After the corn maze at Chatfield Farms
October 26, 2024 A cornfield maze tempted us, right after arriving in Colorado, to trek out to Chatfield Farms, a native plant refuge and working farm that’s part of Denver Botanic Gardens. It was the end of September, and fall was in the air. After the corn maze (fun for ...
Gold in them thar hills: Aspen season in the Rockies
October 23, 2024 In all my visits to Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park over the years, I’d never seen aspens turning gold or elk bugling. Now I have, thanks to a late September trip. Twice we drove from Denver into the mountains to hike trails under shivering golden leaves ...
Screech owl still hanging around
October 16, 2024 The screech owl is still hanging out in the owl box each day, dozing in the doorway each morning or alert but relaxed each evening. It seems comfortable with me walking around below, staying put when I move trash bins or get the mail. I enjoy watching ...
A screech owl in the new box
October 11, 2024 A screech owl has been hanging out in the new owl box for a couple of weeks. Our daughter told us about it while we were gone, and I’ve been on the lookout since coming home. Yesterday I finally saw it. I was rumbling the trash and ...
Julia Lucey’s art is Trying to Fit In
September 24, 2024 When I saw that California artist Julia Lucey had a new exhibition, Trying to Fit In, at Wally Workman Gallery in Austin, I immediately made plans to see it. I first admired her mixed media collages in last year’s exhibition at the gallery. This time around Lucey’s ...
Big ears and spots: it’s fawn season
June 01, 2024 I don’t seem able to attract nesting screech owls to my garden anymore, alas. (Lots of other owl boxes out there to choose from, maybe?). But my garden sure does attract plenty of baby deer. Hmm, I don’t think I’ve come out on the winning side of ...
Early summer flowers popping, deer fawning
May 20, 2024 Before the stifling heat dome settles over Texas later this week from now until October, I’ve been racing from one garden to the next across Austin and beyond, from San Antonio to Blanco to Dallas. Fun? Absolutely! But also, my gosh, I have a ton of pictures ...
Willow City Loop wows with Texas wildflowers
March 29, 2024 I headed west to the Hill Country on Wednesday on a THIRD wildflower safari, cruising the Willow City Loop between Fredericksburg and Llano. This famously scenic, 13-mile ranch road winds through rugged canyons and over rocky hilltops offering spectacular views, with low-water crossings and free-range cattle to ...
Wading into Chanticleer’s Pond Garden
January 05, 2024 The Pond Garden at Chanticleer draws visitors like a magnet. Water features always do. Five ponds surrounded by blousy gardens are found at the bottom of the long hillside that begins at the garden’s entrance. This is Part 6 of my visit to Chanticleer during the Philadelphia ...
Another fall walk and deer destruction at home
November 29, 2023 Beautiful fall weather enticed me and DH out for another walk around Lady Bird Lake last weekend, but first we stopped at Red Bud Isle to check out the bald cypresses going rusty orange. It’s a good show for Austin! Kayakers and canoeists were enjoying it too ...
Children’s Adventure Garden at Dallas Arboretum
November 20, 2023 The Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden at Dallas Arboretum opened 10 years ago, but somehow I’d never visited until last month. Why? I guess because my kids had outgrown children’s gardens by the time it opened, and so it wasn’t on my radar despite many visits over ...
West Texas golden hour and sightseeing
September 16, 2023 I was back in West Texas a week ago to shoot gardens for my forthcoming book (due out spring 2025). Being up at sunrise and staying in gardens until after sunset meant I got to enjoy some beautiful skies every day. Lavender and mango sunsets were a ...
Wild creatures and smoke-shrouded scenery at Glacier National Park
August 31, 2023 We arrived at Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana in mid-May. It was our northernmost destination on our 5-week RV road trip across the West. As we drove north from Yellowstone, the sky grew bleary with haze and then gray with smoke from Canadian wildfires. Road signs ...
Majestic mountains, wildlife, and Mormon Row at Grand Teton
August 24, 2023 During our RV road trip across the West, we visited Grand Teton National Park in northwestern Wyoming, a majestic place where blue, snow-streaked mountains rake the sky above a scenic valley. The Teton Range was formed along a fault line, where, 10 million years ago, colliding tectonic ...
Moose, goose, grizzlies, and more Yellowstone wildlife, part 3
August 17, 2023 Yellowstone National Park was my favorite of all the parks we visited during our spring RV trip through the West. Why? Because the wildlife-watching there is epic! That’s my favorite thing to do, far more than hiking, which I’m always a little nervous about in grizzly country ...
Bison kick up their heels at Yellowstone, part 2
August 15, 2023 Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times, the national park service tells us. And in that time, bison have really learned how to play — apparently right from birth! Calves just wanna have fun We were in ...
