Ella Brown T

Catching a pale, silent shape gliding low over your yard just after sunset is one of those moments…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 9

Eastern Screech-Owls are small, secretive birds that live in suburban Central Texas yards, often going unnoticed until you…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 9

If you have ever watched a tiny hummingbird streak across your backyard and slam into another one hovering…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 9

Texas mountain laurel looks like a friendly evergreen shrub, but its bright red seeds hide a poison strong…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 9

Summer afternoons in Texas can turn a west-facing wall into something that feels like a griddle, and that…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 9

Something catches your eye near the back fence, and before you can blink, a long-tailed bird sprints across…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 8

Chinese and Japanese wisteria can take over a yard in a few seasons, swallowing fences, climbing into tree…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 8

Every fall, Texas gardeners get a narrow window to put plants in the ground before summer heat returns,…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 8

Buffalo grass has been quietly drawing attention from Central Texas homeowners who want a yard that asks less…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 8

Black widows are a real part of Central Texas outdoor life, and most homeowners would rather not find…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 8

Red-tip photinia lines fences all over Texas, but it comes with a catch that trips up a lot…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 8

Mexican mint marigold, also sold as Texas tarragon, is one of the most talked-about aromatic plants for warm…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 7

Crape myrtles are one of the hardest-working flowering trees in Central Texas yards, and a lot of homeowners…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 7

A flat, fast-seeding weed called spotted spurge has been showing up in Texas lawns, garden beds, and sidewalk…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 7

Texas summers punish outdoor spaces with triple-digit heat, blinding sun, and months without meaningful rain, yet the right…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 7

Central Texas gardeners know Knock Out roses as the tough, reliable shrubs that keep flowering when almost everything…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 7

Some native shrubs just make sense for Texas yards, and yaupon holly is one of the strongest candidates…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 7

Finding a shrub that gives birds real shelter without eventually swallowing a fence corner is harder than it…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 6

September is a short but real window for Central Texas gardeners who want one more round of vegetables…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 6

Few wildflowers can match the bold, wheel-shaped blooms of Indian blanket, a heat-tough native that paints roadsides and…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 6

Plenty of Texas gardeners dream about walking into their own backyard and picking fruit from a tree they…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 6

Something small and fast has been showing up on your Central Texas porch every day this September, hovering…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 6

A bare fence can feel like a missed opportunity, especially during the long Texas warm season when everything…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 6

Cracked patios and lifted walkways are a common headache when the wrong tree goes in the wrong spot.…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 5

A Texas live oak planted at the right time of year has a better shot at surviving the…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 5

Growing figs in Texas sounds risky until you find a cultivar that actually suits the climate. Texas Everbearing,…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 5

Around early September in Central Texas, a lot of gardeners get the urge to grab their pruners and…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 5

A bare fence is an open invitation for neighbors, foot traffic, and general nosiness to look right into…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 5

Every fall, millions of monarch butterflies funnel through Texas on their way to wintering grounds in central Mexico,…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 5

Black widows are a real part of life for Central Texas gardeners, and finding one near the woodpile…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 4

Eastern Bluebirds are one of the most recognizable birds in Texas, and if your yard has the right…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 4

Blackfoot daisy is a compact Texas native that keeps producing cheerful white flowers through the kind of brutal…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 4

Most Texas beds start looking tired by late summer, but mealy blue sage has a trick left if…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 4

Every August and September, Texas yards seem to fill up with aggressive yellow-and-black wasps hovering around trash cans,…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 4

Gold Star esperanza is a shrub that packs brilliant yellow flowers into a long Texas summer, making it…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 4

That leggy, bare-stemmed plumbago in your yard is not a lost cause, but the fix requires a little…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 3

Every fall, monarch butterflies pass through Central Texas on their long journey to Mexico, and many homeowners want…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 3

Most Texas yards have at least one crape myrtle, and that tree works hard through summer. But if…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 3

Bradford pear trees became a fixture in Texas neighborhoods for good reasons, but a growing number of homeowners…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 3

Most Texas gardeners are used to watching their fruit trees struggle or shut down the moment summer temperatures…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 3

Most people think spring gardening starts in spring, but in Central Texas, the gardeners with the prettiest March…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 3

Bare mulch along a house foundation gets the job done, but it rarely turns heads or fills the…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 2

A silvery-leafed shrub native to parts of Texas can flush with lavender, pink, or purple blooms after rain…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 2

Oak wilt has killed millions of trees across Texas, and the way you time your pruning can make…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 2

Texas summers are brutal, and if you have ever pressed your hand against a sun-baked patio or watched…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 2

Black-eyed Susan is one of those wildflowers that looks like it belongs in a Texas summer, bright yellow…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 2

Rocky caliche banks are some of the toughest spots in a Texas yard, where thin soil bakes in…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 2

Your fig tree may already have fruit on it right now, and August heat is working against every…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 1

Growing lavender in a Central Texas pot sounds simple until the plant starts wilting, browning, and fading despite…

By Ella Brown T · Sep 1