Water lily collection is hidden gem in West Texas town of San Angelo
September 15, 2014 Perched on the northern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, about 200 miles northwest of Austin, the small city of San Angelo is, surprisingly, home to a locally treasured and internationally known water lily garden, the International Waterlily Collection. Then again, maybe it’s not all that surprising, given ...
Fall Festival 2013 at Antique Rose Emporium: Country Girl mums, grasses, and chapel garden
November 05, 2013 What happens when you get a gorgeous fall day in Texas, with sunny, blue skies, a cool breeze, and every perennial in the garden flowering its head off? If the 25th Annual Fall Festival of Roses is going on, you set your own garden aside for the ...
Santa Barbara street painting festival, Old Mission, and jacarandas
June 13, 2013 Santa Barbara’s 23rd annual I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival was held Memorial Day weekend on the plaza in front of the Old Mission. We stopped by on that Monday to see both. A crowd was gathering under bright-blue skies to watch the artists — the madonnari ...
Last chance for giveaway, plus upcoming garden events
March 19, 2011 I’ve had a remarkable response to my giveaway of the succulent living picture kit. This Sunday, March 20, at 11 pm is the deadline for entering the drawing. To enter all you have to do is leave a comment on my post about Garden Up! (Note: you ...
Skeletons on parade: Day of the Dead 2010
October 26, 2010 Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday known as Day of the Dead, is embraced in Austin each year with a street festival and parade. Unlike the macabre spectacle of Halloween, Day of the Dead is traditionally about remembering and honoring departed loved ones by creating altars ...
Dia de los Muertos in Austin
November 01, 2008 The dead, dressed in their finest, their hair adorned with real marigolds, led a cheerful procession down 6th Street and Congress Avenue this evening, celebrating Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican holiday for remembering and honoring friends ...
Indian Pow Wow wows in Tulsa
August 12, 2008 Soon after crossing the Red River from Texas into Oklahoma, you notice a preponderance of Native American imagery on signs, license plates, and billboards. Turnpikes are named for tribes, and official signs along the highways announce when you’ve entered an Indian nation—for instance, the Creek Nation or ...
Merry Christmas from Zilker Park!
December 24, 2007 Last night the family trooped down to Zilker Park for the Trail of Lights. My favorite tree in Austin, this majestic pecan, was encrusted from trunk to twigs with thousands of colored bulbs—a magical vision! Other trees glowed beautifully too. We also took turns spinning under the ...
Going batty at Austin Batfest 2007
September 01, 2007 Night Wing bat sculpture at Congress Avenue and Barton Springs Road I went a little batty this evening. Actually, the whole family did. We dressed up in our batty best (notice the earrings?) and went downtown to the 3rd annual Batfest, a street festival/live-music/bat-watching party held entirely ...
Moonstruck
October 11, 2006 The Harvest Moon rose orange over the treetops last Friday. What a beautiful October moon! (Photo by June Tarr) To continue our full-moon appreciation, on Sunday evening we attended Zilker Garden’s Japanese Moon Festival. As dusk fell, we strolled through the Japanese garden, down to the moon ...
