Kicking off Madison Fling: People, badgers, barns, and a bountiful rooftop garden

Kicking off Madison Fling: People, badgers, barns, and a bountiful rooftop garden

July 04, 2022 Farm country scenery at the Flower Factory near Madison In late June I joined approximately 50 garden bloggers, Instagrammers, podcasters, and YouTubers in picturesque Madison, Wisconsin, for the 13th annual Garden Bloggers Fling. After a COVID hiatus of two years, and a heroic display of patience, stamina, ...
At Bedrock Gardens art leads you on a journey

At Bedrock Gardens art leads you on a journey

November 18, 2021 In early October, as we road-tripped south from our leaf-peeping week in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, I was head-over-heels excited to revisit Bedrock Gardens, a private-transitioning-to-public garden in the town of Lee. I first visited Bedrock Gardens in 2014, when the owners, Jill Nooney and Bob Munger, ...
Day of the Dead at Lucinda Hutson's casita and garden

Day of the Dead at Lucinda Hutson’s casita and garden

November 04, 2019 In early November each year, Austin writer Lucinda Hutson celebrates Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday for remembering and honoring deceased loved ones. Decorating her Rosedale home — her purple casita, as she calls it — and Mexican-style garden with colorful flowers, food, tequila bottles, skeleton ...
Via Libre, a free-spirited garden along the freeway

Via Libre, a free-spirited garden along the freeway

July 25, 2019 Moss green doors sparkle with tin milagros — an inviting gateway into a garden courtyard. Many people wouldn’t consider buying a house sandwiched between MoPac expressway, a multi-lane highway with freight trains chugging down the center median, and its neighborhood feeder road. But Cynthia Williams Deegan and ...
Party under the willow tree in Judy Seaborn's garden: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling

Party under the willow tree in Judy Seaborn’s garden: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling

July 13, 2019 Grandmother Willow offers sage advice in Pocahontas. Old Man Willow terrorizes the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings. The Whomping Willow bashes the unwary and guards a secret passageway in the Harry Potter series. Why does the willow figure so prominently in our cultural mythology? Perhaps ...
Three more gardens on Inside Austin Gardens Tour 2017

Three more gardens on Inside Austin Gardens Tour 2017

May 04, 2017 I’ve already posted about two of the gardens on this Saturday’s Inside Austin Gardens Tour, and today I’m showing a sneak peek of three more private gardens on the tour. Garden of Dorothy Thering Gardening on 23 acres in Spicewood, Dorothy Thering has room for a spacious ...
Magical mosaics in the garden of Wouterina De Raad, Part 2: Minneapolis Garden Bloggers Fling

Magical mosaics in the garden of Wouterina De Raad, Part 2: Minneapolis Garden Bloggers Fling

August 05, 2016 Yesterday I shared Part 1 of my visit to Wisconsin artist Wouterina De Raad’s mosaic sculpture garden, which was the final garden — and my favorite — on the recent Minneapolis Garden Bloggers Fling. Today I’ll end my Fling series with Part 2 about Wouterina‘s delightful, exploratory ...
My article about Voorhes' homestead garden in Austin Home

My article about Voorhes’ homestead garden in Austin Home

June 05, 2016 A homestead garden in the city? You bet! I’ll show you the productive garden of Adam Voorhes and Robin Finlay — a commercial- and editorial-photography team (and married couple) known as The Voorhes — in the Summer 2016 issue of Austin Home, which you can find on ...
Farewell visit to James David's Austin garden, part 2

Farewell visit to James David’s Austin garden, part 2

May 20, 2015 A grand limestone staircase bisected by a rill leads from the back of the house to a large pond in the lower garden. Yesterday I showed you around the upper level of James David’s magnificent garden, which I visited in late March and which is currently for ...
Garden magic and whimsy at Floramagoria: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

Garden magic and whimsy at Floramagoria: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

August 13, 2014 As we entered the intriguingly named Floramagoria garden on the recent Portland Garden Bloggers Fling, thunder rumbled and raindrops pelted our group of 40 or so bloggers. The reasonable — and hungry — among us ran for the two covered pavilions with box lunches in hand. The ...
Splendor in the grass at Rhone Street Gardens: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

Splendor in the grass at Rhone Street Gardens: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling

August 07, 2014 The 3rd and final day of touring on the recent Garden Bloggers Fling in Portland, Oregon, dawned cool and misty — exactly what Portland should be, at least according to heat-shunning me. After two days of unusual heat, I was thrilled, even when it started to thunder ...
Sculpture and found objects mingle in Marcia Donahue's garden

Sculpture and found objects mingle in Marcia Donahue’s garden

August 13, 2013 Peering from the shadows of an exuberant, densely planted front yard, artist Marcia Donahue’s turbaned and hooded figures — exotic wood sprites? — give a sense of mystery to her Berkeley, California, garden. On July 1st, the day after the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling ended, I ...
Whimsical Westview Road garden on Austin's Funky Chicken Coop Tour

Whimsical Westview Road garden on Austin’s Funky Chicken Coop Tour

March 31, 2013 No, I’m not looking for a Mildred or Louise to eat bugs and lay eggs in my garden. But I couldn’t resist buying a ticket to Austin’s 5th annual Funky Chicken Coop Tour after watching a recent Central Texas Gardener episode (below) about Dani and Gary Moss’s ...
Support Your Independent Nursery: The Natural Gardener GIVEAWAY

Support Your Independent Nursery: The Natural Gardener GIVEAWAY

October 01, 2012 Buddha says, Support your local nurseries. Each week in October, which is Support Your Independent Nursery Month, I am featuring one of my favorite Austin-area nurseries here at Digging. To make things even more interesting, I’m also hosting a giveaway every week—one from each nursery! This week ...
Dallas Open Days Tour 2012: Middleton Farm Garden

Dallas Open Days Tour 2012: Middleton Farm Garden

May 11, 2012 My second stop on the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days tour last weekend was the Middleton Farm Garden, a contemporary home with homesteading flair in suburban north Dallas. Here’s the official description: A suburban oasis loosely composed as three distinct aspects. A casual, manicured space of green lawn, ...
Support Your Independent Nursery Month: The Great Outdoors

Support Your Independent Nursery Month: The Great Outdoors

October 19, 2011 It’s Support Your Independent Nursery month! Each Wednesday in October I’m posting about one of my favorite independent garden centers in the Austin area. Today I’m shining a spotlight on The Great Outdoors, located just south of the hip strip known as SoCo on South Congress Avenue ...