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Plant of the Week

The Texas Plants That Bring Barn Owls In Until the Rats Give Up on Your Yard

A single barn owl family can swallow up to a thousand rodents in one nesting season, which makes them the best pest control a Texas...

By Ella Brown T · Jul 18, 2026

Field Notes

The Texas Vegetables You Need to Get in the Ground This August for a Full Fall Harvest

16 Perennials That Bloom Twice as Long When You Deadhead Them, and What Happens the Year You Skip It

Your Hydrangeas Look Weak This Summer? Here Are the 5 Late-Season Moves That Push More Blooms

Your Tomatoes Need Smarter Watering, Not More – Here’s How the Roots Actually Want It

From the Garden

The 20 Smells Squirrels and Chipmunks Can’t Stand – Put These Where They Keep Digging

The Texas Shrubs Gardeners Are Quietly Planting Along Their Foundations to Send Rats Packing

Your Tomatoes and Cucumbers Look Stalled – Here Are 16 Feeds That Get Them Bulking Again

This Native Flower Quietly Replaces the High-Maintenance Annual Beds South Florida Keeps Replanting

Texas Mountain Laurel’s Beautiful Red Seeds Can Poison People and Pets If Chewed

In Bloom

Filling a Big Planter? Here’s the Trick That Saves You Bags of Soil Without Starving the Roots

Cut Your Delphiniums Back Right After They Flower and They May Rebloom Later This Season

Your Carrots Grew Forked and Twisted Instead of Long and Straight – Here’s What Went Wrong

Gardener's Selection

Grow These 12 Plants and Rabbits Stop Treating Your Flower Beds Like a Salad Bar

Your Pumpkin Vines Are Sprawling but the Fruit Rots Where It Touches the Ground — Here’s the Fix

If Your Cucumber Leaves Are Curling and Speckled, It May Not Be Heat – It May Be Spider Mites

The Deadheading Habit That Can Keep Your Petunias Blooming Instead of Fizzling Out by August

The Texas Plants That Bring Barn Owls In Until the Rats Give Up on Your Yard

The Potting Shed

If Your Cucumber Vines Keep Yellowing in the Heat, It May Not Be Water – It May Be This Nutrient

Why Coontie Belongs in Florida Yards – and What UF/IFAS Actually Says About It

This Invasive Texas Tree Gets Less Notice Than Fire Ants but Quietly Wipes Out Native Habitat

The Underrated Florida Porch Plant That Keeps Rats and Roaches Away While Looking Purely Decorative

Chipmunks Are Tunneling Under Your Raised Beds – Here’s How to Get Them to Move On

What It Really Means When Blue Jays Keep Screaming From Your Florida Oak Every Morning

Why Coral Honeysuckle Is the Native Vine That Turns a Bare Florida Fence Into a Hummingbird Magnet

The Front-Lawn Groundcover Florida Homeowners Are Planting That HOAs Can’t Legally Touch

Your Fig Tree Leaves Are Turning Yellow and Dropping — Here’s What They’re Telling You

This Toxic Texas Shrub Hides in Ordinary Yards and Gets Less Attention Than a Copperhead

Your Cucumber Leaves Are Speckled and Turning Bronze — Here’s the Spider Mite Fix

Your Cucumbers Are Growing Curled and Misshapen – Here’s the Pollination Fix That Straightens Them Out

If Your Hydrangeas Green Up Beautifully but Never Bloom, One Pruning Slip May Be the Reason

What Texas Plumeria Needs Right Now to Keep Blooming Straight Through October

Why Painted Buntings Skip Most Florida Yards — and the Few Changes That Finally Bring Them In

The Garden Almanac

Field Notes

A Texas-Native Wildflower That Can Return Year After Year From Self-Sown Seed

More Roadrunners Around Your Texas Yard Means Fewer Scorpions, and Here’s How to Draw Them In

What Repeated Cardinal Visits to Your Texas Yard Are Really Telling You

The Texas Native Wildflowers That Bring In Dragonflies and Send Mosquitoes Packing

If Your Coneflowers Fade by Mid-July, They May Not Be Worn Out – One Habit May Be Cutting Them Short

If Your Zucchini Stops Setting Fruit in the Summer Heat, One Overlooked Habit May Be to Blame