Spring swinging into the Wildflower Center
March 27, 2025 Two weekends in a row I spent a few hours at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, first to see what was in bloom and then to support the launch of horticulture director Andrea DeLong-Amaya’s new book, The Texas Native Plant Primer. Redbuds were in bloom two ...
Spring flowers and fab foliage a-popping
March 16, 2025 Late last week, while I was under the weather and holed up on the couch watching Wicked, winter turned into spring. Yesterday I woke up feeling like myself again and noticed a text from my neighbor, thanking me for the beauty of my Mexican plum, which stretches ...
Spring is coming around
February 26, 2025 What a change from a week or two ago. It was a sunny 82 F today in Austin — fully spring-like and more like late March than late February. I wouldn’t say the garden is leaping into spring though. After all, we just experienced a deep freeze ...
Exposed limestone and winter foliage in my garden
February 11, 2025 The exposed limestone slabs in the lower garden have always been one of the most remarked on features of my garden. New visitors often ask me if I brought them in. After all, moving limestone boulders around is a big part of landscape design here. We love ...
Late-winter mosey around the garden
January 31, 2025 The side garden — not the side with trash bins and potting bench but the far side, with a tree-hung chair half-hidden from the street — is a favorite destination of mine in winter. Tentacle-limbed live oaks gain even greater presence when the rest of the garden ...
Wildflowers and waterfalls at Mount Rainier National Park
January 20, 2025 We saved Mount Rainier National Park for last during our national parks tour in Washington last July. Technically, it was just me saving it for last, as David had flown in early from Texas, met up with a climbing group, and ice-axed his way to the summit ...
Turquoise lakes, waterfalls in North Cascades National Park
January 18, 2025 After two days last July at Olympic National Park, we drove back through Tacoma, headed north through Seattle, and kept cruising northeast. Just 20 miles from the Canadian border we entered North Cascades National Park, the only one of Washington’s three national parks we had never visited ...
Chasing waterfalls and sunsets (and vampires) in Olympic National Park and Forks
January 17, 2025 Last July, I flew from Austin to Seattle the week before the Puget Sound Fling. With well-planned timing, my husband was descending from the summit of Mount Rainier the same day my plane soared over its snow-capped peak. That evening we met up to begin a national ...
Fall at Denver Botanic Gardens: Monet Pool, Japanese teahouse, and bonsai
January 11, 2025 The Monet Pool at Denver Botanic Gardens is the largest of several ponds at the garden. Dark-dyed water makes a mirrored surface, reflecting orange canna blossoms, reedy papyrus, and cloven waterlily pads. This is Part 6 of my tour from my visit in late September. Monet Pool ...
Fall at Denver Botanic Gardens: Perennials, conifers, and Rock Alpine Garden
January 09, 2025 After exploring the Birds and Bees Walk at Denver Botanic Gardens, I found bees hard at work among fall-flowering asters and other perennials. This is Part 4 from my visit to DBG in late September. The asters were lit up in the strong morning sunlight. The bees ...
Fall at Denver Botanic Gardens: Steppe Garden, ornamental grasses, and woodland garden
January 07, 2025 The Steppe Garden at Denver Botanic Gardens delights with three large crevice planters on a stone plaza. They’re intricately constructed. The central one reminds me of a loaf of bread or those old-fashioned wooden puzzles that fit together in a certain way. Or maybe a wheel of ...
Tobin Land Bridge gives wildlife and people safe passage
January 02, 2025 Before the Tobin Land Bridge was built in Phil Hardberger Park in San Antonio, deer, bobcats, coyotes, armadillos, and other four-legged wildlife had to dash Frogger-like across 6 lanes of traffic to access all 330 acres of habitat. Wurzbach Parkway kept people from exploring half the parkland ...
Drive-By Gardens: Diamond path and gravity-defying live oaks
December 21, 2024 This is really a walk-by garden post. I spotted this interesting path during a neighborhood stroll. Square pavers make a zigzagging front walk from the curb through a garden bed and across the lawn. As I took in the scene, I felt I was being watched. Hello, ...
Exploring the Gardens on Spring Creek in fall
December 01, 2024 I always look for gardens to visit when I travel, and our fall trip up to Denver included quite a few. Happily I was able to squeeze in another during a day trip to Fort Collins, where we spent a couple hours at The Gardens on Spring ...
Thankful for fall flowers, cool temps, not deer
November 27, 2024 Fall was slow to arrive this year. Autumn rainfall has been tardy too, just a smattering here and there. But there’s plenty to be thankful for in the garden, as always. I’m grateful for cooler, yet frost-free temps and the fullness of the autumn garden. Hooray for ...
Fall garden stroll at the Wildflower Center
November 18, 2024 Being able to visit a garden at the golden hour — just after sunrise or before sunset, when the light is soft and warm — is a garden photographer’s fervent wish. So I am grateful when a botanical garden offers early or late visiting hours. Austin’s Lady ...
