Complete Gardening -

Plant of the Week

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Bronze and Stippled in Late-Summer Heat, Spider Mites Are Usually Behind It

Walking out to your cucumber patch one August morning to find the leaves looking dull, dusty, and covered in tiny pale dots is a sinking...

By Ethan Brooks · Aug 13, 2026

Field Notes

What It Really Means When Hawks Keep Circling Over Your North Carolina Yard This Summer

Coral Honeysuckle: A Texas Native Vine That Supports Wildlife and Belongs in Your Habitat Garden

If Your Cucumber Fruit Grows Fat at One End and Pinches at the Other in Late-Summer Heat, Uneven Pollination Is Usually Behind It

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native Grass That Crowds Out Weeds Along Your Wooded Edge Better Than Mulch

From the Garden

Rosemary on the Porch: A Research Lead, Not a Foundation Shield, for Texas Scorpion Season

If Your Pepper Leaves Turn Yellow and Drop From the Bottom Up in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

If Your Tomato Leaves Show Yellow Blotches and Brown Patches in Late-Summer Heat, Early Blight Is Usually Behind It

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

If Your Cucumber Plants Suddenly Wilt and Collapse in Late-Summer Heat, Squash Vine Borers Are One Possibility Worth Confirming

In Bloom

How To Support the California Bushtits That May Eat Some Scale Insects and Other Small Arthropods From Your Shrubs

A Cucumber Vine That Wilts and Keeps Declining May Have Bacterial Wilt – Especially When Cucumber Beetles Are Present

If Your Pepper Flowers Keep Dropping Off Before They Set Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Here Is Why

Gardener's Selection

If Your Cucumber Leaves Develop Yellow Halos and Angular Brown Spots in Late-Summer Heat, Bacterial Leaf Spot Is Usually Behind It

If Your Zucchini Stops Setting Fruit and the Tiny Ones Shrivel in Late-Summer Heat, Poor Pollination Is Usually Behind It

What It Really Means When A Fox Starts Showing Up In Your North Carolina Yard This Summer

How To Support Bat Habitat in Your Central Texas Yard and Control Mosquitoes the Right Way

If Your Cucumber Leaves Turn Bronze and Stippled in Late-Summer Heat, Spider Mites Are Usually Behind It

The Potting Shed

What It Really Means When Brown, Shield-Shaped Stink Bugs Start Sneaking Into Your North Carolina Home in Late Summer and Early Fall

Mexican Free-Tailed Bats in Central Texas: Wildlife Allies and What They Actually Do for Your Yard

If Your Tomato Fruit Shows Sunken Black Patches on the Bottom in Late-Summer Heat, Blossom End Rot Is Usually Behind It

How To Support the California Lady Beetles That May Help Suppress Aphids on Your Roses

How To Support the California Snowy Egrets That Quietly Hunt the Slugs and Snails Out of Your Yard

How To Support the California Gopher Snakes That Quietly Clear the Rodents Out of Your Yard

Tiny Zucchini Rotting at the Tip? Here Is How to Tell What Is Really Going On

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native Tree That Feeds Wildlife All Season While Discouraging Ticks Near Your Yard

Why Star Jasmine Along Your Central Texas Fence Blooms Fragrant Through the Summer Heat

If Your Tomato Leaves Roll Up Tight and Leathery in Late-Summer Heat, Physiological Leaf Roll Is Usually Behind It

If Your Tomato Plants Grow Tall and Leafy but Set No Fruit in Late-Summer Heat, Excess Nitrogen May Be Contributing – But Heat Is Often the Bigger Problem

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native Shrub That Feeds Wildlife And Has An Interesting Connection To Tick Repellency Research

How To Support the California Towhees That Quietly Scratch the Weed Seeds and Insects Out of Your Yard

What Research Actually Says About Fragrant Plants and Scorpions in Texas Yards

If Your Bell Peppers Turn Soft with Sunken Tan Patches in Late-Summer Heat, Sunscald Is Usually Behind It

The Garden Almanac

Field Notes

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

Why Passionflower Vine Along Your Central Texas Fence Feeds Gulf Fritillary Butterflies All Summer

If Your Potted Pepper Plants Stay Small and Weak in Late-Summer Heat, One Container Feeding Mistake Is Usually Behind It

If Your Cucumber Fruit Grows Fat at One End and Pinches at the Other in Late-Summer Heat, Uneven Pollination Is Usually Behind It

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

Simple Habits That Bring Painted Buntings Back To Your Central Texas Yard Every Summer