Read This: Hand-Built Outdoor Furniture
June 29, 2016 When the Death Star really starts blazing during the summer, we gardeners in the South and Southwest put down our shovels and trowels, do a little weeding or watering in the early morning hours, and mainly try to stay in the shade or a swimming hole until ...
Redoing a faux succulent arrangement from Target
January 18, 2014 Fellow blogger Helen Yoest recently mentioned on Facebook that Target is selling potted faux succulents, so of course I had to go take a look. I’m not averse to using fake plants in my home, which is rather dim along one side, making for houseplant Hades. I’ve ...
Read This: Succulents Simplified
July 02, 2013 Succulents are a garden trend that shows no sign of slowing down. Easy to pot up for summer and tolerant of watering forgetfulness, they make the perfect seasonal accent even in freeze-prone climates. For those in mild-winter climates, a variety of succulents can be grown outside all ...
String beads and broken china to make a pot necklace
January 30, 2013 Yesterday I opened a storage box and found this terracotta olla adorned with a bead-and-broken-china necklace I’d made for it about 7 years ago. Stowed away at some point, probably during our move, it was forgotten. I decided it would look good sitting amid the winter-browned inland ...
Read This: Handmade Garden Projects
January 11, 2012 “A collection of plants, however choice and brilliantly well-tended, doesn’t become a real garden until it takes on the character and personality of the gardener behind it. The best gardens—those we fall into for hours, appearing new with every visit—are ones in which the owners are telling ...
Read This: Concrete Garden Projects
September 24, 2011 Are you looking for a fun garden project this fall? A way to add clean-lined flair to your garden? I have just the book recommendation for you. Concrete Garden Projects: Easy & Inexpensive Containers, Furniture, Water Features & More by Camilla Arvidsson and Malin Nilsson is a ...
Making a wish wreath for the garden
March 05, 2008 Next to my front door hangs a “wish” wreath made for me by my mother about 9 years ago. It remains one of my most treasured gifts. Why do I love it? Aside from its appealing Texas-gardening theme—the grapevine wreath is accented by a barbed-wire star, tiny ...
Better bottle tree: Now I've really got the blues
April 27, 2007 When I visited MSS‘s garden a couple of days ago to collect the promised agave pup, I offhandedly asked her whether any empty sake bottles, which are cobalt blue, might be lying around. No, she said, but I do have a few empty, blue-glass water bottles in ...
Better bottle tree: Now I’ve really got the blues
April 27, 2007 When I visited MSS‘s garden a couple of days ago to collect the promised agave pup, I offhandedly asked her whether any empty sake bottles, which are cobalt blue, might be lying around. No, she said, but I do have a few empty, blue-glass water bottles in ...