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Plant of the Week

Your Lawn Breaks Out in Brown Patches Mid-Summer – Here’s the Real Cause When It Isn’t the Heat

Spotting brown patches spreading across your St. Augustinegrass in July or August is enough to make any homeowner panic. The easy assumption is that the...

By Ethan Brooks · Sep 2, 2026

Field Notes

7 Florida Yard Signs That a Garter Snake Has Moved In – and Why That’s Good News for Your Beds

Your Christmas Cactus Looks Tired and Wrinkled Heading Into Fall – Here’s the One Change It’s Asking For

7 Florida Yard Features That Are Drawing More Snakes Into Your Beds This September

How California Gardeners Grow Dragon Fruit in a Tiny Backyard With One Space-Saving Trick

From the Garden

7 Florida Native Trees That Are Replacing Crape Myrtles Along Driveways and Bloom Just as Long

These California Plants Quietly Thrive in the Dry Shade Under Fences and Walls Where Everything Else Gives Up

What Your Florida St. Augustine Lawn Needs This September to Bounce Back From a Brutal Summer

What California Lavender Actually Needs After It Flowers, and a Step Some Gardeners Overlook

Your Snakes Keep Showing Up in the Yard — Here Are the Everyday Spots Quietly Drawing Them In

In Bloom

Why Sweet Potatoes Practically Grow Themselves in North Carolina’s Sandy Soil and Long Warm Season

The Fragrant Texas Herb Homeowners Are Planting Along the Foundation Instead of Mulch

Something Keeps Grazing Your Beds Overnight — Here Are the Scents That Send Deer Packing and the Ones That Draw Them In

Gardener's Selection

Your Lawn Goes Brown in the Late-Summer Heat but It Isn’t Always the Heat – Here’s the Real Cause

Skip Lamb’s Ear In Your North Carolina Borders and Plant This Silver Native That Never Rots Out by August

The Best Bay Area Native Plant Nurseries California Gardeners Quietly Drive Across Town to Find

The Native Texas Shrub Worth Planting the Moment Fall Planting Season Opens This Month

Your Lawn Breaks Out in Brown Patches Mid-Summer – Here’s the Real Cause When It Isn’t the Heat

The Potting Shed

The One Mistake North Carolina Gardeners Keep Making With Tomatoes That Kills the Late-Summer Harvest

The Lower-Risk Fall Window To Prune Your Central Texas Oaks and Reduce Oak-Wilt Risk

Your Petunias Wilt Fast in the Heat but Barely Need You – Here Are the Low-Maintenance Bloomers That Thrive on Neglect

Your Christmas Cactus Sits Rootbound and Stops Blooming – Here’s How to Repot It So It Thrives Again

Skip Boxwood in Your North Carolina Front Yard and Plant These Native Shrubs That Look Sharper Year-Round

7 Florida-Friendly Front Yard Plants That Keep You Compliant as HOA Rules Tighten This Fall

The Fast-Growing Texas Shade Tree Homeowners Are Planting Now To Cool Their Yard Before Next Summer

Your Endless Summer Hydrangeas Bloom Once and Quit — Here’s the Care Timing That Gets a Second Round

Your Pepper Plants Grow Bushy and Green but Set Almost No Fruit – Here’s the One Hidden Mistake Behind It

Plant These California Flowering Shrubs Instead of Hydrangeas That Look Great in the Nursery but Fry by August

Your Hostas Grow Thin and Ragged by Late Summer – Here’s the One Care Habit That Fills Them Back Out

Why Your California Plumeria Leaves Turn Yellow as Nights Cool, and the Move That Saves Next Year’s Blooms

If You Want a Fall Vegetable Harvest, Right Now Is When These Crops Need to Go In the Ground

Some Backyard Crops Are Illegal to Grow — Here Are the Everyday Foods on the Restricted List

Your Perennials Look Plain the First Year – Here Are the Ones That Come Back Bigger and Bolder Every Season

The Garden Almanac

Field Notes

Your Perennials Fizzle Out After a Few Weeks – Here Are the Low-Maintenance Picks That Keep Blooming for Three Months Straight

Why Landscape Fabric Fails in North Carolina Beds and Cardboard Quietly Wins the Weed War

Black-Eyed Susan and the 17-Bee Number: What Texas Gardeners Should Actually Expect

Something Keeps Emptying Your Hummingbird Feeder Overnight – Here’s the Culprit and How to Stop It

The Native North Carolina Ground Covers That Blanket Bare Soil Under Big Trees and Choke Out Weeds Better Than Pine Straw

7 Florida Native Plants That Bring Roseate Spoonbills and Wading Birds to the Water’s Edge of Your Yard