June 03, 2024 I’ve visited Michael McDowell’s garden — aka the Plano Prairie Garden — several times over the past decade (see here and here; it’ll also be featured in my forthcoming book). My visits have always been in the fall, when purple spires of gayfeather turn Michael’s prairie garden into a Buc-ee’s rest stop for migrating monarchs. I’d never seen it in the spring until two weeks ago, during a mid-May trip up to Dallas. Michael graciously said yes when I spontaneously asked to drop in with a friend. It was late afternoon on a hot spring day, and the front garden was dramatically backl ..read more

June 02, 2024 I road-tripped up to Dallas in mid-May because…more garden tours! Dallas master gardener Suzy Renz had alerted me to the Dallas County Master Gardener Association Tour on May 18th, on which her garden was featured, and Michael McDowell had clued me into the White Rock East Garden Tour the next day. An overnight trip was in order! I enlisted a friend to join me, and off we went. It turns out Dallas loves a garden tour! On Saturday, visitors of all ages were eagerly exploring each garden, which was heartening to see. The crowds (and bright sun) meant I wasn’t able to take many pho ..read more

June 01, 2024 I don’t seem able to attract nesting screech owls to my garden anymore, alas. (Lots of other owl boxes out there to choose from, maybe?). But my garden sure does attract plenty of baby deer. Hmm, I don’t think I’ve come out on the winning side of that tradeoff. But I’ll admit the fawns are awfully cute whenever I discover one “hidden” in the garden. This little one was tucked up in the sedge lawn this week, holding still as I stepped out to go for a walk. It moved around a bit over the course of a few hours, waiting patiently for mom to come back… …eyes watchful and those big ..read more

May 30, 2024 On a mid-May trip up to Dallas, I swung by the Laura W. Bush Native Texas Park just before sunset to see the big wildflower show I’d been hearing about this spring. I was not disappointed. Red-and-yellow firewheel, purple horsemint, rusty Mexican hat, and lilac American basketflower were quilting the 15-acre park with color. Vying with the hum of traffic from nearby (but invisible) North Central Expressway, insects were buzzing in the wildflowers and birds were trilling in the trees. As the sun dipped to the horizon, the orange haze of the flowering prairie deepened. It was magi ..read more

May 29, 2024 At Vivero Growers nursery in southwest Austin, big containers are planted as eye-catching showpieces. I oohed and aahed over them, including this one with hot-pink ice plant and a giant hesperaloe, during a recent visit. Sizzling pink ice plant flowers Check this one out: a potted Mexican grass tree — like a shimmering fiber-optic sphere! Lantana mounds in this container, with flowers as hot as the Texas sun. A cooler combo — chocolatey-purple pennisetum and silver ponyfoot — make a hammered-silver pairing. Vivero has some new-to-me salvias, which I drooled over: ‘Plum Crazy ..read more

May 28, 2024 Deborah Hornickel credits her garden’s timeless good looks and livability to her good friend James David, a hugely influential designer formerly of Austin with a showpiece personal garden and a revered boutique/nursery called Gardens. (He and partner Gary Peese now call Santa Fe home.) Thanks to James’s design vision, Deborah’s tiny Bryker Woods bungalow was made to live larger by extending her living space outdoors. In 1991, James convinced Deborah to plant an allée of Bradford pears down the center of her backyard. As they grew, he helped her train them into a tunnel on a ..read more

May 23, 2024 Every time I visit Tanglewild Gardens, an Asian-influenced, daylily-hybridizing, future-wedding-venue garden in North Austin, I’m impressed by the energy and ambition of its owners. Skottie O’Mahony and Jeff Breitenstein, 13 years into the making of Tanglewild, continue to expand on its garden rooms and are in the process of remodeling a detached garage into an ADU with a tiki bar. Skottie calls the 1.7-acre property in the Wells Branch neighborhood a “private (for now) north Austin botanical garden & National Daylily Display Garden.” It’s a botanical fantasia unlike any othe ..read more

May 20, 2024 Before the stifling heat dome settles over Texas later this week from now until October, I’ve been racing from one garden to the next across Austin and beyond, from San Antonio to Blanco to Dallas. Fun? Absolutely! But also, my gosh, I have a ton of pictures to winnow and edit and round up into blog posts. Even though garden-tour season in Texas is now pretty much over until fall, I’ll be posting about my recent excursions for the next several weeks. But first, a quick look ’round my own garden as it transitions from spring into summer. Let’s start on the shady side of the back g ..read more

May 17, 2024 A colorful patch of native Texas wildflowers greeted me in Teresa Garcia’s garden on the Inside Austin Gardens Tour last weekend. Ka-pow! Like Katie Bird Farm in my last post, Teresa’s garden is large (one acre) with extensive gardens, and located in southwest Austin. Let’s start our tour in the backyard. Blanketflower and horsemint crowd around a big green agave — ‘Green Goblet’ maybe? I got hung up here taking photos of this beautiful spring scene. Blanketflower and horsemint, a native Texas monarda With a little hesperaloe thrown in Bees were loving it all. Nigella going ..read more

May 14, 2024 I adored Colleen Jamison’s former garden, with its inviting patios, winding paths, charming decor, and custom gates and arbors built by her husband, Bruce. I blogged about that garden 11 years ago, as well as the median of her street that Colleen transformed into a community park. You can view her garden on Central Texas Gardener too. Colleen and Bruce are renovating their new old home A few years ago, Colleen and Bruce sold their home and garden and bought a 1930s bungalow with a backyard rental unit in the Brentwood neighborhood. Colleen mourned her old garden for a while. Then ..read more