But the weeping yaupon remains one of my favorites. This is one of the very few plants I didn’t plant ...

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 15, 2007 ‘Little John’ dwarf bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis ‘Little John’) October Bloom Day in Austin should be quite lovely. But my garden peaked early this year, and I spent yesterday cutting back my salvias and roses to try to stimulate one more good bloom cycle this fall—completely forgetting about ...

October 15, 2007 ‘Little John’ dwarf bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis ‘Little John’) October Bloom Day in Austin should be quite lovely. But my garden peaked early this year, and I spent yesterday cutting back my salvias and roses to try to stimulate one more good bloom cycle this fall—completely forgetting about ...

September 20, 2007 Last January’s ice storm damaged this Barbados cherry (Malpighia glabra ), breaking some of its branches while bending it almost to the ground, and burning all its evergreen leaves. Its northernmost native range is South Texas, and it can be damaged by temperatures colder than 28 degrees ...

August 06, 2007 American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana ) is one of my favorite harbingers of autumn. At the point in a typical Austin summer when you think you just can’t take the heat and humidity anymore—about now, actually, though this summer has been atypically cool—this understory shrub goes all purple ...

January 02, 2007 Barton Creek One of our favorite family activities in winter is a trail hike on one of Austin’s greenbelts or at St. Edward’s Park. This New Year’s Day, we decided on an early afternoon hike at the Barton Creek Greenbelt along the popular Twin Falls trail. It ...

January 02, 2007 Barton Creek One of our favorite family activities in winter is a trail hike on one of Austin’s greenbelts or at St. Edward’s Park. This New Year’s Day, we decided on an early afternoon hike at the Barton Creek Greenbelt along the popular Twin Falls trail. It ...

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 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 09, 2006 A queen butterfly on blue mistflower Here in Austin you take fall color wherever you can find it. It’s slim pickings for leaf-peepers, but at ground level things are happening. Perennials rebloom after biding their time through the summer. Migrating orange monarchs and other butterflies arrive. Pecans ...