cool gardens in a hot climate™
April 16, 2018 Today is Foliage Follow-Up, a celebration of great foliage plants on the day after Bloom Day, and I’m celebrating the return to nurseries all over Austin of one of my favorite foliage plants for dry shade or … Read More
March 16, 2018 Spring looks a lot like fall in my garden, as this photo shows: fresh green leaves surrounded by brown live oak leaves. Live oaks stay green all winter, like an evergreen tree, but come spring they do … Read More
January 16, 2018 As I write this, an icy wind is flinging plastic pots and flapping draped sheets that are supposed to be sheltering certain freeze-tender plants in my garden. All I will say about that is that this is … Read More
December 16, 2017 Despite our one-day snow last week, it still looks pretty autumnal in my garden this Foliage Follow-Up. The Japanese maple stubbornly refuses to acknowledge fall until December, when the Christmas lights go up on the house and … Read More
October 16, 2017 At my alma mater in Houston last month (right after Hurricane Harvey), I appreciated the marriage of foliage and architecture at the Brochstein Pavilion, a remarkable structure and hub of student activity that didn’t exist when I … Read More
September 16, 2017 A local reader asked me about evergreen plants that grow well here in central Texas, and as I was putting together today’s Foliage Follow-Up post, I realized it’s a good opportunity to share some of my faves. … Read More
August 16, 2017 By mid-August this Texas gardener is looking for any shred of hope that summer’s heat will be waning soon. But even though I’m barely hanging on — along with this shed cicada skin — many of my … Read More
July 17, 2017 When I launched the Garden Spark talk series six months ago, I was sure there was an unmet need in Austin for people who wanted to hear top-notch designers and authors speak about garden design. So far … Read More
June 16, 2017 Today is Foliage Follow-Up, my monthly meme that encourages us to focus on often-underappreciated foliage plants, rather than spotlight-hogging flowers. That means it’s the perfect day to review a new book by two foliage-loving design experts, Karen … Read More
March 16, 2017 One of my favorite spring-blooming shrubs for bright shade features raspberry flowers and maroon leaves. It’s Chinese fringeflower (Loropetalum chinense ‘Sizzling Pink’), and its richly colored foliage contrasts beautifully with blue-green paleleaf yucca (Y. pallida) in a … Read More
February 16, 2017 The pond patio garden is mostly evergreen, so the big cleanup here occurs later, in March, when I muck out the pond and divide the water plants. With our brief winter segueing right into spring, February is … Read More