cool gardens in a hot climate™
July 30, 2020The Garden Conservancy preserves significant American gardens and shares all manner of interesting gardens with the public via its beloved Open Days program, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year despite the Covid-cancellation of all tours. I’m a … Read More
Jennifer Jewell shines a spotlight on women in her new book The Earth in Her Hands: 75 Extraordinary Women Working in the World of Plants (Timber Press, 2020).… Read More
Known for her moody, incandescent images, photographer Claire Takacs’s book, Dreamscapes, features 69 dreamy gardens.… Read More
Many would-be gardeners, and even gardeners with plenty of experience, feel overwhelmed by the idea of making a design for their yard. Those who come to gardening through a passion for plants may find themselves especially puzzled by how to bring their collection together cohesively and creatively.… Read More
An advance guard of bluebonnets scattered across the grassy shoulder of MoPac at Bee Cave Road augurs blue battalions soon to arrive. When they do, green roadsides will surrender and turn sky-blue, touching off the annual frenzy of bluebonnet peeping and photo ops. Parents will crouch before children plopped in their Sunday best among the flowers, crooning for a smile.… Read More
November 03, 2018 Not so long ago, a book about dry gardens in the U.S. would have featured cactus and rocks. Dry stuff indeed, except for the cactus aficionado. Over the past couple of decades, as drought and water shortages … Read More
October 16, 2018 When I started this blog waaaaay back in 2006, I wrote a handful of short reviews for my new Book Reviews page, pulling from my then-favorite collection of plant guides, design books, memoirs, garden-related fiction, and even … Read More
October 12, 2018 Weeds and walls. That’s how Phoenix landscape architect and native son Steve Martino describes his life’s work of designing gardens in the Arizona desert. Steve has a knack for simplifying the language of design and explaining how … Read More
August 26, 2018 Homeowners who want a waterwise garden, particularly if they live in the U.S. Southwest, often feel that their options are limited to cactus and gravel — a “zero-scape,” as it’s commonly called. If instead you’d like to … Read More
July 12, 2018 Here in the South for the next several months, the Death Star is set on high beam, so it’s time to quit trying so hard. Drop your shovel and pruners, grab a cold one, and plop down … Read More
March 21, 2018 When I opened this book and saw the title-page photo of a tiny patio garden awash in chartreuse foliage and leafy texture, with two well-chosen pieces of garden art, a pair of acid-green chairs, and a steel … Read More
January 23, 2018 Exploring the High Line in October 2014 remains a highlight of my garden travels, and I’d love to go see it again. Until then, reading about it keeps the fire burning, gives insight into the origins and … Read More
October 04, 2017 The first wave of migrating monarch butterflies has reached North Texas and will be fluttering through Austin and other parts of Central Texas by next week. Despite their seeming fragility, these tenacious creatures migrate each fall as … Read More
September 20, 2017 All you succulent junkies, listen up. If you love succulents or want to learn how to grow them, two newly released books by succulent-gardening trailblazers Debra Lee Baldwin and Robin Stockwell need to be at the top … Read More