Moon gate and woodland garden at Boulder Haven
A stone moon gate appears like a portal to another world at Boulder Haven, the home garden of designer Carol Verhake.… Read More
Shady oasis with folk art and inviting central patio
The exuberantly planted and decorated garden of Jim Ottney and Jay Hatheway in Stoughton, WI, has secret hideaway vibes.… Read More
Foliage-rich pond garden: Kuster Garden at Madison Fling
Tom Kuster has amassed 600 varieties of plants in his garden. The avid plant collector has also created a pleasingly rich tapestry of foliage.… Read More
East meets Midwest in the garden of Linda Brazill and Mark Golbach, Part 1
On a sloping half-acre lot, Linda Brazill and Mark Golbach have made a contemplative Japanese-style garden that leads you on a journey.… Read More
Green texture in my live oak-shaded garden
These shade-tolerant plants provide privacy and obscure views of parked cars, offer habitat for wildlife, and look pretty year-round.… Read More
Woodland tapestry: Jay Sifford’s garden of foliage, art, and light
In Charlotte, NC, last weekend, I visited the garden of designer Jay Sifford. I arrived under leaden skies and drizzly rain, but the garden sparkled with raindrops, its tapestry of colorful foliage glowing in the dim light. I knew immediately I was in for a treat.… Read More
Fall flowers before an early freeze
November 20, 2018 Well, fall perennial color was pretty while it lasted. Austin’s first freeze arrived 3 weeks early last week and took out all my plants in full bloom, including forsythia sage (Salvia madrensis) and white mistflower (Ageratina havanensis). … Read More
Fringeflower benefits
February 27, 2018 Just when I’d begun to stomp around, impatient for a little spring color in my shady garden (no daffodils, no quince, no plums, darn it!), Chinese fringeflower (Loropetalum chinense) burst into fuchsia bloom and saved the day. … Read More
Sharing nature’s beauty in the garden of Diana Kirby
December 03, 2017 I’ve enjoyed many a visit at the garden of my good friend Diana Kirby, designer at Diana’s Designs, garden columnist at the Austin American-Statesman, and publisher of the blog Sharing Nature’s Garden. But inexplicably I’ve never done … Read More
Autumn stroll around my garden
October 27, 2017 Autumn is my favorite season in the garden, when the Death Star abates and cool breezes blow in from the north, pushing that Gulf Coast humidity back to Houston where it belongs. The sky goes china blue, … Read More
Sunny day at Portland Japanese Garden
September 25, 2017 A trip to Portland, Oregon, wouldn’t be complete without seeing the city’s luminous Japanese garden. During our mid-August visit, we had to try twice because the first time, on a Sunday afternoon, we simply could not find … Read More
Plant This: Pale pavonia, or Brazilian rock rose
July 28, 2017 Even in gentler months, my shady garden is not particularly flowery, and in the heat of summer those perennials that do flower — salvias, mistflowers, cupheas — tend to hunker down until fall. One happy exception is … Read More
The whimsical woodland garden of Ellen Ash: Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling
July 11, 2017 Although the tree-shaded entrance to this Great Falls, Virginia, garden was elegant and restrained, I knew the owner would be a gardener with a sense of humor. How? Because at the driveway’s end I spotted, atop a … Read More
Log slices, twig spheres, and other natural art in garden of Debbie Friedman: Capital Region Garden Bloggers Fling
July 09, 2017 Though she lives and gardens in Maryland, Bethesda designer Debbie Friedman told us that she uses log slices, granite stones, and other natural accents to evoke the spirit of Mount Desert Island, Maine, where she enjoys vacationing. … Read More