Come hear a talk by Plano prairie gardener Michael McDowell in Austin
October 29, 2024 Central Texas gardeners, join me on Thursday, November 14, at 7 pm for a Garden Spark talk by Michael McDowell, better known by his Instagram handle @PlanoPrairieGarden. It’ll be a great learning experience and a fun opportunity for community with fellow garden lovers! Tickets are on sale ...
Jennifer Jewell’s Garden Spark talk sows seeds of garden inspiration
October 25, 2024 What an evening for the gardening community last night in Austin! I was so pleased to host Jennifer Jewell, the creator, writer, and host of acclaimed podcast Cultivating Place: Conversations on Natural History and the Human Impulse to Garden, as the kickoff speaker for Season 8 of ...
Garden Spark’s 8th season brings exciting new speakers
May 31, 2024 Wow, 8 years! Garden Spark, my speaker series on garden design and ecology, will return for its 8th season of in-person talks in Austin this fall. I’m excited to announce the new lineup of speakers! This season we’ll explore the cultural significance of seeds and how those ...
You’re invited to a gardening talk by Coleson Bruce
December 13, 2023 Central Texas gardeners, join me on Thursday, January 18th, for a Garden Spark talk by Coleson Bruce, an Austin gardener extraordinaire! Tickets are on sale now. This is an in-person event, and seating is limited, so grab your spot today. And hey, a gardening talk makes a great holiday ...
Come learn how to boost wildlife habitat with a hedge
November 14, 2023 Photo: Cambria Harkey Central Texas gardeners, join me on Thursday, December 7, for a Garden Spark talk by Austin landscape architect Shaney Clemmons, principal and founder of Shademaker Studio. She’ll tell us why biodiverse hedges are a greener choice than fences — in every sense — including ...
John Hart Asher kicks off Garden Spark’s Season 7 with prairie garden presentation
August 27, 2023 Prairie and native-plant advocate John Hart Asher, principal of Blackland Collaborative and host of the PBS show Central Texas Gardener, spoke at Garden Spark last Thursday. His engaging and informative presentation provided an excellent Season 7 kickoff for the speaker series about garden design and ecology that ...
Come hear a talk about making a pocket prairie
July 17, 2023 Central Texas gardeners, let’s gather together for a new season of Garden Spark talks starting on August 24th! It’ll give you something to look forward to in the midst of this heat wave to end all heat waves, and you’ll learn from experts in the Austin gardening ...
Garden Spark kicks off Season 7 next month
July 05, 2023 Garden Spark returns for its 7th season on August 24th, kicking off a series of in-person talks by three of Austin’s best garden thinkers. If you love gardens, design, and learning, these talks are for you! This season we’ll learn how to “become the bison” and create ...
Learn how to choose the right plants from Austin designer Mark Word
January 30, 2023 Photo: Nicole Mlakar/Tribeza, courtesy of Mark Word Garden Spark, my in-person speaker series about garden design, concludes its successful 6th season on February 23th with a presentation by acclaimed Austin designer Mark Word, principal at Word + Carr Design Group. Mark will show us how to think through ...
Designer Nick McCullough shares American Roots at Garden Spark
January 28, 2023 Austin garden lovers and designers turned out for Garden Spark on a chilly Thursday evening to hear Columbus-based designer Nick McCullough. Nick has a huge fan following across the U.S. and shared inspiring images and the stories of the gardens from his new book American Roots. I ...
Teri Speight shares Black Flora stories at Garden Spark
October 22, 2022 Author Teri Speight came to Austin this week to share inspiring stories from her new book, Black Flora, at my Garden Spark speaker series. An enthusiastic audience came out to hear Teri’s talk under the big live oak at beautiful Barton Springs Nursery. Here are a few ...
Black Flora talk brings flower power this Thursday – join us!
October 16, 2022 Flyer by Barton Springs Nursery Garden Spark brings Black Flora author Teresa Speight to Austin this Thursday for a presentation sure to be filled with beautiful florals and inspiring stories about the Black florists, flower farmers, and other floral creatives who make them. Tickets are on sale ...
Great turnout for Kinlers’ Garden Spark talk; next talk on sale now
September 26, 2022 Lorie and Michael Kinler of Kinler Landscape Architecture in Fort Worth brought their ideas for reimagining what a front yard can be to Austin for my Garden Spark series last Thursday, kicking off Season 6. They shared a number of design tips that I’ll be keeping in mind for ...
I’m on Cultivating Place talking about growing community, coping with climate change, and my fave plants
September 04, 2022 This week I’m on the acclaimed podcast Cultivating Place: Natural History & the Human Impulse to Garden, talking with host Jennifer Jewell about building a gardening community, how I got into gardening, my Garden Spark speaker series, gardening in the challenging conditions of Central Texas, coping with ...
Garden Spark kicks off 6th season with exciting new speakers
August 10, 2022 Garden Spark returns for its 6th season on September 22, kicking off a new series of entertaining speakers — garden designers, authors, landscape architects — who’ll be sharing their expertise and ideas at in-person events here in Austin. This season we’ll be inspired to reclaim our front ...
At the Wildflower Center with Jennifer Jewell
June 04, 2022 When Jennifer Jewell of Cultivating Place came to Austin a month ago, we visited the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center together. I enjoy showing visitors around our state botanical garden, planted exclusively with native Texas plants. In early May, the late-spring wildflowers were in party mode. Wildflowers ...
