November 02, 2018
Rock scrambling at Bull Creek on New Year’s Day
January 02, 2017 For a New Year’s Day hike, we explored Bull Creek again, doing a bit of scrambling among the boulders on the cliff edge. It was a glorious day, about 74 F degrees and sunny. My daughter struck a few poses above the creek. I call this one …
Remembering 2016 in the garden
January 01, 2017 January Happy New Year, everyone! Following Jean’s example at Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog, I’m recapping 2016 with a single photo from each of the past 12 months in my garden. Poring over my old blog posts, I was reminded of the fleeting charms of the passing seasons …
Vertigo grass has the blues after hard freeze
December 29, 2016 ‘Vertigo’ pennisetum is singing the blues beautifully after three nights of hard freezes (mid 20s F) before Christmas. While other plants just look bleached and sad (variegated flax lily, I’m looking at you), this towering, dark-leaved grass still looks pretty, even though it’s now dormant. The TerraTrellis …
Losing a tree diseased by hypoxylon canker
December 28, 2016 A few days before Christmas, the front garden endured a major change: a fatally diseased live oak near our front door had to be removed. I’d had an arborist out the week before to give me a bid on general tree trimming, and he immediately spotted the …
Wishing you a merry and bright Christmas!
December 24, 2016 The Christmas tree is aglow. Festive ornaments add cheer. Family gathers close, and memories of past Christmases are retold. Lights shine across the city… …and we’ve spun under the Zilker Christmas Tree on its 50th anniversary. Neighbors’ houses glow like magical fairylands of light. And troubles are …
Final fall foliage as winter’s icy breath freezes Austin
December 18, 2016 Austin plummeted from a high of 80 F (26.6 C) yesterday afternoon to 26 F (-3.3 C) this morning, and today the Japanese maple is clinging shiveringly to far fewer leaves than yesterday, when I took this photo. That’s Texas winter weather for you. In preparation for …
Maple and mangave for Foliage Follow-Up
December 16, 2016 I’ve been celebrating a belated fall here at Digging and on Instagram this week, as our Japanese maple flamed into orange and then red. Although it’s a little odd to see brilliant fall color at Christmastime, we deprived Texas gardeners happily take it whenever we can get …
Drive-By Gardens: Front-yard style in Tarrytown neighborhood
December 15, 2016 Cruising through tony Tarrytown neighborhood in West Austin last week, I slowed to a crawl to admire several houses with appealing front-yard style. For understated Christmas pizzazz, I like the way these homeowners hung a big, green wreath over their moss-green front door flanked by dramatic pots …
Peak color aflame on Japanese maple
December 14, 2016 I’ve been out front gazing up at the Japanese maple again today (see yesterday’s pics for the rapid color change), enjoying those beautiful, blushing leaves. I believe we’re at peak redness, folks. I expect the leaves to drop this weekend during the predicted Arctic blast. But until …
At last, some fall color! Thanks, Japanese maple
December 13, 2016 Just a couple of weeks ago I wrote that fall color is a dud this year in Austin. That’s still true, but as if in defiance of that observation, the Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) at the front corner of our house is flaming orange and red in …
Latest critter in the pool: Western slimy salamander
December 12, 2016 Add this western slimy salamander to the list of crawly critters that have fallen into our swimming pool. We spotted it at the bottom of the shallow end after our recent rains. David got the net without much hope of it being alive, but it moved when …
Decking the cedar trees on Loop 360, an Austin Christmas tradition
December 10, 2016 Just after Thanksgiving every year, Austinites who live along scenic Loop 360 are treated to the festive sight of roadside juniper trees decked out in creative, colorful decorations, turning miles of highway into a drive-by Christmas parade. It started off, years ago, with just a few trees …
Library Journal and NYBG review my book, plus an interview by May Dreams' Carol
December 07, 2016 Yay, my new book has gotten a couple of great reviews just in time for holiday shopping season — and library-stocking season, apparently. Library Journal has named The Water-Saving Garden as “essential” for libraries building their collection of books about current gardening trends. Being water-wise in the …
Library Journal and NYBG review my book, plus an interview by May Dreams’ Carol
December 07, 2016 Yay, my new book has gotten a couple of great reviews just in time for holiday shopping season — and library-stocking season, apparently. Library Journal has named The Water-Saving Garden as “essential” for libraries building their collection of books about current gardening trends. Being water-wise in the …
