November 02, 2018
Read This: How to Steal Like an Artist
April 20, 2011 It may seem like I’m taking a break from garden writing to tell you about two Austinites whose websites are inspiring me this week, but there’s a connection. You’ll see. First is Austin Kleon, author/artist of the book Newspaper Blackout. His inspiring and yet practical post How …
Great horned owlets nesting at Wildflower Center
April 20, 2011 One great horned owlet… …two owlets… …three owlets are nesting in a planting niche on a stone wall at the Wildflower Center. I visited yesterday to take pictures of the raptor family and observed the three active chicks for 45 minutes. Mama owl was absent—taking a well-deserved …
Plant This: ‘Etoile Violette’ clematis
April 18, 2011 A classic garden beauty, ‘Etoile Violette’ clematis has proven hardy in my garden for the past two years through our blazing summers and unusually nippy winters. Its name means Violet Star in French, and its blossoms are indeed star-shaped, large, and open, unlike our native bell-shaped clematis, …
Honeybees love aloe blossoms
April 17, 2011 The Aloe saponaria flowers are attracting a busy fan base. Or should I say buzzy? The dangling, coral-red blossoms are alive with honeybees. A quick glance gives no hint of the activity going on inside each tubular flower. But watch carefully and you’ll see bees emerging rump-first …
Of the garden, but not the garden
April 15, 2011 A few interesting things I’ve seen this week in various gardens around town. First, Southern Living photographer Ralph Anderson leaning in for a close-up of a miniature donkey at Nancy Whitworth’s garden. I drove Steve Bender and Ralph to a couple of gardens while they were here …
More spring beauty from Lucinda’s garden
April 14, 2011 For those of you who loved the images of Lucinda Hutson’s garden (and who doesn’t?), here are a few more luscious spring pics, including this bee burrowing into a Jerusalem sage blossom. A long shot of the Jerusalem sage (Phlomis fruticosa) in Lucinda’s front garden. Its tiered, …
Enchanted evening in Lucinda Hutson’s cantina garden
April 12, 2011 “Let’s go into the garden! Ai-yi-yi-yi!” trills Lucinda Hutson as she leads her guests, each with a rosy prickly-pear margarita in hand, over the threshold of her purple cottage and into her Rosedale garden. Lucinda is the kind of hostess who can pull off such cross-cultural exuberance …
Carolina wren nesting on my front porch
April 10, 2011 What a crazy mama wren, to pick a nesting spot so close to our front door, putting her nest in a high-traffic area several times a day. She’s tucked it among the Texas sedges planted in the pot. See the round opening? And here she is, sitting …
Bluebonnets, ‘Chocolate Chips’ & more in bloom
April 07, 2011 Is this perhaps the prettiest week in central Texas? Or will it be next week? I don’t know, but early April is looking mighty fine in my own garden and I hope in yours as well. Our state flower, the Texas bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis), adorns a miniature …
Plant This: Gulf Coast penstemon colors the shade garden
April 06, 2011 I’m singing the praises of Gulf Coast penstemon (Penstemon tenuis) today. It’s in peak bloom in my garden and throughout Austin. Spires of lavender, bell-shaped flowers stand about 1 to 1-1/2 feet high in the shade or morning-sun garden and look especially nice underplanted with purple oxalis …
Spring spring spring! sings the wren
April 05, 2011 ‘Radsunny’ Knock Out rose Full-throated song fills the garden each morning. No, it isn’t me, though spring sings in my heart. We’re serenaded by our resident Carolina wrens, who surely vie with roosters for their “get out of bed, the day’s a-wasting” lung power. And I know …
Flowers & spring green at Zilker Botanical Garden
April 04, 2011 From dinosaur gardens to Japanese gardens to the surprise of azaleas in Austin, Zilker Botanical Garden has something for everyone. And yes, they also have mixed beds of flowers in bloom, although thankfully no sweeps of bedding annuals. Here’s some lovely spring color (I’m including green!) brightening …
Flowers & spring green at Zilker Botanical Garden
April 04, 2011 From dinosaur gardens to Japanese gardens to the surprise of azaleas in Austin, Zilker Botanical Garden has something for everyone. And yes, they also have mixed beds of flowers in bloom, although thankfully no sweeps of bedding annuals. Here’s some lovely spring color (I’m including green!) brightening …
Japanese Garden at Zilker Botanical Garden
April 02, 2011 I recently posted about the prehistoric garden at Zilker, but an older and equally beautiful part of the botanical garden is the Taniguchi Japanese Garden. It’s an intimate, contemplative, green place overlooking downtown Austin. The garden was a gift to the city by 70-year-old Isamu Taniguchi in …
