cool gardens in a hot climate™
Walking down the driveway to the mailbox yesterday, I passed not two feet from a tiny fawn curled up on the gravel garden path atop a cushion of green sedge. She didn’t move a muscle, holding completely still in hopes I wouldn’t see her, and I played along, walking past with no sign of the surprise I felt. … Read More
January 16, 2019Have you ever seen a black deer? Here in my Northwest Hills neighborhood in Austin, I’ll see one from time to time, adults and fawns. I photographed this black doe from my car yesterday. Online sources say these … Read More
November 22, 2018 The buck stops here. And here and here and, well, everywhere in my neighborhood in autumn. On our daily stroll, the dog and I walk a gauntlet of edgy male deer standing vigil near groups of does. … Read More
May 31, 2018 As my daughter pulled the trash bin out to the driveway yesterday, bumping it along the stepping-stone path, she nearly stepped on a newborn fawn who was trying hard to remain unseen. He or she lay half … Read More
April 25, 2018 Does the aloe that’s flowering like a coral-colored candelabra look yummy? Does that yucca bloom spike look tasty? Does the yellow bulbine look succulicious? Does the yellow puffball on the goldenball leadtree (Leucaena retusa) — the first … Read More
March 11, 2018 Fiddle-dee-dee! It’s looking ferny around here. River fern (Thelypteris kunthii) fiddleheads are popping up beneath the Japanese maple, right on schedule. Unfurling into shepherds’ hooks, the fronds will soon fill out and add springtime lushness to the … Read More
February 19, 2018 High-pitched, whistling cries have filled the skies lately, alerting me to our cedar waxwing visitors. Flocking into berry-laden junipers (i.e., “cedars”), possumhaw and yaupon hollies, hackberries, and even invasive ligustrum to gorge themselves, these beautiful crested and … Read More
May 17, 2017 While I was turning off a hose Monday, water dribbled into a thick stand of inland sea oats, and something moved among the grasses. I saw a small head and thought, cat. Having endured a year of … Read More
February 19, 2017 The late-winter garden cut-back continues, but spring has sprung as far as pretty Palmer’s sedum is concerned. Honeybees have been busy among the flowers, although I managed to miss them in this closeup. While working in the … Read More
January 13, 2017 The bucks have been at it again this winter, rubbing their antlers on agaves, yuccas, hesperaloes, and small trees throughout my neighborhood. I always cage my small possumhaw holly in early fall through early spring, but I … Read More