January 15, 2008 ‘Little John’ bottlebrush (Callistemon viminalis ) Bloom Day January finds my garden short on flowers. I looked high and low for this handful of posies. Aside from several dozen frost-browned roses, this is it. While flowers are few, the garden is still pretty green (or, here and …

January 14, 2008 ‘Adagio’ miscanthus inflorescence Dear readers, I feel that I’ve neglected you of late. I’ve been busy working out the details of the Garden Bloggers Spring Fling, and I didn’t do any gardening over the holidays, despite many days of beautiful weather. Finally I knew I had to …

January 08, 2008 We’ve rolled out the welcome mat here in Austin, and I’m thrilled to report that garden bloggers across the country are making their travel plans. Yesterday I announced the garden-bloggers’ event of 2008 (I hope!)—Garden Bloggers Spring Fling on April 5—and the guest list has already become …

January 07, 2008 Calling all garden bloggers! On April 5, the Austin bloggers will host Garden Bloggers Spring Fling 2008—the first-ever social event for all garden bloggers. It’s going to be a LOT of fun, and we want you to join us. Let’s get out of cyberspace for a day …

January 07, 2008 Calling all garden bloggers! On April 5, the Austin bloggers will host Garden Bloggers Spring Fling 2008—the first-ever social event for all garden bloggers. It’s going to be a LOT of fun, and we want you to join us. Let’s get out of cyberspace for a day …

January 06, 2008 Path to the garden shed Yesterday afternoon I took my camera into the garden. It was 75 degrees, cloudy, balmy—a pleasant winter day in Austin. A strange thing occurred. My eyes saw the frost-browned salvias that seem to beg to be cut back, although I’ll leave their …

January 01, 2008 Many months after I set out to remodel my garden shed, its makeover is complete. Nearly. The frame around the new screen door still requires painting, but everything else is done, several months after starting this project. Isn’t it amazing how seemingly simple projects get dragged out? …

December 29, 2007Looking over this year’s posts, I see that as my garden grew, so blossomed new friendships, experiences, and even a bit of publicity for Digging. A retrospective reminds us of changes, both in the garden and in life, and I hope you’ll enjoy looking back with me before …

December 24, 2007 Last night the family trooped down to Zilker Park for the Trail of Lights. My favorite tree in Austin, this majestic pecan, was encrusted from trunk to twigs with thousands of colored bulbs—a magical vision! Other trees glowed beautifully too. We also took turns spinning under the …

December 22, 2007 Is Santa a winter gardener? Often he carries a fir tree over his shoulder instead of a sack of toys. M. Sinclair Stevens, Tom Spencer, and I were interviewed for an article on winter gardening published today in the Austin American-Statesman . Check it out while you …

December 22, 2007Ask and you shall receive. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. Whatever you want to call it, Blogger listened to those unhappy with its recent changes in the comment field (discussed at length at Digging, Garden Rant, Mr. Brown Thumb, Blogging Art & Practice, and many other blogs) …

December 21, 2007 It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in garden-blog land, with numerous posts about holiday ornaments. Last night Layanee’s question, “What does your Christmas tree say about you?” made me pause to consider our tannenbaum. As you can see in the photo above, we hang …

December 21, 2007 The amaryllis (Hippeastrum ) I showed you in a recent post is blooming. The ivory trumpets with apple-green throats and petals streaked with cherry red brighten our table at mealtimes. Serendipity—it even matches the screen door on the porch. Unlike the red amaryllis I grew potted in …

December 20, 2007 Sweet Autumn clematis seed A few days ago, while examining the garden for evidence of frost, I noticed the whirligig design of these sweet Autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora ) seeds and paused for a closer look. Like feather-tailed tadpoles on a stem, they look as if they’re …