Blogger field trip: Peckerwood Garden

Blogger field trip: Peckerwood Garden

November 08, 2008 Funny name and all, Peckerwood Garden is a place I’d wanted to see for years. But because it opens to the public for only a handful of days each year and it bars children under 12 from visiting (for safety reasons), as well as the fact that ...
Why am I smiling?

Why am I smiling?

November 06, 2008 Why am I smiling? Because tomorrow I’m visiting Peckerwood Garden with a bunch of the Austin garden bloggers. Road trip!! And doesn’t the name “Peckerwood” just make you grin? Look for pics from the incredible Peckerwood Garden this weekend—on 10 or so Austin garden blogs. All material ...
East Austin garden blogger party

East Austin garden blogger party

October 20, 2008 Y’all know how the Austin garden bloggers (36 at last count) delight in abandoning the virtual page for real-life meet-ups, right? On Sunday thirteen of us had the pleasure of touring and socializing in the East Austin gardens of two men who are garden blogging in our ...
San Antonio lures gardeners on Saturday

San Antonio lures gardeners on Saturday

October 16, 2008 Road trip! If I didn’t already have plans, I’d be southward bound on I-35 this Saturday. Two very tempting gardening events are going on in San Antonio. The Antique Rose Emporium at San Antonio is throwing its 6th Annual Festival of Roses this weekend. For those of ...
Three more gardens from Open Days Austin

Three more gardens from Open Days Austin

October 13, 2008 When Annie and I visited the gardens on the Open Days Austin tour two weekends ago, I was bowled over by Stone Palms and Fatal Flower, where the hand of the owners was plainly visible in the creativity of design and plant choices. Two more gardens on ...
Fatal Flower Garden: Open Days Austin

Fatal Flower Garden: Open Days Austin

October 10, 2008 After visiting the theatrical Stone Palms garden during the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Austin tour last Saturday, Annie in Austin and I headed over to east Austin to visit the Tex-Asian garden dubbed Fatal Flower. As you can see, that’s a bit of a misnomer since there ...
Stone Palms Garden: Open Days Austin

Stone Palms Garden: Open Days Austin

October 07, 2008 I’m back! After a whirlwind weekend of packing, lifting, and unpacking, we’re settling into our new house. I will post pictures of the new yard soon, but all my attention so far has been focused on the inside of the house. Boxes still loom in the hallways ...
Anticipating Austin's Open Days garden tour

Anticipating Austin’s Open Days garden tour

September 19, 2008 Not counting the Garden Bloggers Spring Fling 2008, the best local garden tour I’ve ever been on is Austin’s Open Days Garden Conservancy tour. Two years ago I visited every garden on the tour and ended up making a post about each one; click here for my ...
Anticipating Austin's Open Days garden tour

Anticipating Austin's Open Days garden tour

September 19, 2008 Not counting the Garden Bloggers Spring Fling 2008, the best local garden tour I’ve ever been on is Austin’s Open Days Garden Conservancy tour. Two years ago I visited every garden on the tour and ended up making a post about each one; click here for my ...
Dee-lightful visit to Dee Nash's Oklahoma garden

Dee-lightful visit to Dee Nash’s Oklahoma garden

August 11, 2008 While in Tulsa last week, my mother and I drove an hour and a half west to the town of Guthrie to visit Dee Nash of Red Dirt Ramblings. We got lost on several dusty, red roads but finally arrived to find her waving at us from ...
A visit to Chanticleer: Cut Flower & Vegetable Garden

A visit to Chanticleer: Cut Flower & Vegetable Garden

July 24, 2008 Our final stop on our early July visit to Chanticleer was the Cut Flower & Vegetable Garden. How sweet, green, and lush it appeared—like an April garden in Austin. Old-fashioned lovelies like hollyhocks (above) and sunflowers gave height to the rows of cutting flowers. Bent-twig arches also ...
A visit to Chanticleer: Gravel Garden and Ruin

A visit to Chanticleer: Gravel Garden and Ruin

July 23, 2008 Among all the beautiful, bold, and imaginative gardens at Chanticleer, why do I like the Gravel Garden best? It so resembles the dry gardens of west Austin that I feel a little sheepish to admit that in this lush, Pennsylvania garden I preferred the familiarity of home ...
A visit to Chanticleer: Pond Garden

A visit to Chanticleer: Pond Garden

July 22, 2008 The Pond Garden at Chanticleer lies at the bottom of a steep hill in a wide, open space backed by a stand of trees. Though manmade, it look completely natural thanks to its setting and the coarse plantings around its edge. Here’s an overlook of the Pond ...
A visit to Chanticleer: Asian Woods & Stream Garden

A visit to Chanticleer: Asian Woods & Stream Garden

July 22, 2008 During our tour of Chanticleer in early July, the mistiness of early afternoon gave way to bright sunshine as we dipped into the Asian Woods garden below the main house. Tall trees, their lower trunks wrapped in wire trellises for climbing vines, create a serene wood and ...
A visit to Chanticleer: Hydrangeas & House Garden

A visit to Chanticleer: Hydrangeas & House Garden

July 21, 2008 I’m sure something shines brightly every month that Chanticleer is open (April through October). But I felt fortunate to see the hydrangeas in full bloom since I rarely see one in Austin. I can never decide whether I prefer the pink or the blue. The lacecaps are ...
A visit to Chanticleer: Teacup & Tennis Court Gardens

A visit to Chanticleer: Teacup & Tennis Court Gardens

July 20, 2008 If you haven’t been to Chanticleer, you must go. Hop on a plane or jump in the car and go. Now. Dubbed “a pleasure garden” in its brochure, it lives up to the billing. From the moment we arrived, just after lunchtime on a quiet Sunday in ...