Getting the blues in the garden
October 08, 2011 A few more long views of the garden reveal just how blue and silver all my accessories are. I used to lean more to browns, golds, and rust, but perhaps I’m trying to visually cool things down these days. I even have a lot of blue and ...
The long view: Reflections on Austin’s drought
September 17, 2011 The approach of autumn is a hopeful time for the central Texas gardener. It means we’ve survived another long, hot summer and can enjoy being outdoors again. It means time for the rains to return to revitalize the summer-weary garden, replenish our aquifers and lakes, and offer ...
Got pipe dreams? Try a culvert pipe planter
September 08, 2011 I have a thing for using galvanized steel containers in the garden, as you may know from my collection of stock-tank planters and ponds of various sizes. So naturally, when I first saw galvanized culvert pipes put to use as planters, I knew I’d have to have ...
Color-rich Farley Garden at Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling
August 17, 2011 Kate Farley’s west Seattle garden, which I visited on Day 3 of the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling, is a garden of exploration from front to back. I’m going to start in back, because the Peruvian lilies (Alstroemeria) were blooming spectacularly, a huge swath glowing salmon-orange in the ...
Urban hillbilly chic defines Edwards Forkner Garden: Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling
August 15, 2011 Lorene welcoming 70+ bloggers into her Seattle garden on Day 3 of the Fling In a post on her blog Planted at Home, Lorene Edwards Forkner, a co-planner of the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling, catchily describes her gardening style as urban hillbilly chic: “I love to work ...
Birrell garden at Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling
August 08, 2011 After spending more than half the allotted time admiring Shelagh Tucker’s garden (on Day One of the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling), I realized I was running out of time to see Suzette and Jim Birrell’s garden and darted next door. How different from Shelagh’s dry gravel garden ...
Shelagh Tucker garden at Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling
August 07, 2011 Six Austin garden bloggers journeyed to Seattle for the Garden Bloggers Fling. That’s me on the left, Caroline of The Shovel-Ready Garden, Becky of Wolf’s Garden, Vicki of Playin’ Outside, Jenny of Rock Rose, and Diana of Sharing Nature’s Garden. Look! Scarves & cardigans in July! The ...
Foliage Follow-Up: Pond plants & plants that ignore drought
June 16, 2011 For Foliage Follow-Up today (always on the day after Bloom Day), I’m celebrating plants that don’t require my standing over them with a hose. I have to admit, central Texas’s extended drought is taking a toll even on my xeric garden. Coneflowers are drooping. Daylilies are shriveling ...
Inside Austin Gardens Tour 2011: Sue Nazar garden
May 12, 2011 Sue Nazar’s garden, which you can see Saturday on the Inside Austin Gardens Tour, is a lush, expansive oasis tucked in the hills of west Austin. I got a sneak peek on Tuesday, courtesy of the Travis County Master Gardeners, and I’m sharing it with you. Over ...
Spring spring spring! sings the wren
April 05, 2011 ‘Radsunny’ Knock Out rose Full-throated song fills the garden each morning. No, it isn’t me, though spring sings in my heart. We’re serenaded by our resident Carolina wrens, who surely vie with roosters for their “get out of bed, the day’s a-wasting” lung power. And I know ...
Aloe-leujah! Aloes bloom against sky-blue doors
March 23, 2011 Miraculously, my two large soap aloes (Aloe saponaria) in the raised beds behind the house survived last winter’s deep freeze. They are each celebrating their narrow escape with a fantastic, muscular stalk supporting torches of buds about to flame into bloom. I particularly like seeing them against ...
Hip roof shed adds garden charm
March 17, 2011 The new shed is finished! Here’s my husband showing off his excellent workmanship. Adorable, no? Yes, both of them. But whew, what a project, a year-and-a-half in the making, to build a shed-like structure to hide the pool pump and, in the process, add a charming garden ...
Garden shed has a roof
January 27, 2011 Progress may be slow, but progress is still progress! About two years ago we replaced a sagging eyesore of a fence, which also wrapped around the pool pump. I had the bright idea to build a faux garden house around the pump, and after getting a couple ...
Austin Open Days Tour 2010: David-Peese garden
October 22, 2010 Like a contemporary fairy-tale cottage, the home of James David and Gary Peese is glimpsed through the embrace of the surrounding garden: a fascinating, wow-inducing, richly planted—and richly hardscaped—yet intimate and surprisingly unpretentious garden. This was my final stop on last Saturday’s Open Days garden tour. James ...
Back amid the hollyhocks
July 04, 2010 Though shadier than it once was, Mom’s Tulsa garden has always been loaded with iris, daylilies, and hollyhocks—all cottage-garden favorites. I can grow the first two in Austin, but those elusive hollyhock towers—they always grab my attention. The morning we were packing the car to go, I ...
Getting a neglected garden back in shape
June 08, 2010 Long-time readers, I bet you thought you’d seen the last of my former garden since I said goodbye to Green Hall when we moved to a new home nearly two years ago. Oh, if only selling a home were that easy in this economic climate. BEFORE. For ...
