Blogging Memories of 2012

At the beginning of 2012 this blog was just three months old and I mused about the future of my garden and where blogging would take me.  Now I have an entire year to review with 155 posts to choose from and it's time to look back on 2012 and share a few of my favorites.

My first garden blogger meet-up in Austin was fun as I met four fellow bloggers in early November and toured six great gardens on the Garden Conservancy's Open Days tour.  Pam Penick of  Digging corralled us for a group photo to mark the occasion. Our group included (L-R) Jean of Dig, Grow, Compost, me, Diana of Sharing Nature's Garden, Pam Penick of  Digging, and Catherine of The Whimsical Gardener.  I had so much fun meeting them for the first time and spending the day touring six special gardens in Austin.

Natives of Texas

October is Support Your Independent Nursery Month as declared by Pam Penick at her Austin blog Digging.

This week we visit Natives of Texas nursery in Kerrville.  After our stop at Medina Garden Nursery we continued on State Highway 16 about thirty minutes to Kerrville and Natives of Texas nursery.

Natives of Texas was founded on the idea that our Texas Hill Country natives are the best plants to survive the one-two punch of drought and heat of a Texas summer and the subsequent freezing weather of our winters.  Their website shares the wonderful story of this nursery.

Medina Garden Nursery

October is Support Your Independent Nursery Month as declared by Pam Penick at her Austin blog Digging.  I'm joining in by visiting local favorites around the San Antonio area and posting each Monday.

This week the spotlight is on the Medina Garden Nursery along State Highway 16 just east of the town of Medina, Texas.  After an hour of driving northwest from San Antonio into the beautiful Texas Hill Country I wasn't sure what to expect.  What I found was a pleasant surprise.

It felt a bit like driving up to someone's garden and that's just what it is.  Medina Garden Nursery grew out of the owner's interest in native plants. The nursery is in Ernesto Cariño's yard and acreage along the Medina River where he and Ysmael Espinosa have built display gardens around his stone house to teach customers about the beauty and durability of native plants. You can read more of their story in this article from the Native Plant Society of Texas newsletter. The article relays the facts, but Medina Garden Nursery turned out to be even more than I had expected.

A pretty and rustic cedar arbor welcomes you to come on in and see the selection.

Milberger's Nursery

October is "Support Your Independent Nursery" month designated by Pam Penick at her Austin blog Digging.  I'm joining in by touring San Antonio nurseries and posting some of my favorites each Monday.  Today is Milberger's Nursery on North Loop 1604 at Bulverde Road in San Antonio.

Milberger's is the first nursery I visited after moving to San Antonio back in 1995 and realizing that I needed some serious gardening advice.  The staff patiently explained basic issues of gardening in San Antonio and I still fondly remember those first tentative ventures into the world of gardening among the rocks, oaks, and deer.