Exploring Pam Penick’s Shady Colorful Garden in Austin, Texas I like quirky things that are unexpected and outside the daily ‘normalness’ in our lives. That is why I have fallen in love with the city of Austin, Texas, which prides itself on being “weird.” Another reason this Texas capital city appeals to me is their […]
Exploring the Charm of an English Garden in Texas I love English gardens with their lush greenery, colorful blooms, and somewhat untidy appearance. This may be due to my partial English ancestry. I don’t make it to the British Isles as much as I’d like. But there are lovely examples to be found in the U.S. […]
Discovering a Hidden Desert Rose Garden I am a self-professed lover of roses and rejoice whenever I come across rose bushes that are thriving in our hot, arid climate and I also enjoy unexpected discoveries in the garden. On a recent visit to new client’s home, I came upon a hidden rose garden in the […]
(Desert Adapted Plants) Indian Mallow (Abutilon palmeri) Exploring Imaginary Landscapes with Desert Adapted Plants I always enjoy seeing well-designed landscapes that make use of many of my favorite desert adapted plants. A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to explore lovely landscape areas that existed within an imaginary land with real plants that were […]
A Tale of Roses: A David Austin Rose Experiment I adore roses. For those who have followed me for a while, this comes as no surprise. I’ve grown roses for almost thirty years. Rose gardens are so beautiful. They are the one plant responsible for inspiring me to get my degree in Horticulture. So, why […]
Coral Fountain, Firecracker plant (Russelia equisetiformis) When you ask most people what they want in their garden, their most common answer is, “color”. One of the best plants that I like to recommend for warm-season color is a coral fountain, also known as the firecracker plant (Russelia equisetiformis). It has beautiful, cascading foliage that resembles […]
My garden has been transformed with yellow showers of flowers, courtesy of my palo verde tree. It’s a delightful time of year with warm spring temperatures and colorful landscapes filled with flowering shrub, perennials, and trees. However, nothing heralds the arrival of spring in the desert Southwest like the golden yellow flowers of palo verde […]
Lovely clematis flowers Beware the Pretty Face: The Illusion of Clematis Flowers Clematis flowers are so pretty. Do you ever find yourself transfixed by a pretty face flower? I have. In fact, I’ve rarely seen a flower that I didn’t like. However, sometimes a pretty face, or in this case, a flower, can easily fool […]
Cereus cactus, golden barrel cactus, and firecracker penstemon From Drab to Colorful: A Landscape Transformation Story Is your outdoor space looking rather drab? If so, you aren’t alone – many landscapes can appear somewhat dull, especially if there is a lack of color. But, it doesn’t have to stay that way. One of my favorite […]
Javelina stepping out of an arroyo Unwanted Guests: Dealing with Javelina in Your Desert Garden Yesterday, I had a rather unexpected encounter with a javelina while taking pictures of a landscape. I think he was as surprised as I was to see him and he retreated back to his arroyo after a couple of minutes. […]
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