Waterwise beauty and metal animal safari in Linda Peterson’s San Antonio garden
December 05, 2018 An invitation to Linda Peterson’s garden in San Antonio proved too tempting a treat to resist on the day before Halloween. I arrived in San Antonio in time to tour the terrific new culinary and adventure gardens at San Antonio Botanical Garden before heading over to Linda’s mint-green ...
Golden ginkgo glory in Lucinda Hutson’s garden
November 26, 2018 My phone buzzed on Saturday as my daughter, home from college for Thanksgiving, and I were heading out to do a little shopping at Blue Genie Art Bazaar. It was Lucinda Hutson, her voice excited as she said the magic words: “The ginkgo tree is absolutely the ...
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 ...
Food for people and butterflies in San Antonio Botanical Garden’s culinary and entry gardens
November 06, 2018 San Antonio was calling my name last week, so I hopped in the car with my friend Cat of The Whimsical Gardener, and we road-tripped south to see the new gardens at San Antonio Botanical Garden. Wow, was I impressed with the changes! Zachry Foundation Culinary Garden ...
Dia de los Muertos in Lucinda Hutson’s festive home and garden
November 05, 2018 As a native of border city El Paso and a veteran traveler throughout Mexico, Lucinda Hutson has long embraced Mexican culture and traditions like Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. She recently hosted a small gathering in honor of the holiday, which is a ...
Rainy day visit to Jenny Stocker’s garden
October 23, 2018 A visit to Jenny Stocker‘s gorgeous walled garden is always a treat, even on a chilly, rainy day like last Friday (and actually all this month). Jenny kindly opened her garden to me and my friend Susan Morrison, who was in town for a Garden Spark presentation, ...
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 ...
Topiary meadow and sunken pond garden at Great Dixter, part 2
August 14, 2018 In part 1 of my recap of my tour of Great Dixter in England earlier this summer, I confessed that I didn’t like the overplanted, claustrophobic feeling of the Peacock Garden and surrounding hedged gardens. But I found breathing room and the longer views I’d craved along ...
Close encounters of the plant kind at Great Dixter garden, part 1
August 13, 2018 After spending the morning at Sissinghurst, during our travels in mid-June, we drove a half-hour to Great Dixter, another famous English home and garden at the top of my must-see list. The family home of gardener and garden writer Christopher Lloyd, who died in 2006, Great Dixter ...
Sissinghurst Castle Garden, part 2: White Garden, meadow, and tower views
August 04, 2018 Has any garden been more admired, copied, and written about than Vita Sackville-West’s White Garden at Sissinghurst? We visited in mid-June, and I was excited to finally step into this glowing space and see it for myself. Twilight would be better for appreciating the pale effect of ...
Sissinghurst Castle Garden, part 1: Walls and roses in the English countryside
August 03, 2018 Sissinghurst. Mecca to gardeners worldwide. Like every traveling gardener, I’d put Sissinghurst Castle Garden at the top of my bucket list, and when we started planning a trip to England I insisted on seeing the famous garden of Vita Sackville-West. So one sunny mid-June morning, we drove ...
Tea in Rosemary Verey’s garden at Barnsley House
July 30, 2018 Elton John worked with her on his garden. Prince Charles too. I’m sure everyone who knows anything about garden design or English gardens knows of the late Rosemary Verey. But I confess I knew nothing of her when I visited the famous designer and author’s former home ...
Cotswolds country charm at Victoria Summerley’s Awkward Hill Cottage
July 19, 2018 It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that my family and I traveled to England last month to see gardens. Particularly, romantic English gardens in the rosy flush of June. And specifically, three gardens I’ve longed to see for years: the famous estate gardens Sissinghurst and Great ...
Kew Gardens walkabout: Mediterranean Garden, Treetop Walkway, and more
July 15, 2018 London’s Kew Gardens is a big place at 300 acres, with a variety of gardens, glasshouses, a magnificent arboretum, and other attractions. During my mid-June visit on a family vacation, I saw as much as I could during a 4- or 5-hour visit. Here’s the last installment ...
Rock stars at Kew: Alpine House rockery and dry garden
July 14, 2018 I’ve never been much into glasshouses. I generally find them jungly, warm, and humid — conditions I don’t enjoy during Austin’s long summers and don’t wish to experience artificially. But an alpine glasshouse, with cool temps, tidy potted plants, and a nice breeze? Bring it on! While ...
