cool gardens in a hot climate™
January 16, 2019Have you ever seen a black deer? Here in my Northwest Hills neighborhood in Austin, I’ll see one from time to time, adults and fawns. I photographed this black doe from my car yesterday. Online sources say these … Read More
November 30, 2018 Hang in there, my friends – it’s Friday! I welcome your comments; please scroll to the end of this post to leave one. If you’re reading this in a subscription email, click here to visit Digging and … Read More
May 31, 2018 As my daughter pulled the trash bin out to the driveway yesterday, bumping it along the stepping-stone path, she nearly stepped on a newborn fawn who was trying hard to remain unseen. He or she lay half … Read More
May 14, 2018 The owl channel is playing 24/7 in our garden as the screech owl chicks grow more active. They are close to fledging, I think, and Mama and Papa Owl are kept busy night after night, bringing them … Read More
April 29, 2018 Yesterday, to our excitement, we spotted Lucy and Desi, our nesting screech owl pair, perched in live oak trees near the owl box. I’d suspected that their chicks had hatched and were getting bigger because Lucy was … Read More
March 26, 2018 The female screech owl nesting in our owl box is a rufous, or red-feathered, owl. She gives me some funny looks when she hangs out in the doorway, and I’ve named her Lucy. Desi, her mate, hangs … Read More
March 01, 2018 Am I the only one who finds snakes rather fascinating, even charming, particularly if the scaly visitor is small and harmless? For every gardener who goes pale over a slithery shape in the grass, surely there are … Read More
February 19, 2018 High-pitched, whistling cries have filled the skies lately, alerting me to our cedar waxwing visitors. Flocking into berry-laden junipers (i.e., “cedars”), possumhaw and yaupon hollies, hackberries, and even invasive ligustrum to gorge themselves, these beautiful crested and … Read More
October 04, 2017 The first wave of migrating monarch butterflies has reached North Texas and will be fluttering through Austin and other parts of Central Texas by next week. Despite their seeming fragility, these tenacious creatures migrate each fall as … Read More
May 20, 2017 Tragedy for the wrens raising week-old chicks in a birdhouse I’ve been observing from my office window. Yesterday morning, as I sat down at my desk, I looked out to check on the little family — I’ve … Read More
May 17, 2017 While I was turning off a hose Monday, water dribbled into a thick stand of inland sea oats, and something moved among the grasses. I saw a small head and thought, cat. Having endured a year of … Read More
February 19, 2017 The late-winter garden cut-back continues, but spring has sprung as far as pretty Palmer’s sedum is concerned. Honeybees have been busy among the flowers, although I managed to miss them in this closeup. While working in the … Read More
January 13, 2014We left the Maasai village (June 2007 trip to Tanzania) and got back on the dirt road heading to Serengeti National Park. The drive in our open-roofed cars was long, dusty, and jolting. Open grasslands gave way to … Read More
January 12, 2014After our visit to Mto wa Mbu (June 2007 trip to Tanzania), we returned to the lodge for lunch and then hopped back in the vehicles for the drive to Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The road climbed, the air … Read More