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Diana C. Kirby

About Diana C. Kirby

Diana Kirby is a lifelong gardener and longtime Austinite, who loves the Central Texas climate for the almost year-round opportunities it offers for active gardening and seasonal splendor. Known as an impassioned and successful gardener, Diana began by helping friends design and implement their landscapes. Soon, she was contracted as a professional designer by a popular local landscaping installation firm, where she designed landscapes for residential and commercial clients for several years. In 2007, her new passion blossomed with the launch of her own firm, Diana’s Designs. ... Diana is a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, the Garden Writers Association of America, and she writes a monthly gardening column for the Austin American-Statesman. Diana teaches the Landscape Design classes for several county Texas Agrilife Extension Service Master Gardener certification programs and speaks about gardening and design for garden centers and other groups. Learn more about presentation topics, availability and speaking fees.

Meet the wrens!


I was out feeding the birds this morning when I heard the familiar “cheep cheep cheep” of baby birds. 

I was delighted to find that Mr. and Mrs. Wren had made a nest and a little family in the gourd I bought a few months ago. 
 I thought it was very colorful and a welcoming home, and apparently they did, too!
Mrs. fussed mightily at me when I tried to get close and see the babies inside, but they were too far back to get a glimpse of them, much less a photo, so I left them in peace.



Cute, isn’t it?

By |2016-04-14T02:45:12-05:00June 23rd, 2008|baby birds, Blog, Sharing Nature's Garden, wrens|0 Comments
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Oh exotic Nile Goddess, we await you!


Doesn’t she look just like some ancient Egyptian Nile Goddess?

This is my purple Agapanthus, or Lily of the Nile, just waiting for the perfect moment to make her official entry into my garden.

I have two winding rows of them in the back bed and have had hit or miss luck. Some of the clusters of leaves are big and bold and beautiful and some are still as puny as when I planted them last year.

(Read: I am not in charge. I am not in charge…)

But I can’t help but get excited when they start to bloom. Even if the blooms are crooked and mutant-looking like this one below!

I had trouble with the allium as well — maybe it’s an orb thing!

By |2016-04-14T02:45:12-05:00June 22nd, 2008|Agapanthus, Blog, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments
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Meet our Emmie!

This little beauty is Emmie, one of our resident deer. Yes, you’ve heard me blog furiously about plants pulled out and eaten to the nubs, but the severe drought has softened my heart.

We are seeing her from our breakfast room where she has come to nibble on a few seeds from the bird feeders and to get a drink of water from the birdbath that’s just right behind her. I’m also keeping a giant dog bowl of water out there for her and her sister Lulu.
After her nice drink, she headed back to the septic field behind the woods to have an afternoon snack of some well fertilized grass. She really likes the grass because it’s greener than many of her other food sources these days.

I’m thinking about feeding her deer corn. Just thinking. I’ll let you know how that turns out in my brain!

By |2017-11-29T23:27:53-06:00June 21st, 2008|Blog, deer, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments
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A little bit of this, a little bit of that…

I bought this variegated hibiscus several months ago and have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of its mystery blooms.

I had no idea what color they would be, but I fell in love with the beautiful foliage. It’s in the corner of the Day Lily bed, which will soon be full of many different colors, so I figured it would go with anything.

And three of the lilies are about to bloom – I think they will be the lemon-yellow ones – yummy!
Wow. I was floored this morning when I walked outside and found that my Saucer hibiscus had produced not one, but two, beautiful blooms.
The deer will most certainly eat them, as this was a last summer experiment that proved that eat even our native hibiscus varieties, not just the tropical ones. So, I rushed in to get the camera and show you!
We’ve had a phenomenal heat wave here – 15 days over 100 degrees already and it isn’t even Summer yet. But today we got a break. Cloud cover and a few sprinkles came on the edge of a front. (The real rain missed us — again.) And it was 86 when I went out a little while ago. What a relief.

We’re sending prayers to our neighbors in the Midwest who are suffering in the rain and the floods. Our family up there had some flooding in their business and had to move horses from the barn to higher ground, but mercifully it didn’t last too long and the clean up is manageable so far.

By |2016-04-14T02:45:12-05:00June 20th, 2008|Blog, heat, hibiscus, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments
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Nighty-night

Imagine my surprise when I was watering last night and found this little lovely night bloom coming open on my Datura.

It’s especially nice, because we are hosting Supper Underground here in our back yard on Saturday night with about 30 people coming for dinner. Our guests for the evening will be able to enjoy the pretty white blooms and their sweet fragrance. Thanks, guys!
While I love the Purple coneflower, I’m always intrigued by the white — here you see the first of three that have returned from last year.
Isn’t the light pretty on these Wisteria seed pods? Wonder if I would have any luck planting some…have you ever tried?

By |2016-04-14T02:45:13-05:00June 11th, 2008|Blog, Coneflower, datura, Sharing Nature's Garden, wisteria|0 Comments
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Escape in the garden

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