Complete Gardening -

Plant of the Week

That Purple Weed Taking Over Your Central Texas Lawn Is Actually a Native Pollinator Gem

Every spring, Central Texas lawns light up with clusters of tiny purple flowers, and most homeowners reach for the weed puller without a second thought....

By Ella Brown T · Aug 16, 2026

Field Notes

If Your Pepper Leaves Curl Up and Turn Leathery While the Plant Keeps Growing in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Eggplant Flowers Keep Dropping Without Setting Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Tomato Plants Are Loaded With Leaves but Refuse To Set Fruit While Nights Stay Warm, Here Is Why

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native Shrub That Draws Fireflies Back To Your Backyard Edge At Dusk

From the Garden

How To Support the California Barn Owls That May Help Control Rats and Gophers in Your Yard

If Your Squash Vines Wilt and Collapse Overnight While the Fruit Still Looks Fine in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

More Barn Swallows Nesting on Your Central Texas Porch Means Fewer Mosquitoes and Gnats, and Here’s How To Welcome Them

What It Really Means When Carpenter Bees Start Drilling Into Your North Carolina Porch This Summer

What It Really Means When California Quail Suddenly Start Nesting in Your Backyard This Summer

In Bloom

The Underrated Texas Porch Plant That Makes Roaches and Rats Less Welcome Around Your Door

If Your Fall Cabbage Transplants Keep Wilting in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

How To Support the California Alligator Lizards That Quietly Hunt Down Black Widows in Your Yard

Gardener's Selection

If Your Cucumber Vines Wilt by Afternoon Even After Watering in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Tomatoes Split and Crack Open Right as They Ripen in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Eastern Redbud: A Native North Carolina Tree Worth Planting Alongside a Smarter Spotted Lanternfly Strategy

How To Support California Fence Lizards That Quietly Cut the Tick Population Around Your Yard

That Purple Weed Taking Over Your Central Texas Lawn Is Actually a Native Pollinator Gem

The Potting Shed

If Your Cucumber Fruit Grows Fat at One End and Pinched at the Other in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native Shrub That Blocks Ticks Along Your Wooded Backyard Edge

The Native Texas Vine That Draws Dragonflies In and Sends Mosquitoes Looking Elsewhere

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Yellow From the Bottom Up While the Vine Keeps Growing in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native Tree That Feeds Pollinators From Spring Right Through Fall

More Green Anoles On Your Central Texas Fence Means Fewer Mosquitoes and Roaches, and Here’s How To Bring Them In

If Your Pepper Plants Drop Every Blossom Before Fruit Sets While Nights Stay Warm, Here Is Why

If Your Fall Broccoli Transplants Are Opening Yellow Flowers Instead of Forming a Tight Head in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

What It Really Means When Praying Mantises Take Over Your North Carolina Yard This Summer

More Roadrunners Near Your Central Texas Yard Means Fewer Scorpions, and Here’s How To Bring Them In

If Your Okra Pods Turn Woody and Tough Before You Can Pick Them in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Bean Plants Flower Heavily but the Pods Never Fill Out in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

How To Support California Orioles That Return To Your Yard Every Season Once They Find the Right Nectar Plants

What It Really Means When Tree Frogs Start Showing Up in Your California Garden This Summer

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native Shrub That Cuts Mosquitoes Down Around Your Patio

The Garden Almanac

Field Notes

Native Switchgrass: A Texas Habitat Plant That May Support Fireflies In Your Central Texas Yard

If Your Squash Plants Set Female Flowers but the Fruit Rots at the Tip in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

The One Thing You Must Do To Crape Myrtles In North Carolina Before Fall Or Next Year’s Blooms Suffer

This Tiny California Garden Spider Quietly Eats the Aphids and Whiteflies Homeowners Reach for Spray to Kill

The Native Texas Plant That Brings Roadrunners To Your Yard And Sends Scorpions Packing

If Your Pepper Leaves Curl and Cup Inward While the Fruit Stalls in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why