At the Wildflower Center with Jennifer Jewell
Jennifer Jewell and I visited the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in early May, when the late-spring wildflowers were in party mode.… Read More
Gathering spaces in Ruthie Burrus Garden, part 2
Ruthie Burrus divided her long, shallow backyard into welcoming and charming hangout areas for family and friends. This is Part 2 of my tour.… Read More
Exploring reimagined Waterloo Park in downtown Austin
Waterloo Park in downtown Austin has reopened after a 10-year redesign and flood-mitigation project. I’m down for it! Here’s a tour.… Read More
A week of bloom spikes and rain
The garden responds to a week of rain with a profusion of growth and towering bloom spikes on yucca, aloe, and sotol.… Read More
Modern ranch garden embraces water collection and wildflowers in New Braunfels
Cody and Michelle Koehler made a contemporary ranch garden around their New Braunfels home, complete with water collection and wildflowers.… Read More
Xeriscape in bloom at Wells Branch Community Garden
Lemon-lime retama trees in bloom caught my eye recently as I drove by the Wells Branch Community Garden and its native xeriscape.… Read More
Hilltop pollinator garden of Ruthie Burrus: Austin Open Day tour
Having visited Ruthie Burrus’s garden before, I knew it would be one of my favorites on the Austin Open Days tour in November, sponsored by The Garden Conservancy. Let’s start with the entry garden, where a concrete trough softened by ferns gently trickles.… Read More
Chinoiserie enchantment at Chandor Gardens, part 2
Given 3-1/2 acres of cow pasture, it turns out you can do quite a lot with it. Douglas Chandor created an English-Chinese garden in his North Texas cow pasture in the 1930s through early 1950s. … Read More
Chandor Gardens, née White Shadows, a hidden gem in North Texas, part 1
White Shadows — the name evokes romance and mystery — seems wholly appropriate for the dappled-shade garden surrounding a pale-gray house in the small Texas town of Weatherford, 30 miles west of Fort Worth.… Read More
Rainy day visit to Jenny Stocker’s garden
October 23, 2018 A visit to Jenny Stocker‘s gorgeous walled garden is always a treat, even on a chilly, rainy day like last Friday (and actually all this month). Jenny kindly opened her garden to me and my friend Susan … Read More
A little Palm Springs, a little New Orleans, all Texas in the garden of Curt Arnette
May 16, 2018 I’ve been after my friend Curt Arnette, landscape-architect owner of Sitio Design, to open his personal garden on tour for years. But because he likes to change things up at home (plus being busy with his work … Read More
Spring flowering in Jenny Stocker’s walled courtyard gardens
March 31, 2018 When I spotted this pool-garden view from inside the home of my friend Jenny Stocker, I nearly tripped over my feet to get outside and drink it in. Jenny, who blogs at Rock Rose, is the owner … Read More
Meet Lucy, the red-headed screech owl
March 26, 2018 The female screech owl nesting in our owl box is a rufous, or red-feathered, owl. She gives me some funny looks when she hangs out in the doorway, and I’ve named her Lucy. Desi, her mate, hangs … Read More