Texas Gardening

Silvery leaves that glow in a baking Texas yard are hard to miss, and one native shrub is…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 19

Pomegranates seem tough, so it is easy to grab the loppers when a bush gets unruly. But a…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 19

You flip on the porch light after dark and spot a small frog stuck to the window glass,…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 19

A small tree with orchid-like flowers sounds like a great fit for a sunny Texas yard. Desert willow…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 18

Fall is the secret planting season in Texas, when cooler air and warm soil help new shrubs grow…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 18

You flip on the porch light after dark and spot a handful of small geckos clinging near the…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 18

Brown patches in a Texas lawn or pasture can make anyone nervous, especially with news about a new…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 18

A fast-growing shade tree sounds like the answer to a hot Texas yard, but the label fits more…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 18

Few things wake you up faster than a scorpion sitting at the bottom of the bathtub. Many Central…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 18

You step onto the grass after a good rain and it still crackles like breakfast cereal. That sound…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 17

You step outside as the light fades, and there is a rabbit nibbling near your lettuce bed. It…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 17

A soft trill or a shadow on a fence post can make you wonder why an owl keeps…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 17

Something very small and very busy may be hopping through the shrubs outside your window this season. The…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 17

Painted buntings are some of the most colorful birds in Texas, with blue heads, red bellies, and green…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 17

Your roses worked hard all through that long Texas summer, pushing out blooms in heat that would wilt…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 17

When the Texas heat finally breaks in fall, most of us want to rush outside and fix the…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 16

You step outside on a bright fall morning and spot a lizard stretched out on a warm fence…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 16

Pale, yellowing patches in a Texas lawn can send any homeowner hunting for a culprit. One tiny insect,…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 16

Blue flowers are hard to keep looking good through a Texas summer. When an agapanthus sulks, many gardeners…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 16

Some trees look tough enough to handle a Texas summer and a wildfire season, and Mohr oak gets…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 16

You pull back the covers or slip on a shoe, and something small with a curled tail is…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 16

Right when many Texas beds start to look tired, one purple-flowered perennial is just getting going. Fall aster…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 15

Maybe you spotted a scorpion near the baseboard last week, and now you are wondering if your neighbors…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 15

Fall in Texas finally brings cooler mornings, and that is when most of us haul out the rakes,…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 15

Seeing a group of quail scurry across your Texas yard in fall can feel like a surprise visit…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 15

Winter in Texas is quiet in the garden, but it is busy at the swap table. All over…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 15

Texas 1015Y onions have a loyal following because of their mild flavor and big-bulb reputation. The catch is…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 15

You pull a grassy-looking weed out of your lawn, and a few weeks later it is back like…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 14

Picture a shrub covered in white golf-ball-sized flowers that look like tiny pincushions stuck full of pins. That…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 14

Your crape myrtles worked hard all summer, blooming through triple-digit Texas heat while other plants gave up. Now…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 14

Tall, feathery grass along a fence line can make a yard look soft and full of motion. Pampas…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 14

Fig trees are tough enough to handle a Central Texas summer, but fall is when a lot of…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 14

You glance out the window and there it is again, a rough-scaled lizard stretched out on the fence…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 14

Many Texas homeowners notice one day that the roadrunner that used to dash across the lawn hasn’t shown…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 13

Picking a tree for the spot beside your driveway can feel like a gamble. Roots, shade, and slab…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 13

October is the secret season for planting trees in Texas. The soil is still warm, the brutal heat…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 13

A good privacy screen can make a Texas backyard feel like a calmer place to sit. Yaupon holly…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 13

A big, cone-nosed insect crawling near your porch light can make anyone stop in their tracks. In Central…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 13

Winter is planting season in Central Texas, even if the calendar says otherwise. Roots grow strong in cool…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 13

Texas sage is a silvery, heat-loving shrub that looks great beside a front walk. Some people say it…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 12

A noisy blue jay lands on your lawn, grabs an acorn, and flies off again. Minutes later it…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 12

A praying mantis waiting beside a hummingbird feeder sounds like something out of a nature thriller. Mantises can…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 12

Fig trees look tough, and in much of Texas they are. Still, a few choices made between October…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 12

Fall in Texas is when many gardeners grab the pruners and start tidying up tired beds. Some perennials…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 12

You flip on the porch light after dark and there it is again, a small gecko clinging to…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 12

Late in the season, a front yard can go quiet fast. One Texas shrub keeps pushing out bright…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 11

You reach under a flat rock to pull a weed, and something sharp stings your finger. Scorpions live…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 11

Bare foundation lines look rough, and nobody wants rats moving in next to the house. It is tempting…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 11

A porch pot can look tired by the time fall settles in, but pansies can give it a…

By Ella Brown T · Oct 11