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Plant of the Week

The Native Texas Plant Along Your Fence That Makes Scorpions Find Your Yard Less Inviting

Scorpions showing up around the house is one of those Texas realities that nobody enjoys, and plenty of homeowners are searching for a plant that...

By Ella Brown T · Aug 10, 2026

Field Notes

If Your Potted Tomatoes Stay Small and Weak in Late-Summer Heat, One Container Watering Habit Is Usually Behind It

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

What It Really Means When Green Anoles Take Over Your North Carolina Yard This Summer

Yaupon Holly For Your Porch: What It Can Do For Wildlife And What It Cannot Do For Cockroaches

From the Garden

If Your Okra Pods Turn Woody and Tough Before You Pick Them in Late-Summer Heat, Slow Harvesting Is Usually Behind It

If Your Bell Peppers Get Sunken Brown Patches in Late-Summer Heat, Blossom-End Rot Is Usually the Cause

If Your Eggplant Flowers Drop Without Setting Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Incomplete Pollination Is One Common Contributor

How To Support California Praying Mantises That Quietly Hunt the Aphids and Caterpillars Eating Your Vegetables

If Your Pepper Plants Flower Nonstop but Set No Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Warm Nights Are Usually the Reason

In Bloom

What It Really Means When California Quail Suddenly Appear in Your Backyard Garden This Summer

If Your Pepper Leaves Turn Leathery and Curl in Late-Summer Heat, Shallow or Inconsistent Watering May Be One Reason Why

What It Really Means When Barn Owls Start Hunting Near Your California Yard at Night

Gardener's Selection

If Your Zucchini Grows Huge Leaves but the Fruit Rots at the Tip in Late-Summer Heat, Check Pollination First

If Your Squash Leaves Suddenly Wilt at Midday in Late-Summer Heat, Check the Base of the Stem First

What It Really Means When Wasps Take Over Your North Carolina Yard Every Summer

How To Support California Towhees That Quietly Scratch Up the Weed Seeds and Small Invertebrates in Your Beds

The Native Texas Plant Along Your Fence That Makes Scorpions Find Your Yard Less Inviting

The Potting Shed

If Your Cucumber Plants Suddenly Stop Fruiting in Late-Summer Heat, Warm Nights Are the First Thing to Check

If Your Cucumber Plants Wilt by Afternoon in Late-Summer Heat, One Watering Habit Is Usually Behind It

What It Really Means When Katydids Take Over Your North Carolina Yard Every Summer Night

How California Garden Spiders May Help Suppress Aphids and Mosquitoes in Your Vegetable Beds

This Native Texas Plant Along Your Fence Brings Fireflies Back To Central Texas Yards Every Summer

If Your Tomato Plants Slow Way Down in Late-Summer Heat, One Feeding Habit Is Usually Behind It

What It Really Means When Stink Bugs Start Crowding Onto Your North Carolina Porch This Summer

Lush Melon Vines, Small Fruit in the Summer Heat: Why Nitrogen Is a Leading Suspect but Not Always the Culprit

Before You Pull That Purple Lawn Plant, Identify It First

If Your Tomato Leaves Curl and Yellow in Late-Summer Heat, One Watering Habit Is Usually Behind It

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native Vine That Screens Your Wooded Edge Where Ticks Enter

Rosemary on the Porch: A Heat-Tolerant Texas Plant With Limited Evidence Against Scorpions

If Your Cucumber Vines Look Lush but the Leaves Curl Under Every Afternoon in Late-Summer Heat, Check This First

If Your Beans Flower Heavily but Set Almost No Pods in Late-Summer Heat, Warm Nights Are the First Thing to Check

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native Shrub That Blocks Deer From Wrecking Your Backyard Beds

The Garden Almanac

Field Notes

More Little Brown Bats Over Your Central Texas Yard Means Fewer Mosquitoes, And Here’s How To Draw Them In

When Eggplant Flowers Drop in Late-Summer Heat, Check Soil Moisture First – but Not Only

If Your Okra Grows Tall and Leafy but Won’t Pod in Late-Summer Heat, One Feeding Habit Is Usually Behind It

7 Florida Native Plants That Attract Bats and Cut Your Backyard Mosquitoes Down Fast

How To Support California Bewick’s Wrens That Quietly Eat the Caterpillars Chewing Your Vegetable Beds

If Your Pepper Plants Grow Bushy But Won’t Set Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, One Watering Habit Is Usually Behind It