November 02, 2018
Newest Austin garden bloggers
June 10, 2008 A big howdy to the newest Austin garden bloggers. SOME LIKE IT HOT. Laura, a south Austin blogger, moved here from Phoenix and is enjoying her new vegetable and flower/xeriscape gardens. GETTING GROUNDED. Robin is a chiropractor and nutritionist turned writer. Her new blog contains lots of …
Bee swarm in Austin
June 10, 2008 My next-door neighbor fired up her gas grill yesterday and in the process disturbed a swarm of bees. Suddenly bees were buzzing all through our back yard and hers and clustering on her house. She didn’t get stung, thankfully, and called to let us know so that …
Meeting photographer Rob Cardillo
June 10, 2008 Last Saturday morning I had the pleasure of meeting professional photographer Rob Cardillo and observing as he photographed my front garden. He was scouting for images of regional design for his upcoming fourth book with Nancy Ondra, about perennial maintenance, and for ideas he can pitch to …
Hill Country scenery
June 09, 2008 Despite those crazy pink bluebonnets still blooming in my garden, Texas wildflowers in summertime favor orange, yellow, and red, with a few white prickly poppies and yucca blooms thrown in for good measure. Yesterday we drove our son to summer camp in the Hill Country west of …
Crazy pink bluebonnets
June 04, 2008 Those crazy pink bluebonnets I accidentally bought last spring are thumbing their little pink noses at the extreme heat we’ve been having and are STILL blooming. Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis ) normally peak in early to mid-April, and by June they’ve ceded the fields and highway medians …
Into the fire
June 03, 2008 Meteorologist Mark Murray’s “Weather Outlook” in today’s Austin American-Statesman : Since May 1st, we’ve set or tied nine record high temperatures at Camp Mabry [the weather station in my neighborhood]. Today could be number ten as 99 degrees should break the old record of 98 degrees set …
Fairy tale garden
June 03, 2008 My daughter calls this our fairy tale garden. A true romantic, she adores the pink ‘Belinda’s Dream’ roses mingling with purple Mexican snapdragon vine against a castle-like (in her eyes) birdhouse. I love that she calls it that. More pinks on the other, non-fairy tale side of …
The Mark of the Human Hand: Designing with native plants
June 02, 2008 Aside from the painted-wall eye candy, the Summer 2008 Wildflower magazine also has an interesting article about Lotusland in Montecito, California. I’d never heard of this fantastical garden until Chuck visited Lotusland and posted about it. Now it’s on my must-see-gardens list. According to landscape architect Gary …
Painted wall inspiration
May 31, 2008 Imagine how thrilling this pale-yellow Opuntia flower would look against a lavender wall. Or maybe a leaf-green wall, which would contrast with the purple pads of the cactus, especially in winter when its color is strongest. I’ve just read the Summer 2008 issue of Wildflower, the magazine …
Red and yellow kill a fellow?
May 29, 2008 ‘Santa Rita’ Opuntia flower Gardeners often have strong opinions about using red and yellow together. Linda at Meadowview Thymes wrote in a comment here that she loves yellow with red. Chuck at My Back 40 (Feet) reacts with antipathy when that color combination appears accidentally in his …
Mellow yellows & mellower temps
May 28, 2008 Hymenoxys (Tetraneuris scaposa ), also called four-nerve daisy. This little Texas native is nearly everblooming, and the tuft of narrow-leaved foliage stays evergreen. If I bothered to deadhead the spent blooms, it’d look even prettier. Hot and humid—Austin’s summertime weather pattern. After a week of high 90s …
Mellow yellows & mellower temps
May 28, 2008 Hymenoxys (Tetraneuris scaposa ), also called four-nerve daisy. This little Texas native is nearly everblooming, and the tuft of narrow-leaved foliage stays evergreen. If I bothered to deadhead the spent blooms, it’d look even prettier. Hot and humid—Austin’s summertime weather pattern. After a week of high 90s …
Daylily delights
May 27, 2008 ‘Apple Tart’ daylily May is my daylily month. When school used to let out in mid-May, we often went on vacation and missed most of the flowers. Now that the state legislature has stuck its nose in the business of local school districts and dictated when school …
Tex-Mex Deviled Eggs: A devilishly good treat
May 27, 2008 ‘Best of Friends’ daylily A summertime BBQ with extended family is the perfect excuse for whipping up a batch of spicy, Texas-style deviled eggs. I made them yesterday for our Memorial Day family dinner, where they were promptly devoured, so I thought I’d share them with you …
