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Plant of the Week

The Forgotten Texas Fruit Tree Hill Country Gardeners Are Quietly Planting for Sweet Fall Harvests

Somewhere between the cedar and limestone of the Texas Hill Country, a fruit tree most neighbors have never heard of is quietly earning a second...

By Ella Brown T · Sep 20, 2026

Field Notes

9 Florida Native Shrubs That Keep Blooming in Full Sun Right Into October

8 Central Florida Native Nurseries Worth Clearing a Whole Saturday to Visit This Fall

California Bewick’s Wrens May Forage Among Roses and Eat Some Insects, but They Are Not a Proven Control for Scale or Spider Mites – and Pruning Around an Active Nest Can Disturb the Birds and Remove Their Cover

Why Your California Fig Tree Grows Nothing but Leaves, and the Care Change That Finally Sets Fruit

From the Garden

The Most Underrated Herb North Carolina Gardeners Should Plant This September for a Harvest Before First Frost

California Gophers Tunnel Straight to Your Roots, but No Native Plant Has Been Shown to Stop Them

The Texas Native Milkweed Central Texas Gardeners Are Planting Now So Monarchs Return Every Fall

The Native North Carolina Perennial Combo That Makes Your Mailbox the Best-Looking One on the Street

What Your California Lavender Really Needs Now to Keep From Turning Woody and Sparse by Next Summer

In Bloom

The Native Texas Groundcover Homeowners Are Planting Where Heat-Radiating Gravel Used to Bake Their Beds

Florida Homeowners Are Swapping Failing Vinyl Fences for This Native Hedge That Improves Every Year

What Your California Hydrangeas Are Really Telling You When They Wilt in a Heat Spike, and the Two Fixes That Aren’t the Same

Gardener's Selection

10 Spots in North Carolina Yards Where Coneflowers Quietly Fail No Matter How Well You Care For Them

What Your California Bougainvillea Really Needs Before the First Cool Nights, and the One Feeding Mistake That Stops Its Blooms

The Fragrant Native Vine Central Texas Homeowners Are Training Along Fences to Beat the Heat

The One Fall Chore North Carolina Gardeners Skip in October That Costs Them Next Spring’s Growth

The Forgotten Texas Fruit Tree Hill Country Gardeners Are Quietly Planting for Sweet Fall Harvests

The Potting Shed

What It Really Means When Wasps Keep Nesting Under Your North Carolina Eaves Before the First Cold Snap

Your Central Texas Snapdragons Stop Blooming in Fall Because You’re Deadheading Them the Wrong Way

What North Carolina Gardeners Do to Keep Knockout Roses Blooming Right Up to the First Frost

The Common Central Texas Shrub With Berries More Poisonous Than Most Snakebites

The Venomous Saddleback Caterpillar Is Turning Up on Florida Plants Right Now — Here’s Exactly What to Do

Zebra Longwing Caterpillars Devour These 7 Florida Passionvines Before Anything Else in the Yard

California Hooded Orioles Forage for Insects in Your Fruit Trees, but One Feeder Habit Can Make the Station Unsuitable

Vinyl Fences Warp and Crack in the Florida Sun – These 7 Native Screens Hold Up for Decades

California Alligator Lizards Quietly Feast on the Slugs and Black Widows Wrecking Your Yard, but Cleared Brush Drives Them Off

Plant Oakleaf Hydrangea Along Your Shady North Carolina Fence and Skip the Boxwood That Blights Every Summer

Small Snakes Keep Turning Up Around Florida Homes in September Because of These 7 Yard Conditions

Your Central Texas Spinach Seedlings Turn Yellow and Stall the Moment Fall Nights Warm Back Up

Whip Your Tired Florida Yard Back to Life With These 7 Fall-Planted Natives

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native That Blazes Fiery Red in Fall While Feeding Honey Bees All Summer

California Quail Suddenly Nest in Backyard Gardens in Groups, and This Is the Yard Condition Pulling Them In

The Garden Almanac

Field Notes

The Native Texas Porch Plant Big-Box Stores Skip That Keeps Mosquitoes Off Your Patio All Summer

California Wrens Hunt the Aphids and Caterpillars Wrecking Your Garden, but One Tidy Habit Sends Them Packing

American Beautyberry Has Lab-Tested Tick-Repellent Compounds – Here Is What That Actually Means for Your North Carolina Yard

The Texas Native Groundcover Homeowners Are Slipping Under Live Oaks Where Grass Gives Up

Chipmunks Are Tunneling Under North Carolina Garden Beds This Fall, and Here’s What Their Burrows Are Really After

Fireflies Come Back to Florida Yards That Add These 7 Native Plants and Habits