February 20, 2024
Last week I celebrated two milestones. Digging turned 18 on Valentine’s Day, which means the blog is now an adult. I can’t drink though.
I’m amazed at how long blogging has kept me interested, even when many other blogs that started around the same time – in February 2006 – have disappeared or morphed into Instagram. Anyone else reading? I like to think so.
Greetings to you! And thank you.
The day after Valentine’s Day, I celebrated an even bigger milestone: I submitted the manuscript and photos for my next book! It was the culmination of a 13-month, non-stop project that took me back and forth across the state of Texas, to 6,742 miles of driving, 27 garden shoots (each lasting a day, working with a professional photographer), based on a multitude of photographs reviewed as to select the best, and hours and hours of interviews with gardeners, garden owners and designers, which translated into 27 uniquely Texas garden stories.
I can’t wait for you to see the finished book, coming in 2025. That’s right, a year from now. Books are a slow process. But I promise it will be worth the wait! I don’t have an official title yet, but I’ll share it as soon as I do.
So that’s my news, and that’s why things have been a little quiet on the blog this month. Pictured is a garden in Austin’s Tarrytown neighborhood that I spotted one day in January. That colorfully painted palmetto trunk, decorated with Valentine’s Day hearts, made me pull the car over to the curb to take a picture. How charming, both the palmetto and the house!
Yesterday I left my own house like a blinking mole and celebrated my freedom from the keyboard by going shopping at Barton Springs Nursery with a friend. Maybe it didn’t occur to me to walk into a tropical house, but my friend did, and that’s where I spotted this planter set.
There’s a matching coffee table, of course, along with a brick-sized remote control for the imaginary TV. Fun! I came home with a trunk of plants, which was also fun. Today I will be out in the garden planting them in anticipation of spring, which is almost here.
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Digging Deeper
Attend the third annual Budding Out Plant Sale and Festival on March 16th at John Fairey Garden in Hempstead. Rare and distinctive plants from the garden nursery and selected plant vendors will be for sale. Additional offerings include art, ceramics, jewelry, food, music and presentations. Admission: $5 for members, $10 for non-members, children 12 and under free. Working hours: from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; members receive early admission at 9am (membership available day of event).
Come out to Austin’s Mayfield Park April 6 for the Mayfield Park Gardening Symposium & Fundraiser, from 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. This annual park benefit includes a raffle, plant sale and garden speakers.
Come learn about gardening and design at Garden Spark! I host in-person talks by inspiring designers, landscape architects, authors, and gardeners several times a year in Austin. These are limited attendance events that sell out quickly, so join the Garden Spark email list to be notified in advance; simply click this link and request to be added. Season 8 begins in the fall of 2024. Stay tuned for more information!
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