Grow a hedge using native Texas plants
November 30, 2020 I want to share a little more Wildflower Center inspiration, this time from the maze in the Family Garden. Traditionally mazes are defined by clipped boxwood or yew hedges that grow at least to head-height — about 6 feet tall. Here at Austin’s native-plant botanical garden, the ...
Hide out at Fortlandia at the Wildflower Center
November 21, 2020 Bring your child — or just your inner child — and explore the collection of architectural play forts at Fortlandia. This hands-on exhibit at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center occurs every fall through winter, with local architects, designers, and artists creating one-of-a-kind forts that are spaced ...
Bigtooth maples and more fall foliage at the Wildflower Center, part 2
November 19, 2020 Did a few bigtooth maples from Lost Maples Park lose their way and end up at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center? It sure looked that way last week, when I spotted pumpkin-spice trees in the Family Garden. This is part 2 of my tour. Big, colorful ...
Fortlandia is here for one more fortnight at the Wildflower Center
January 07, 2020 Thinking back on forts I made as a kid — from blanket forts to a climbable stack of firewood between two trees (aka the Batcave) to branch-outlined “houses” in the wooded lot next door — I find myself nostalgic for the pleasure of a hideaway. But we’re ...
Colorful fall at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
November 13, 2019 Before the big freeze I squeezed in a short visit to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, unintentionally joining throngs of families streaming in to explore Fortlandia on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I’d intended to photograph both the flowering gardens and Fortlandia but decided to save the ...
Children’s Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 17, 2019 Part of the Mordecai Children’s Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens, which I visited during the Denver Fling (June 2019), sits atop a parking garage, making it one very large rooftop garden. A pretty alpine garden, including this crevice garden, greets you as you enter, and it surprised ...
Winter meadows and fiery possumhaws at Wildflower Center
February 09, 2019 Mexican plum and redbud may be blooming at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center by now. But last Sunday afternoon the gardens were still in the “grip” of an unusually mild winter. Flowers were few, but the tawny and russet hues of early February offer their own ...
Moonstruck and aglow at Wildflower Center’s Luminations
December 10, 2018 Under a fingernail sliver of moon, we strolled quiet garden paths illuminated with hundreds of glowing luminarias, ultraviolet uplighting on trees, and the occasional white moon light at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center last night. The annual holiday event runs for four nights, but following two ...
More butterflies and Halloween scarecrows at San Antonio Botanical Garden
November 11, 2018 I’ve shown you the fabulous new gardens at San Antonio Botanical Garden that have opened over the past year — the culinary and entry gardens and the Family Adventure Garden — but there is more to see in the original gardens. During my visit at the end ...
Play outdoors in magical Family Adventure Garden at San Antonio Botanical Garden
November 10, 2018 I’ve visited a lot of play gardens, and I play in ALL of them. But one of the most exciting I’ve seen opened this spring at San Antonio Botanical Garden. The Family Adventure Garden at SABG offers the delights of nature exploration that children instinctively love, and ...
Playing in The Gardens on Spring Creek in Fort Collins
September 12, 2018 During our Great American West road trip last month, my daughter and I passed through charming Fort Collins, Colorado, and visited The Gardens on Spring Creek, the city’s community-oriented botanic garden. The entry garden was ablaze with late-summer flowers like purple coneflower, rudbeckia, and cleome. Pink cleome ...
Bluebonnets, buckeyes, and more in bloom at Wildflower Center gardens
March 25, 2018 Ahh, Texas bluebonnets! They’re turning Austin’s roadsides blue right now, and early ‘bonnets were in bloom last week at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. I wish everyone could experience a good bluebonnet season at least once in their lives. California poppies were blooming too, their orange ...
Luminations lights up the Wildflower Center for Christmas
December 11, 2017 Luminations, the annual holiday light display at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, didn’t happen last year. But it returned this year for a 4-night run that ended Sunday night. Our family went last night and had a lovely time viewing the lights along the paths and ...
Cornerstone Sonoma showcases conceptual gardens in scenic wine country
August 20, 2017 It wasn’t easy, but I finally visited the gardens at Cornerstone Sonoma in Northern California, which have been on my bucket list for years. Due to my own poor planning, I first missed them after the San Francisco Garden Bloggers Fling, when I rented a car to ...
Spring stroll at the Wildflower Center
February 27, 2017 After speaking at the Native Plant Society of Texas Spring Symposium, held at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center last Saturday (and a big thank-you to the organizers and wonderful audience members!), I strolled the gardens with my dad, who was visiting from North Carolina. The early ...
Roses, butterflies & garden goodness at Antique Rose Emporium
November 08, 2016 On Saturday my mom and I drove out to Brenham, Texas, for the Antique Rose Emporium‘s Fall Festival of Roses, where I was one of the day’s speakers. A gray sky spit rain on us during the 2-hour drive, but it held off as we strolled around ...
