November 02, 2018
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 …
A little winter greenery, and trying to find a plant I love
December 05, 2016 It’s been raining since last Friday, so I thought I’d share a few garden pics taken before the deluge. This is one of my favorite combos for winter and indeed all year long (clockwise from top): ‘Soft Caress’ mahonia, Everillo sedge (Carex oshimensis ‘Everillo’), and ‘Sparkler’ sedge …
Outdoors at The Domain’s Rock Rose
December 03, 2016 My mother and I had lunch in the new Rock Rose section of The Domain (a New Urbanist-style live/work/shop development in North Austin) last week and poked around in the shops afterward. Naturally, I yanked my phone out along the way to take pictures of cool landscaping …
Purple pom-poms and stripey leaves
December 01, 2016 I’m drinking up this grapey, effervescent combo of ‘Grapes’ gomphrena and variegated flax lily (Dianella tasmanica ‘Variegata’) in my garden right now. The tiny purple blooms of ‘Grapes’ look like miniature pom-poms, and it certainly cheers its way through autumn, its spindly stems supported by white-striped flax …
Bull Creek beauty worth fighting for
November 30, 2016 Bull Creek winds through one of the most scenic areas of Austin, under vertical limestone cliffs softened with maidenhair fern and dripping with water from numerous springs. In spring and summer, Austinites love to swim in the creek’s deep-water holes (although high levels of bacteria, often from …
Autumn stroll around Lady Bird Lake
November 28, 2016 Autumn rarely sets our trees aflame here in central Texas, and this year’s fall color looks to be more of a dud than usual. But still, you can find a few russet tinges if you squint, especially in the coppery needles of bald cypresses around Lady Bird …
Rawr! Dino fun at Austin’s favorite putt-putt place
November 27, 2016 It’s the perfect time of year for outdoor play in Austin, and, boy, did we play this long Thanksgiving holiday! We’ve walked around Lady Bird Lake, played at John Gaines Park in Mueller neighborhood, hiked at Bull Creek, seen a couple of movies (Arrival is excellent, Fantastic …
Edibles, green roof, and playground at Mueller Community Gardens & Gaines Park
November 25, 2016 We spent Thanksgiving in the mixed-use, urban-infill, sustainably-designed Mueller neighborhood in east Austin, where my in-laws hosted us in their lovely new home. As always when we visit, I’m impressed by the park spaces and community amenities available to Mueller residents, and I fantasize about moving into …
Easy livin’ at Lake Livingston
November 21, 2016 Lake lounging. Wine sipping. Sunrise and sunset watching. That’s what we did over the weekend at the getaway cottage my sister and sister-in-law own on Lake Livingston in the pineywoods of East Texas. Here’s a sunrise view from their back porch. Around 12 hours later, here’s the …
Creek Show 2016: Light-based public art along Austin’s Waller Creek
November 17, 2016 Five temporary, light-based art installations come to glowing life each evening through Saturday in downtown Austin along Waller Creek between 5th and 8th Streets. It’s called, simply, Creek Show, with a carnival-esque monster-fish logo (it’s alive!) that I still don’t get, but it’s fun, it’s free, and …
Mellow fall garden for November Foliage Follow-Up
November 16, 2016 Today is Foliage Follow-Up, a day to celebrate great foliage after the flower celebration of Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Let’s take a spin around the back garden for my foliage faves this month, starting with the stock-tank pond garden. No flowers here since the water lilies slowed …
