cool gardens in a hot climate™
April 02, 2012 The Garden Conservancy’s 2012 Open Days program opened on March 24 in Houston, a 3-hour drive east of Austin. Diana of Sharing Nature’s Garden and I made a day trip of it and started our tour at … Read More
August 25, 2011 In late July, after the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling ended, my family joined me for sightseeing in the Emerald City and beyond. I convinced them to see one more garden with me, the Seattle Japanese Garden in … Read More
August 20, 2011 The final event of last month’s Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling was an afternoon visit to Dragonfly Farms Nursery—“Where Abnormality is the Normality!”—in Kingston, WA, and a fun happy hour on the lawn. Dragonfly Farms offers not only … Read More
August 18, 2011 The Bloedel Reserve is a place of utter beauty and almost spiritual peacefulness. Rain drips quietly from mossy branches, and the color green wraps you in a soft embrace. I explored the grounds for two-and-a-half hours—not nearly … Read More
August 17, 2011 Kate Farley’s west Seattle garden, which I visited on Day 3 of the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling, is a garden of exploration from front to back. I’m going to start in back, because the Peruvian lilies (Alstroemeria) … Read More
August 15, 2011 Lorene welcoming 70+ bloggers into her Seattle garden on Day 3 of the Fling In a post on her blog Planted at Home, Lorene Edwards Forkner, a co-planner of the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling, catchily describes her … Read More
August 14, 2011 Crocosmia (Seattle’s signature plant during the Fling) and Helenium at the Bellevue Botanic Gardens During the last month’s Garden Bloggers Fling in Seattle I witnessed a lot of happy bloggers and a lot of beautiful views. We … Read More
August 13, 2011 Faces upturned to the warm sunshine—that’s how Seattleites greet the sun, when it appears Woodland gardens were expected at the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling last month. But mix in a classical folly dripping with flowers, glass art, … Read More
August 11, 2011 If you’re lucky enough to live on a hilltop in Seattle, odds are you have a nice view of something, seeing as the city is surrounded by mountains and the sea. In the Epping Garden, which we … Read More
August 08, 2011 After spending more than half the allotted time admiring Shelagh Tucker’s garden (on Day One of the Seattle Garden Bloggers Fling), I realized I was running out of time to see Suzette and Jim Birrell’s garden and … Read More
August 07, 2011 Six Austin garden bloggers journeyed to Seattle for the Garden Bloggers Fling. That’s me on the left, Caroline of The Shovel-Ready Garden, Becky of Wolf’s Garden, Vicki of Playin’ Outside, Jenny of Rock Rose, and Diana of … Read More
August 04, 2011 I’m baaack! Did you miss me? If you thought I’d gone AWOL from Austin’s summer from hell, well, you were right. I left early for the Garden Bloggers Fling last month, flying into Portland, Oregon, on July … Read More
June 29, 2011 As always when visiting a beautiful garden, time was short, so the Walled Garden and conservatory were our final stop at Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina, earlier this month. The grounds slope steeply down from the … Read More
June 27, 2011 In Breakfast at Tiffany’s Holly Golightly cautions, “There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl’s complexion.” Maybe so, but not a garden’s complexion. For proof, I give you these images of a limelight-colored border … Read More