Yucca and palm fantasyland at John Fairey Garden
Exploring a dry garden of yuccas and palms against a gorgeous blue wall at The John Fairey Garden in Hempstead, Texas.… Read More
Garden design lessons from a Texas gravel garden
Linda Peterson’s San Antonio gravel garden has great design lessons for any gardener. Today I’m sharing them with you.… Read More
Read This: Hot Color, Dry Garden can help you design your waterwise garden
August 26, 2018 Homeowners who want a waterwise garden, particularly if they live in the U.S. Southwest, often feel that their options are limited to cactus and gravel — a “zero-scape,” as it’s commonly called. If instead you’d like to … Read More
Garden powers through a Texas heat wave
July 24, 2018 Arizona-level heat is plaguing us here in Austin this week. Temps reached 110 F (43.3 C) yesterday, and we’re cooling down to “only” 101-105 F all the rest of this week. The Death Star is on high … Read More
Spiky garden of Matt Shreves
December 10, 2017 Six months ago I visited the spikylicious garden of Matt Shreves, an Austin gardener I met on Instagram (see his Instagram page at OG_Agave). Last month, he kindly invited the Austin blogger group over (or maybe we … Read More
Waterwise drama in Lakemoore Drive Garden: Austin Open Days Tour 2017
November 20, 2017 Continuing my coverage of the November 4th Open Days tour, today I give you the Lakemoore Drive Garden. Regular readers may recognize this garden as one I blogged about, rapturously, in 2013. The outer garden, a sun-loving … Read More
Plant This: Paleleaf yucca shines in dry shade
August 04, 2017 Like a woman who’s grown tired of covering up the gray, I’m letting my silver self shine — in the garden, that is. Instead of bemoaning the dominant silver-green to olive-green palette that comes so naturally to … Read More
Agave and cactus splendor in the garden of Matt Shreves
May 16, 2017 For Foliage Follow-Up this month, I’m taking you on a tour of Matt Shreves’s garden near Lake Travis. A succulent and cactus lover (check out his spikealicious Instagram page), Matt has turned an ordinary yard into a … Read More
Rocking a gravel garden in the Kuzma Garden: Portland Garden Bloggers Fling
August 14, 2014 After the barely controlled excess of Floramagoria, the next garden we toured on the Portland Garden Bloggers Fling seemed, at first glance, restrained, even austere. No seating was visible aside from garden walls and steps. With the … Read More
Drive-By Gardens: Aloes abloom in modern dry garden of Karen Lantz
April 03, 2014 ‘Blue Elf’ aloes, purple prickly pear, gold sedum, and smooth sotol and silver ponyfoot in the steel ring, with an Opuntia “tree” behind I’m hearing from many of you how much you enjoy my Drive-By Gardens posts, … Read More
Sculptural dry gardens at the Ruth Bancroft Garden: San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling
July 27, 2013 Our 1st stop on the 3rd and final day of the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling was the Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek. It was about 100 degrees F in Walnut Creek that last week of … Read More
Visit to Plant Delights Nursery and Juniper Level Botanic Garden: Southwestern garden & agave collection
June 20, 2011 Is a southwestern garden what you expect to see when you visit the Raleigh, North Carolina, display gardens of online nursery Plant Delights? Do you expect to see cholla cactus in bloom? Or how about a ghostly … Read More