April 15, 2006While walking the dog this evening, I admired my neighbors’ gardens, which are either colorfully in bloom or fresh and green with the first flush of spring. Kids were out hunting Easter eggs. Aside from the occasional voracious mosquito, it was a perfect spring evening. I planted two …

April 10, 2006The front garden looks very English-cottage right now, full of pink roses, tall coneflowers, sweeps of yellow, and a blue agave. Wait, that’s not very English. Well, it works for Austin. Here are several images from this evening. The Belinda’s Dream rosebush is attracting the neighbors’ attention this …

April 06, 2006 Springtime has the sparrows in a nesting frenzy. There are babies in this fellow’s nest already—I’ve heard them cheeping—but maybe he’s doing a little home remodeling. The back garden is suffused with the almost-too-sweet scent of star jasmine. The other fragrant flower, Marie Pavie rose, grows nearby …

April 04, 2006 I’m happy to be able to share this photo. I love to watch hawk moths, and yet—because they usually appear at dusk and move so fast—I’ve never been able to photograph one before. Early this morning I spotted one flitting around the salvia greggii (Autumn sage), dipping …

April 01, 2006 Texas bluebonnet As I strolled through the front garden this evening, I was surprised to see a volunteer bluebonnet poking its head up amid the tall echinacea stems. April Fools? No, it was for real. I’d planted a couple of bluebonnets near that spot several years ago, …

March 30, 2006After the heavy rains and cooler temperatures of the last several days, we’re seeing a warm-up and sunshine in the forecast again. But this morning, overcast skies and new leafy textures lured me into the garden for a photo op. The beautiful foliage of Hinkley’s columbine, purple oxalis, …

March 30, 2006I haven’t had time to update this blog with photos in the last several days, but here are a few from the 23rd. Our native spiderwort and horsetail I like this prehistoric-looking combination—the curliness of the spiderwort mixed with the reedy, straight horsetail. Plus both plants are named …

March 28, 2006Right at school drop-off time today, central Austin received a gully-washer of a thunderstorm. I was trapped at school for about 30 minutes while the lightning slashed down and thunder shook the building, seemingly right on top of us. There’s nothing like a Texas thunderstorm. I actually quite …

March 21, 2006 The crossvine sprawling across the back fence is covered in trumpet-shaped blossoms. Here is a close-up of the crossvine . . . . . . and another. Another vine—white potato vine—and another birdhouse. A sign of spring: twigs poking out of the birdhouse. And in the front …

March 20, 2006David and I just returned from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, to find a half inch of rain in the rain gauge, and then last night we enjoyed a whopper of a thunderstorm that dropped 4 inches more. The garden looks lush with spring growth after our short …

March 12, 2006 Spiderwort. Several clumps are growing in my shady “woodland” garden. On one plant, both blue and purple flowers appear. I tried to capture the two colors with this photo, but it shows just true blue. Since the cedar elm has started growing in earnest—well, it’s really been …

March 10, 2006Austin’s drought continues, but a late-night thunderstorm on Wednesday brought us a little more than a quarter-inch of rain. Better than nothing! The garden continues to spring into spring. On the down side, I hear that central Texas’s bluebonnet crop will be underwhelming this year, due to the …

March 06, 2006 The red bed: ‘Valentine’ rose bush and purple prickly pear. I like grouping tough antique roses with cacti. It’s something about the softness and lushness of the rose petals contrasting with the spiny “modern” shape of cacti. These two show off their beautiful reds. The ‘Blue Elf’ …

March 06, 2006 The red bed: ‘Valentine’ rose bush and purple prickly pear. I like grouping tough antique roses with cacti. It’s something about the softness and lushness of the rose petals contrasting with the spiny “modern” shape of cacti. These two show off their beautiful reds. The ‘Blue Elf’ …