Margaret Cherry’s League City yard might be small, but it is home to hundreds of tulips, including the Banja Luka variety with flaming yellow and red petals. Photo by Kim Christensen
Margaret Cherry ought to know a thing or two about tulips. A few months ago, she planted 1,600 bulbs. [Read more…]
Phil Speer stands in the doorway of his greenhouse. The 8-by-20-foot interior is home to hundreds of bromeliads. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
Phil Speer hands me a cutting from one of his bromeliad plants surrounding a tree in his Clear Lake-area front yard.
“Just try and kill this,” he said. “It won’t happen.” [Read more…]
Lynn Weeks and her husband, Richard, have the perfect vacation spot in their backyard. They transformed the once wooded area into a botanical wonderland. Photo by Kim Christensen
When Lynn and Richard Weeks moved to their house on 6.5 acres on Dickinson Bayou in 1983, it was basically surrounded by a wooded forest. [Read more…]
Karen Craig tends to tomatoes in the backyard garden of her Bacliff home. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
Although Karen and Bobby Craig’s Bacliff backyard is lush with blooming flowers and tasty vegetables, it’s the yard art that takes center stage. [Read more…]
Helen Bashline worked hard to revive the gardens surrounding her 1920s era home in Galveston after Hurricane Ike hit in 2008. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
Helen Bashline is the sort of person who likes things balanced, and that applies to her yard. [Read more…]
City of League City gardener Steve Blum handpicks weeds at the Ghirardi Family WaterSmart Park in League City. Weeds are hand-picked to avoid the use of pesticides. Photo by Stuart Villanueva
The neighboring houses surrounding the Ghirardi Family WaterSmart Park, 1810 Louisiana Ave. in League City, have quite the view these days. Neighbors to the park are able to enjoy its beauty and amenities and educate themselves on how to be more conservation-minded when it comes to dealing with their own backyards. [Read more…]
Marty and Cindy Price enjoy a glass of wine at their bistro table in their backyard. Photo by Kim Christensen
It started out as a barren backyard of sandy dirt.
“I put big umbrellas and seashells out for the kids, and we pretended it was a beach,” said Cindy Price, referring to how her League City backyard looked 13 years ago. [Read more…]
Barbara and Gary Hankins enjoy their backyard paradise they have cultivated over the years. Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr.
With the front of their property facing wetlands and their backyard surrounded by Galveston Bay, Barbara and Gary Hankins know just how lucky they are to be so close to nature. But it didn’t happen overnight. [Read more…]
Thomas and Metta Hemmer’s San Leon backyard is a tropical paradise on Galveston Bay. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
When not out kayaking or riding their Harleys, Mette and Thomas Hemmer spend a lot of time in their tropical San Leon garden, which is overflowing with a variety of exquisite plants and trees, especially hybrid hibiscus.
Laurie Skov raises orchids and other tropical plants in his Santa Fe backyard. Photo by Jennifer Reynolds
Laurie Skov grew up on the outskirts of Chicago and rural Indiana. He obtained a master of science degree in chemistry, but always had a keen interest in the natural world. So much so, that in the early 1970s he spent two years teaching science in the Peace Corps in Western Samoa, where he lived in the jungle and became familiar with different kinds of plant life, especially orchids. They became a passionate hobby. [Read more…]