What Texas Gardenias Need Right Now to Stay Lush Through the Worst of the Summer Heat
Gardenias are not easy plants to begin with, and a Texas July can push even a healthy one to its limit. Bud drop, scorched leaves,…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 26, 2026
Written by
Ella Brown T
1,091 Articles
Texas Gardening
This Texas Caterpillar Draws Less Notice Than a Scorpion but Its Sting Is Every Bit as Brutal
A small, furry caterpillar found in Texas yards and gardens can cause a burst of pain that stops…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 26
Texas Gardening
The New 2026 Garden Shrubs That Shrug Off Texas Heat Without the Endless Watering
If you have ever watched a shrub wilt into a sad brown pile by the middle of July,…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 25
Texas Gardening
More Purple Martins Nesting Over Your Texas Yard Means Fewer Mosquitoes All Summer – Here’s What Draws Them In
Purple Martins are one of the most celebrated summer birds in Texas, swooping and chattering over neighborhoods from…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 25
Texas Gardening
More Barn Owls Around Your Texas Yard Means Fewer Rats – Here’s Exactly What Brings Them In
Barn owls are one of nature’s most efficient nighttime hunters, and plenty of Texas homeowners wonder whether attracting…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 25
Texas Gardening
How to Help the Backyard Birds Counting on Your Texas Yard Survive a Triple-Digit Heat Wave
When temperatures push past 100 degrees in Texas, the birds visiting your yard face real challenges finding water…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 25
Texas Gardening
Why Texas Homeowners Are Seeing More Scorpions in 2026 Than They Have in Years
Scorpions have a way of showing up exactly where you don’t want them: on the back porch at…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 25
Texas Gardening
This Native Texas Flowering Shrub Can Add Nectar Resources and May Attract Hummingbirds to Your Yard
If hummingbirds have been missing from your yard lately, the fix likely involves more than one plant, but…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 25
Texas Gardening
The One Late-Summer Move That Pushes Texas Lantana Into Non-Stop Blooms Again
Late summer in Texas can leave even tough lantana looking tired, with long leggy shoots and fewer fresh…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 24
Texas Gardening
The Overlooked Texas Porch Herb That Keeps Scorpions From Ever Slipping Into Your House
Scorpions are a real concern for Texas homeowners, especially in summer when the striped bark scorpion turns up…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 24
Texas Gardening
The Native Texas Plants That Take Over Your Hottest Fence Line With Almost No Help From You
Your hottest fence line is the toughest spot in the whole yard, baking in triple-digit Texas sun with…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 24
Texas Gardening
A Gray Fox at Dusk May Be Hunting Rodents in Your Texas Yard – Here Is What That Actually Means
Spotting a gray fox slipping through your Texas yard at dusk is one of those sightings that makes…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 24
Texas Gardening
What It Really Means When a Mockingbird Keeps Returning to Your Texas Yard All Summer
If a gray-and-white bird has been showing up in your yard every day, singing from the fence post,…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 24
Texas Gardening
The Texas Plants That Keep Blooming Right Through August When Everything Else Fades
By late August, most Texas gardens look tired. The grass has gone crispy, flowers have quit, and even…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 24
Texas Gardening
What Seeing More Fireflies Than Usual Is Really Telling You About Your Texas Garden
Stepping outside on a warm Texas evening and counting twice as many fireflies as last year feels like…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 23
Texas Gardening
The Backyard Habits That Turn Your Texas Garden Into a Painted Bunting’s Regular Summer Stop
Few sights in a Texas summer yard stop you cold like a male Painted Bunting, a bird that…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 23
Texas Gardening
What It Really Means When Blue Jays Keep Turning Up in Your Texas Yard All Summer
Something catches your eye on the back fence again, that flash of electric blue and bold black, and…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 23
Texas Gardening
Do This to Your Texas Esperanza in Late July and It May Help Keep Blooms Coming Into November
Every summer, Texas yards light up with the electric yellow flowers of Esperanza, and then, right around the…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 23
Texas Gardening
The Native Texas Plants That Shrug Off Our Weather Because They Already Know How Texas Behaves
Texas weather likes to test everyone, swinging from triple-digit August afternoons to surprise February freezes without much warning.…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 23
Texas Gardening
What a Yard Full of Green Anoles Is Really Telling You About Your Texas Garden This Summer
Spot a handful of small green or brown lizards darting across your fence or disappearing into the shrubs,…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 23
Texas Gardening
The Texas Plants That Keep Roaches From Ever Reaching Your House and Look Good Doing It
Roaches love a Texas summer just as much as we hate them, and once the heat climbs into…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 22
Texas Gardening
Why More Texans Are Planting Esperanza Right by the Front Door for Blooms Into October
Esperanza (Tecoma stans) turns heads every summer with clusters of bold yellow trumpet flowers that can keep going…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 22
Texas Gardening
These Texas Native Plant Nurseries Are Worth the Summer Drive With a Cooler in the Trunk
Texas summers can bake a yard until it looks more like a parking lot than a garden, but…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 22
Texas Gardening
The Texas Flowers That Bring Hummingbird Hawk-Moths Hovering Over Your Garden at Dusk
Right around sunset, when the Texas heat finally eases up, you might catch something zipping between your flowers…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 22
Texas Gardening
The Fire-Resistant Texas Groundcovers That Belong Against Your House Instead of Bark Mulch
If you live in Texas, you already know summer can turn your yard into a tinderbox. Bark mulch…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 22
Texas Gardening
What It Really Means When a Gray Fox Starts Crossing Your Texas Yard at Dusk
Spotting a gray fox trotting through your Texas yard at dusk once feels like a lucky surprise. Seeing…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 22
Texas Gardening
The Night-Blooming Texas Plants That Pull In Bats and Thin Out the Mosquito Swarms After Dark
When the Texas sun finally drops and the heat lets up, a whole night shift of pollinators clocks…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 21
Texas Gardening
Plant These Blue Perennials in Your Texas Garden Once and They Come Back Every Single Year
Texas gardens take a beating from triple-digit summers, stubborn clay soils, and water restrictions that show up every…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 21
Texas Gardening
The Things You Should Never Do to Texas Lantana No Matter What the Internet Tells You
Texas lantana is one of the toughest flowering shrubs you can put in a Texas yard, but it…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 21
Texas Gardening
The Fragrant Texas Plant That Shrugs Off Triple-Digit Heat and Perfumes Your Patio Till October
Most Texas patios in July feel more like a punishment than a retreat, but one native shrub quietly…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 21
Texas Gardening
What Your Texas Esperanza Needs Through the August Heat to Keep Blooming Into October
August in Texas is no joke for any plant, and your esperanza is no exception. The good news…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 21
Texas Gardening
The Shade-Loving Texas Flowers That Bloom Beautifully in the Dim Corners Everyone Ignores
Every Texas yard has that shady spot where the sun barely reaches, tucked behind a fence, under a…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 21
Texas Gardening
The Native Texas Plants That Should Replace Every Crape Myrtle Along Your Fence Line
Crape myrtles show up along fence lines all over Texas, but they came from Asia and do not…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 20
Texas Gardening
The Texas Flowering Plants Whose Nectar Adult Fireflies Actually Come Back to Feed On
Most people picture fireflies glowing over a Texas backyard on a warm June night, but few realize the…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 20
Texas Gardening
Heat-Loving Texas Vines That Blanket a Pergola Without Ever Arguing With the July Sun
A Texas pergola in July can feel like a griddle if nothing is growing overhead to soften the…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 20
Texas Gardening
How to Grow Plumeria in Pots in Texas for a Summer Full of Tropical Blooms
Plumeria brings the scent and color of the tropics right to a Texas patio, and a potted plant…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 20
Texas Gardening
The Texas Flowers That Keep Blooming Through a Heatwave Even When You Never Water Them
Texas summers can feel like an oven, with days of triple-digit heat and city water restrictions that make…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 20
Texas Gardening
7 Heat-Loving Fruits That Actually Taste Better Because of the Texas Summer
Most plants throw in the towel when the thermometer climbs past 100 degrees, but a handful of fruits…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 20
Texas Gardening
The One Native Texas Plant That Runs Your Whole Garden While You Barely Lift a Finger
Somewhere in Texas, a silvery shrub is blooming after a summer storm, and chances are good that your…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 19
Texas Gardening
What Texans Believe It Means to Spot a Painted Bunting in Your Garden for the First Time
Catching a flash of blue, green, and red in your Texas garden can stop you mid-step and make…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 19
Texas Gardening
Plant Star Jasmine Near Your Texas Front Entry for a Seasonal Fragrance Welcome
A single vine trained near your front walkway can turn an ordinary stroll to the door into something…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 19
Texas Gardening
The Texas Native Groundcovers That Blanket Bare Soil So Weeds Never Get a Foothold
Bare patches of soil in your yard are basically an open invitation for weeds to move in and…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 19
Texas Gardening
Texas Native Flowers That Fill In Beds on Their Own Without Ever Taking Over the Border
Every Texas gardener knows the frustration of planting something pretty only to watch it swallow the whole flower…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 19
Texas Gardening
The Signs a Greater Roadrunner Has Quietly Claimed Your Texas Yard as Its Own
Spotting a roadrunner dart across your Texas yard once is a thrill, but seeing it again and again…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 19
Texas Gardening
Texas Homeowners Are Quietly Ripping Out St. Augustine Grass for These Low-Water Plants
Water bills in Texas keep climbing, and summer restrictions make it harder every year to keep a thirsty…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 18
Texas Gardening
The Texas Vegetables You Need to Get in the Ground This August for a Full Fall Harvest
August in Texas feels like the sun is trying to win a fight with your garden, but this…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 18
Texas Gardening
The Texas Shrubs Gardeners Are Quietly Planting Along Their Foundations to Send Rats Packing
Rats love hiding along the base of a house, especially where warm foundations meet shady garden beds during…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 18
Texas Gardening
Texas Mountain Laurel’s Beautiful Red Seeds Can Poison People and Pets If Chewed
Across Central and South Texas, a native shrub called Texas mountain laurel grows in yards, along roadsides, and…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 18
Texas Gardening
The Texas Plants That Bring Barn Owls In Until the Rats Give Up on Your Yard
A single barn owl family can swallow up to a thousand rodents in one nesting season, which makes…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 18
Texas Gardening
This Invasive Texas Tree Gets Less Notice Than Fire Ants but Quietly Wipes Out Native Habitat
A pretty tree with white, popcorn-shaped seeds and brilliant red fall color sounds like something you’d plant on…
By Ella Brown T · Jul 18