Convenience Big Store: Designer's book is both stylish and well traveled

Fall brings a full calendar of design events

Whether it feels like it or not, fall is here and, with it, plenty of things to do for those interested in architecture and design.

Next week, the Houston Design District's annual Fall Design Week will bring four days of design speakers, including New York-based Vicente Wolf, plus locals Nina Magon, Paloma Contreras, Mary Lambrakos, Rebekah Bredthauer, Kirby Mears, Linda Eyles, Michael Hsu and Mary Patton. The week kicks off Monday night with Wolf talking about his new book, "Creative Interior Solutions," and ending with talks by Patton talking about the renovation of her home by architect Paul Laszlo, plus another with Eyles and Hsu talking about the designer-architect relationship.

A little later in October you'll be able to see some great houses in the AIA Houston Home Tour and Eastwood Home Tour, then in early November you can take in more on Preservation Houston's Good Brick Tour.

This week's newsletter brings you stories about Magon's new design book, a new, $9 million campus for Trees for Houston and Dr. Peter Hotez's newest book.

Diane Cowen, Home Design reporter

diane.cowen@houstonchronicle.com

Architecture + Design

Photo by: Julie Soefer

Nina Magon's design book displays impact of fashion, travel

Houston interior designer Nina Magon's new book shows off her glamorous style and its connection to travel and fashion.

Trees for Houston is opening its new Houston campus, named the Kinder Campus for its largest donor, the Kinder Foundation, which gave $3 million to the project.

Photo by: TFHCampus

Trees for Houston opens $9M campus in Garden Oaks

This new campus for Trees for Houston, a 40-year-old nonprofit that has given out 700,000 trees, should elevate the nonprofit's profile and make it easier to distribute trees to homeowners.

Outdoors

A scissor-tailed flycatcher swallows an insect while perched on a fence post. Scissor-tails are gathering in Texas on their way to wintering grounds in Latin America. Photo Credit: Kathy Adams Clark. Restricted use.

Photo by: Kathy Adams Clark, Kathy Adams Clark/KAC Productions

Scissor-tailed flycatchers are flocking on Houston power lines and treetops

Scissor-tailed flycatchers are perching and roosting together in large flocks on power lines, fences and trees.

8 edible flowers that will dress up your garden — and your plate

Don't just stop and smell the roses — you can eat them, too. Plenty of easy-to-grow flowers that bring energy and beauty to your garden are also completely edible and can be used to infuse food and drinks with unusual flavors and eye-catching colors.