Christmastime flowers and no freeze yet
Here it is Christmas, and Austin has so far escaped a hard freeze. That plus mild temps and occasional rain showers means flowers, flowers, flowers!… Read More
Flamboyant flower borders and containers at Longwood Gardens
Longwood Gardens is a showplace designed to wow, especially in the colorful Flower Garden Walk and Compartment Gardens. … Read More
A little cottagey romance
Delphiniums and hollyhocks and roses, oh my! Andrew and Jared of gayswhogarden invited me to see the spring show in their East Austin garden.… Read More
Flowering vines, cacti, and hesperaloes in my garden
Early May is giving me end-of-May vibes this year — it’s hot and dry — but everything is blooming its heart out anyway.… Read More
Spring glow-up in my Texas garden
Ah, April. It’s a beautiful month for Austin gardens! Let’s take a spin through the garden to see what’s blooming this month.… Read More
Nighttime is datura time
Lemon-scented, white datura flowers and good landscape lighting make nighttime the right time in the garden.… Read More
Datura superbloom
August 07, 2019From such little seeds, what a profusion of flowers! Two evenings in a row this week, my seed-grown datura (Datura wrightii) unfurled more than two dozen blossoms, which shine like spotlights through the night and into the next … Read More
Wildflowers for the dead at Sutherland Springs Cemetery
How did I forget the name Sutherland Springs? While passing through this town of 600 people on my wildflower drive last Thursday, a riotous carpet of flowers caught my eye. I hit the brakes and pulled into Sutherland Springs Cemetery, then got out of my car to bask in the beauty. Jewel-bright wildflowers — bluebonnets, phlox, Indian paintbrush — flowed in broad rivers around the gravestones, symbolic of life and rebirth among the memorials to the dead.… Read More
Go figure, gopher plant blooming already
With bluebonnets already blooming around Austin at least a month earlier than usual, I shouldn’t be surprised to see gopher plant (Euphorbia rigida) in full flower too.… Read More
Plant This: Pride of Barbados, Caesalpinia pulcherrima
October 01, 2018 When summer’s heat sizzles the back of your neck and it hasn’t rained in a month and the rest of your plants want to give up, Pride of Barbados (Caesalpinia pulcherrima) sassily unfurls dozens of ruffled, ember-hued … Read More
Oxblood lilies are baaaaack!
September 13, 2018 Five inches of rain soaked the soil last week, and the oxblood lilies (Rhodophiala bifida) have raised their celebratory red flags in response. Popping up from dormancy seemingly overnight, they’ve splashed color along the front of the … Read More
Flower power at Kew Gardens: Perennial borders and rose garden
July 10, 2018 My indulgent family and I took the Tube to Kew Gardens (officially, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) while in London last month. I could easily have spent the whole day there, but we had only about 4 or … Read More
Yellow flowering prickly pear glows like sunshine
June 06, 2018 Hot weather and sunshine bring out the beauty of prickly pear (Opuntia) flowers. This gigantic spineless prickly pear growing in a neighbor’s yard stands about 6-1/2 feet tall, and it’s covered with butter-yellow flowers. The toughest plants … Read More
Gopher plant ‘Winter Blush’ is mini-hydrangea lookalike
April 14, 2018 The best plants look as good going to seed as they do in flower. I’d put ‘Winter Blush’ gopher plant (Euphorbia rigida ‘Winter Blush’) in this category based on its passing resemblance to fading hydrangea blossoms. Mind … Read More