Merry Christmas from Austin
December 23, 2024 We went downtown last Wednesday for a holiday show by Texas troubadour Robert Earl Keen. Since we were in the neighborhood, we strolled down 2nd Street to view Kempelen’s Owls, a pair of owl sculptures by the Butterfly Bridge at Central Library. I adore these moveable owls, ...
Christmastime blooms
December 20, 2024 Mild, blue-sky December days are a Texan’s reward for enduring summer. Right now I’m happy to see giant leopard plant, aka tractor seat plant (Farfugium japonicum ‘Gigantea’), blooming its head off every time I step outside. Its big glossy leaves look like terrestrial lily pads and set off ...
Texas interiors on the 2024 Lockhart Holiday Home Tour
December 12, 2024 Lockhart, a small town 30 miles southeast of Austin, has long drawn carnivores as a barbecue mecca. Black’s, Kreuz Market, Smitty’s, and newcomer Barbs B Q put Lockhart on the map with their brisket, ribs, and sausage. More recently, as musicians and artists priced out of Austin have ...
Diagon Alley’s magical Christmas tribute to Harry Potter
December 09, 2024 After magicking myself to Austin’s Diagon Alley in October to enjoy its over-the-top Harry Potter Halloween display, I returned last weekend to see it in Yule Ball mode. The owners of this Circle C neighborhood home have conjured up a wintry Harry Potter landscape complete with “snow,” ...
Austin’s Harry Potter house, plus IT homage, for Halloween
October 31, 2024 Two nights ago, I steered my flying car to the Circle C neighborhood to check out — finally — Diagon Alley Austin, where each year one family displays jaw-dropping constructions from the Harry Potter series in their front yard. Hogwarts Castle, the Hogwarts Express train, the Owlery, ...
Lucinda Hutson celebrates life for Day of the Dead
October 28, 2024 Lucinda Hutson decorates joyfully for Day of the Dead, displaying her collection of traditional sugar skulls and skeletons throughout her purple house in Austin’s Rosedale neighborhood. I visited last week with Cultivating Place podcaster Jennifer Jewell, who was in town to give a Garden Spark talk. Lucinda ...
Twinkly trees aglow in Johnson City
December 25, 2023 Merry Christmas! May your holiday and/or celebration of year’s end be happy and bright! To provide a little extra brightness, I’m sharing pics from the Lights Spectacular display in Johnson City, Texas, which I visited on Friday evening. The live oaks will be lit each night through ...
Thankful for today
November 23, 2023 Happy Thanksgiving, my fellow Americans! I’m finding much to be thankful for today and hope you are too. I’m grateful for cooler weather, walks around Lady Bird Lake, and a vibrant hometown to enjoy. Beauty all around me Peaceful moments in nature And of course family and ...
Fall florals to fall for at Terrain garden shop
October 22, 2023 It’s good for my wallet that we don’t have a Terrain in Austin, or even in Texas. I know, I know, Terrain has an online store. But my infatuation with this beautiful garden shop stems from its immersive, gorgeous, creative store displays and merchandising. Especially when it’s ...
Zilker Tree spin on Christmas Eve
December 26, 2022 The week leading up to Christmas Day was a whirlwind of holiday gatherings, eating, drinking, and merry-making with friends and family, for which I’m deeply grateful. On a quieter Christmas Eve we visited the Zilker Holiday Tree, which has been lighting up Zilker Park just south of ...
Lucinda’s Day of the Dead altars, a celebration of departed loved ones
October 30, 2022 Austin icon Lucinda Hutson‘s festive garden is always a joy to visit. But for the Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, she pulls out all the stops in her decorating. Smiling skeletons dangle from trees, gates, umbrellas, and the front porch. At night, purple lights give an ...
Pumpkin Nights trail serves up spooky Halloween fun
October 08, 2022 After the hot, hot, hot summer we just endured in Texas, I have never been more ready for fall. All things pumpkin and pumpkin spice — bring it, and help me forget summer ever existed. So when I heard about Pumpkin Nights, a walking trail through themed ...
Piet Oudolf meadow in fall bloom at Delaware Botanic Gardens
March 15, 2022 The last public garden I visited on my road trip down the East Coast last October was newly opened Delaware Botanic Gardens in Dagsboro, Delaware. The big draw? A 2-acre meadow designed by revered Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf, who also designed the plantings of the High Line ...
Houston Botanic Garden brightens the holidays with Lightscape
December 27, 2021 Space City finally got its own botanical garden last fall, the terrific new Houston Botanic Garden, which I visited right after it opened. Since then it’s survived an unprecedented freeze during Texas’s February snowpocalypse and appears to have bounced back with vigor. But my return visit, on ...
Have a rainbow Christmas!
December 24, 2021 A very merry Christmas to you and yours, and happy holidays to all who celebrate the season in other ways! I spotted this rainbow of Christmas trees at Austin Motel on South Congress last weekend, and it lifted my spirits. I hope it does the same for ...
Autumn turns New Hampshire’s White Mountains orange, crimson, and gold
November 08, 2021 New England’s fall color — with trees flaming out orange, red, and gold — is famous worldwide. Two years ago I started planning a bucket-list trip to see it and settled on the White Mountains of New Hampshire in early October. Covid bumped the trip back a ...
