Spotlight around the garden
November 09, 2022 Before Halloween I took a few photos of whatever caught my eye, starting with the whale’s tongue agave in the tractor-rim planter. Hello, gorgeous! Somebody is watching me from the far end of the Berkeley sedge lawn. Hello, deer. Oh, and the Wheeler’s sotol that replaced the ...
Walking the rails at Santa Fe Railyard Park and Farmers’ Market
October 17, 2022 Back to Santa Fe! During our stay in late August, we hit the farmers’ market at The Railyard one morning. A tree-studded green space caught David’s eye on the way over, so we stopped to check it out. We found ourselves in Railyard Park, where train tracks ...
A garden on wheels and colorful decor convert driveway into patio garden
August 03, 2022 When you arrive at a purple Victorian-style house on a Rainbow Row, with a dozen planetary-painted bowling balls tucked amid foundation ferns and coleus, accented by jewel-toned bottles on a bottle tree — well, you know you’re in for a tour of a fearless color-lover’s garden. Such ...
Japanese-inspired garden of Linda Brazill and Mark Golbach, Part 2
July 08, 2022 In my last post I shared the Asian-style front garden of Linda Brazill and Mark Golbach, whose Madison, Wisconsin, garden of 28 years I toured on the recent Garden Bloggers Fling. (I first saw their garden back in 2010.) Today let me lead you on a tour ...
Gathering spaces in Ruthie Burrus Garden, part 2
May 02, 2022 In my last post I hope I wowed you — as I was wowed — by the colorful wildflower meadow and textural spiky-soft shade garden of Ruthie Burrus. If you missed it, check out Part 1 of my visit to Ruthie’s West Austin garden. Today we’ll explore ...
Flowery meadow instead of lawn at Chanticleer’s house garden
February 26, 2022 You’d expect a garden surrounding an estate house to be formal, restrained, with neat lawns and containers that serve to frame the grand structure. The house garden at Chanticleer, a Pennsylvania “pleasure garden” I visited during my East Coast road trip last October, upends this convention through ...
Plants hold court at Chanticleer’s Teacup and Tennis Court gardens
February 23, 2022 Teacup Garden in 2021 A teacup-shaped fountain in the entry garden at Chanticleer gives the Teacup Garden its name. Each year the plantings around the fountain are redesigned to create a bold, new theatrical vignette. I visited Chanticleer in Wayne, Pennsylvania, last October on my East Coast ...
Anemones and autumn memories in Cat’s garden
January 12, 2022 Back in late October, when Loree of Danger Garden was visiting, Cat Jones invited us over for a garden visit. Her lipstick-pink anemones, a passalong from Rock Rose‘s Jenny Stocker (who’s since departed Austin for Arizona), were blooming. We both adore these fall flowers, which Jenny kindly ...
At Juniper Hill Farm, a country garden gets structure from formal design
November 23, 2021 Connections to gardeners I’ve made as a writer often lead, like beads on a string, to new introductions and far-flung garden visits. In such a roundabout way I had the pleasure last month of meeting photographer Joe Valentine and his wife, Paula, for a personal tour of ...
My leaf-peeping road trip began with fall scenery in Maine
October 30, 2021 After a very busy month, I’m ready to start sharing about my 18-day, 2,200-mile road trip through the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic earlier this month. To recap, I flew into Portland, Maine, on September 30 to see New England fall foliage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, ...
Tour of P. Allen Smith’s home, vegetable garden, and rose garden at Moss Mountain Farm
July 09, 2021 Last month, on a garden-visiting road trip with my mom, I bought tickets for a farm lunch and tour at P. Allen Smith‘s Moss Mountain Farm, about 40 minutes north of Little Rock, Arkansas. Smith is a nationally known TV personality and garden designer, and the half-day ...
A passion for purple in Lucinda Hutson’s garden
April 22, 2021 Reveling in the flowery, herb-scented beauty of Lucinda Hutson‘s garden is always a delight, but especially this spring, after the devastating February freeze that set back every Texas garden. Lucinda’s garden was hit hard too, but thanks to her own nonstop cleanup and replanting, twice-weekly gardener assistance, ...
Still cleaning up after the freeze but making progress
March 16, 2021 In the 3 weeks since the Big Freeze, there’s been much gnashing of teeth and grim side-eye given to the cold-toasted garden. There’s been escape. But mostly there’s been a slow acceptance of the changed garden and daily efforts at cutting it all back, removing plants that ...
Floral decor at Tribeza Interiors Tour 2020
February 04, 2020 Tribeza‘s annual Interiors Tour, held this year on January 26th, offered a voyeuristic opportunity to explore 8 beautifully decorated private homes throughout Austin. My eye always goes straight to any floral elements, like this elegant yet simple bouquet of camellia and pine on a woven gold tray… ...
A garden for relaxing with friends: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 14, 2019 Kicking off the 3rd day of the Denver Garden Bloggers Fling in, yes, Denver, we toured an inviting patio garden designed for relaxing with family and friends. The owners, Kirsten and Scott Hamling, had set up a long table for Father’s Day brunch. Lucky invitees! A cheerful ...
Unscripted beauty in Scripter meadow garden: Denver Garden Bloggers Fling
July 10, 2019 Larry and Mary Scripter grew up in prairie country, Larry on a farm in Kansas and Mary in the Black Hills of South Dakota, surrounded by the Great Plains. So it’s not surprising that they’re drawn to grassy meadow gardens and have created one at their home ...
