November 02, 2018
Screech owlets ready to fly away

Screech owlets ready to fly away

Aw, they grow up so fast! All three screech owlets have left the nesting box and are roosting in a nearby live oak …
Agaves, salvias, and wildflowers going strong

Agaves, salvias, and wildflowers going strong

Early summer is a good time in the garden, with late wildflowers in bloom and foliage still fresh and green. Let’s see what’s new …
First owlet leaves the nest, two more in box

First owlet leaves the nest, two more in box

Several times a day and night I pop outside to check on and photograph the screech owl family nesting in our front yard. I’m obsessed …
Garden flowers as summer arrives

Garden flowers as summer arrives

The garden catches my eye every day as it transitions to early summer flowering. Here are a few recent photos …
Night owls

Night owls

I’ve always been a night owl, and right now we have a family of them in the garden. They sleep by day and hunt by night to feed their owlets …
Diana's hilly new garden

Diana’s hilly new garden

My friend Diana Kirby moved across town 6 years ago and has been making her new garden in very different conditions from her old one …
More fox and owl action in the garden

More fox and owl action in the garden

I’d seen her, but my husband hadn’t. So yesterday evening, we did a fox stakeout. And then she scrabbled up on the 6-foot fence …
Owls, lizards, finches, and fox at home in my garden

Owls, lizards, finches, and fox at home in my garden

Watching wild creatures make their homes, hunt, and raise their young in the garden hugely motivates my gardening efforts …
Lawn-free prairie garden of Native Son's Danny Bravens

Lawn-free prairie garden of Native Son’s Danny Bravens

At his home garden, Danny Bravens of Native Son Gardens replaced thirsty turf with low-water, densely planted, native prairie plants …
Come hear Joey Santore of Crime Pays... speak at Garden Spark in Austin

Come hear Joey Santore of Crime Pays… speak at Garden Spark in Austin

Come hear Joey Santore of Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t at his June 19th presentation for Garden Spark in Austin!  …
Screech owl in the box and garden anoles

Screech owl in the box and garden anoles

I’ve been keeping an eye on the screech owl box in the front yard. A nesting pair has chosen it, and I believe they’re feeding owlets …
Tank ponds and spring blooms in Lori's garden

Tank ponds and spring blooms in Lori’s garden

I popped over to my friend Lori Daul’s garden in South Austin, bringing with me a small posse of visiting garden writers and editors …
Athena the great horned owl nesting again at the Wildflower Center

Athena the great horned owl nesting again at the Wildflower Center

A great horned owl has been nesting at the Wildflower Center for 15 years, laying her eggs each spring in a planter niche high on a wall …
Found-art sculpture, bejeweled gnome village in Tom's garden, Part 2

Found-art sculpture, bejeweled gnome village in Tom’s garden, Part 2

In Tom Ellison’s garden, gnomes make jeweled flowers, and Tom’s found-art sculptures shine among plants and pots …