December 28, 2010 I visited the fascinating Peckerwood Garden in Hempstead, Texas (about midway between Austin and Houston) a couple of years ago on a garden-blogger field trip. Peckerwood is not a typical botanical garden but a well-designed collector’s garden of rare and unusual specimens from the southwestern U.S., Mexico, …

December 27, 2010 This buttery yellow pomegranate, with red fruit dangling from its branches like Christmas balls, stood as a last tribute to autumn a few days ago, when I spotted it while driving through Allandale neighborhood. Yesterday I noticed that my neighbor’s Bradford pears are in bud, and on …

December 21, 2010 The nearly full moon shone through the colored lights of the Zilker Christmas tree last night, making a spectacular sight on the eve of the winter solstice. My dad, who is visiting from North Carolina, had never seen it. We made sure he took a spin under …

December 19, 2010 Yeah, I know this is likely invasive King Ranch bluestem—with perhaps the reddish stems of little bluestem mixed in?—but I find it absolutely beautiful along the shoulders of MoPac and Loop 360 at this time of year. What can I say? The human race is pretty invasive, …

December 17, 2010 After school today my daughter and I simply stood amid the green branches of the Japanese maple at the front corner of the house, immersing ourselves in precision-cut, flaming red leaves. Blushing hotly, the maple is at its peak of fall color, and the very first leaves …

December 16, 2010 In the spirit of the season, my Foliage Follow-Up post this month is strictly to do with Christmas tree foliage. And not just any Christmas trees, but the anonymously decorated cedars along Loop 360 (Capital of Texas Highway) between 2222 and the Arboretum. Seemingly overnight Christmas elves …

December 15, 2010 Argh! A small herd of deer moved through the front garden this morning, as they do nearly every day, and I caught this buck in the act of shredding one of my softleaf yuccas with his antlers. I’d wondered why this yucca seemed a little beaten up …

December 14, 2010 We read books, magazines, and blogs about gardening to find it, poring over the photos, bookmarking eye-catching images and interesting text. We attend classes and talk with other gardeners to hear it. We visit other gardens to feel it. Inspiration—that oh! moment, the flash of a burning …

December 13, 2010 Christmas trees go up before many a central Texas tree accepts that autumn is here and drops the green facade to reveal its fall colors. My Japanese maple, a species Acer palmatum, is one of the holdouts, waiting nearly until the winter solstice to blaze forth. Rich …

December 12, 2010 This post is for Linda and Mark of Each Little World, who are blanketed under their third snowstorm of the week in Madison, Wisconsin, and who asked for “hits of green” from southern bloggers. A twilight stroll reveals soft blue-greens amid the leafy exposed limestone in my …

December 11, 2010 Fine Gardening is one of my favorite gardening magazines, so I’m especially pleased to be a contributor to the February 2011 issue, which just arrived in my mailbox and should be available on newsstands soon. My regional picks for tough roadside plants for the southern plains are …

December 09, 2010 You! Yeah, you. Can’t an owl get a little privacy? Sheesh! All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited …

December 09, 2010 You! Yeah, you. Can’t an owl get a little privacy? Sheesh! All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited …

December 07, 2010 Look who’s here! A little screech owl has moved into our owl box. For the past few days, I’d suspected we had a tenant. The box is visible from the window over the kitchen sink, and looking into the dark opening I’d seen a shadow or color …