November 02, 2018
Merry Christmas from Austin

Merry Christmas from Austin

A holiday show by Texas troubadour Robert Earl Keen, downtown sights, and a dizzying spin under the Zilker Christmas Tree …
Drive-By Gardens: Diamond path and gravity-defying live oaks

Drive-By Gardens: Diamond path and gravity-defying live oaks

What caught my eye on a neighborhood stroll, from a diamond paver path to massive live oaks that defy gravity …
Christmastime blooms

Christmastime blooms

Mild, blue-sky December days are a Texan’s reward for enduring summer. Here are the flowering plants I’m enjoying right now …
Read This: A Natural History of Empty Lots

Read This: A Natural History of Empty Lots

A Natural History of Empty Lots is equal parts nature writing, memoir, and eco-criticism. It’s an Anthropocene love letter to nature …
Cadillac Ranch sunset

Cadillac Ranch sunset

Cruising to Cadillac Ranch on a winter road trip through Amarillo, on fabled Route 66, under a beautiful sunset sky …
Trouble reading Digging? Try clearing your cache

Trouble reading Digging? Try clearing your cache

December 12, 2024 A reader told me today that she was having difficulty reading Digging in the Safari browser. My blog posts were loading glitchy and jumpy, she said. I advised clearing the cache on her device. She did, and — presto! — the problem went away. So I want …
Texas interiors on the 2024 Lockhart Holiday Home Tour

Texas interiors on the 2024 Lockhart Holiday Home Tour

The 2024 Lockhart Holiday Home Tour featured 7 beautifully decorated homes plus a luxury cabin rental complex …
Diagon Alley's magical Christmas tribute to Harry Potter

Diagon Alley’s magical Christmas tribute to Harry Potter

I magicked myself to Austin’s Diagon Alley last weekend to see the Harry Potter display in their front yard in holiday Yule Ball mode …
Exploring the Gardens on Spring Creek in fall

Exploring the Gardens on Spring Creek in fall

At The Gardens on Spring Creek, origami sculptures by Kevin Box were on display amid prairie grasses and other undaunted plants …
Thankful for fall flowers, cool temps, not deer

Thankful for fall flowers, cool temps, not deer

I’m thankful for cooler, yet frost-free temps and the fullness of the autumn garden and the charismatic live oaks that shelter it …
Beyond the fairway, and finding Harvey Penick, at Austin Country Club

Beyond the fairway, and finding Harvey Penick, at Austin Country Club

A tour of the landscaping at Austin Country Club, where we learned more about a distant relative, legendary golf instructor Harvey Penick …
Gardens at Denver's Washington Park are going native

Gardens at Denver’s Washington Park are going native

At Denver’s Washington Park, two gardens are being converted from thirsty annuals into waterwise, habitat-rich perennial gardens …
A collector's garden of rare palms and cactus

A collector’s garden of rare palms and cactus

Amber and Jason Schoneman of garden design biz Dwarf Palmetto Design nurture a fascination with palms, cactus, and other low-water plants …
Playing around at Fortlandia at the Wildflower Center

Playing around at Fortlandia at the Wildflower Center

Each fall, Fortlandia brings a new set of forts to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for kids (and adults) to play on …