Playing around at Fortlandia at the Wildflower Center
November 20, 2024 Each fall, Fortlandia brings a new set of forts to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for kids (and adults) to play on. This year the forts include a butterfly plane, a snake climbing structure, a human-sized ant farm, and a monster in a treasure chest. I ...
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 ...
A fall hike at Eldorado Canyon
November 15, 2024 I’d last hiked at Eldorado Canyon State Park, on the outskirts of Boulder, Colorado, 6 years ago during a mother-daughter trip up to Wyoming. My husband had never seen it. So late one afternoon, at the end of a day trip to Boulder from our Denver VRBO, ...
Cynthia’s home and garden with heart
November 14, 2024 Last month I visited my friend Cynthia Deegan’s home and garden, this time with Jennifer Jewell of Cultivating Place, who was in town to give a Garden Spark talk. I wanted Jennifer to meet Cynthia and see the soulful, joyful retreat she’s created at her Tarrytown bungalow with ...
Waterloo Greenway light installations return for Austin’s 10th anniversary Creek Show
November 13, 2024 An art-loving Creek Monster lurks in the dark waters of Austin’s Waller Creek, according to Creek Show lore. I’m on the lookout for it each November when I attend Waterloo Greenway’s annual Creek Show, and every now and then I catch a glimpse. But really it’s an ...
Cold-hardy cactus and more at plantsman Kelly Grummons’s garden
November 12, 2024 While in Denver this fall, I found Colorado gardeners to be warm and generous about sharing their creations and eager to make introductions to other gardeners they admire. That’s how I came to meet plantsman Kelly Grummons, co-owner of specialty nursery Prairie Storm Nursery. How, exactly? After ...
After derecho devastation, a garden blazes beautifully
November 08, 2024 The derecho in Houston last May snapped in half a tall tree that shaded my sister’s tiny Heights backyard. Miraculously, while it caused some damage, the broken tree didn’t take out the house, swimming pool, or patio seating on the way down. And now there’s a bonus ...
Heidi Harris’s Denver dry garden, inspired by David Salman, outshines any lawn
November 07, 2024 I love a good chain of inspiration, seeing how one gardener’s efforts can fire up the imagination and determination of another, and so on and so on. Heidi Harris, aka Denver Dry Garden, is a great example. She bought her home in Denver’s Regis/Berkeley neighborhood in 2018, ...
Checking out the new Academic Quad at Rice
November 05, 2024 This Owl flew back to Rice University in Houston last weekend for Homecoming. Under rain-threatening skies, I walked around the beautiful campus to see what was new. I always admire this sleek barn owl sculpted by Geoffrey Dashwood, which sits behind the Rice Chapel. But what I ...
Sculpted berms at Bouldin Castle inspired by land art and Kauai
November 04, 2024 If you’ve ever driven past Bouldin Castle in South Austin, you probably hit the brakes and craned your neck for a second look. Crenellated towers, a windowed turret, layered limestone, and wattle made of shaggy cedar posts give this former Catholic church — built in 1940 and ...
Boots on the ground in Mike Kintgen’s Denver garden
October 30, 2024 Cactus-planted boots in Mike’s garden I met Mike Kintgen, curator of the alpine collections at Denver Botanic Gardens and a super nice guy, when he came to Austin a few years ago. Mike must have a LOT of energy because he manages not only the large Rock ...
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 ...
Falling for SummerHome Garden, Part 2
October 21, 2024 In my last post I shared the genesis of SummerHome Garden, a privately owned garden and public park in Denver’s Washington Park neighborhood. I visited in late September and spent a couple of hours early one morning taking pictures. The garden was so beautiful that I couldn’t ...
Fall at SummerHome Garden, Part 1
October 19, 2024 When I told gardening friends I’d be in Denver in late September, many urged me to visit SummerHome Garden. It was already on my list. SummerHome has had glowing media attention since its creation in 2020, and I’d read about it in Visionary and Shrouded in Light ...
Julie Clark and Mae Sanchez’s desert-inspired garden
October 15, 2024 I wasn’t in town for the Leaf Landscape Tour on October 5th, and one garden I was sad to miss belongs to two talented gardeners and knowledgeable plantswomen, Julie Clark and Mae Sanchez. Julie is the owner of Stronger Than Dirt Gardens, a fine garden maintenance company ...
