cool gardens in a hot climate™
Every so often I need a unique gift for a garden-loving friend, and I’ll head to Articulture to see what’s new. I don’t think I’ve ever left empty-handed. But first I have to get to the front door, after ogling their gorgeous outdoor planters.… Read More
January 12, 2019South Congress Avenue, SoCo, a street of eclectic shops and restaurants just south of downtown that epitomizes “weird,” welcoming Austin and converts tourists into residents. Fewer and fewer of those shops remain now that Austin has grown so … Read More
December 25, 2018Merry Christmas, Joy to the Weird, and festive holiday greetings to you from Austin! Last night, on Christmas Eve, my family and I joined curious throngs of people walking and cruising along W. 37th Street, with a jog … Read More
December 18, 2018 Playing among cypress knees and gnarled roots at Red Bud Isle? Yep, it’s a dog’s life. Our good boy Cosmo enjoys off-leash playtime at Red Bud Isle in West Austin, cavorting at this beautiful point along … Read More
November 26, 2018 I’ve lived in Austin for 24 years and yet somehow, until recently, had never seen the city from its most famous overlook along Capital of Texas Highway on the north side of Lake Austin, where a limestone … Read More
November 19, 2018 Last Saturday, on the final day of Creek Show 2018, hundreds of tents floated sinuously above downtown Austin’s Waller Creek, glowing orange and purple like fairy lights. To reach the start of this temporary art exhibition sponsored … Read More
October 25, 2018 Your secret hideout awaits! That’s the tagline for Fortlandia, an exhibit of play forts on display — and available for play — at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center now through February 2019. I visited on a … Read More
September 08, 2018 Chalk it up to my weird indifference to houseplants, but it’s taken me two years to check out Frond Plant Shop on West Mary Street, right off South 1st, even though I kept hearing good things about … Read More
May 03, 2018 For two years now, my fellow bloggers Diana Kirby and Laura Wills and I have been planning a big event for garden bloggers called Garden Bloggers Fling. This weekend is when it finally happens — rain or … Read More
April 10, 2018 When Gardens closed in 2010, it left a void in Austin for a source for high-quality terracotta pottery. Landscape architect Jackson Broussard, who owns and operates Sprout, decided to fill that void by importing Italian Impruneta pots … Read More
March 25, 2018 Ahh, Texas bluebonnets! They’re turning Austin’s roadsides blue right now, and early ‘bonnets were in bloom last week at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. I wish everyone could experience a good bluebonnet season at least once … Read More
March 17, 2018 I’ve been all over town at Austin’s wonderful nurseries this past week, shoulder-to-shoulder with other spring-crazy gardeners snapping up new plants to freshen up the garden and replace goners zapped by winter’s deep freezes. While I was … Read More
March 07, 2018 Resembling squares of lime, cherry, berry blue, and grape Jell-O, the glass-block windows of artist Ellsworth Kelly’s new artwork, Austin, are colorful, playful, and flat-out fun. You kind of want to slurp them up, or stick your … Read More
February 06, 2018 Twice last week I visited buzzed-about Fareground food hall on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin, killing time before shows at the Paramount Theater. I’ve yet to see Fareground in the daytime, but at night the softly lit … Read More