Texas Gardening

A single vine can turn a plain fence into a butterfly nursery, and in Central Texas, one native…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 17

Plenty of gardening tips promise that one plant will solve your pest problems, but the real story is…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 17

Cardinals have a way of stopping you mid-step, especially when you suddenly notice three or four of them…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 17

Every spring, Central Texas homeowners yank out a slender, purple-flowered plant without a second thought, assuming it is…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 17

Walk outside on a Central Texas evening and you might catch the quick, zigzagging silhouette of a bat…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 17

Barn Swallows are among the most recognizable summer birds in Central Texas, swooping low over lawns and nesting…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 16

Rosemary is one of those plants that earns its spot on a Texas porch without much fuss. It…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 16

Every spring, Central Texas lawns light up with clusters of tiny purple flowers, and most homeowners reach for…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 16

A Texas-native passionflower vine climbing a backyard fence is a genuinely beautiful thing, and the idea that it…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 16

Spot a flash of bright green darting across a wooden fence in the Texas Hill Country, and you…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 16

Greater Roadrunners are one of Texas’s most recognizable birds, and yes, they do eat scorpions. But the idea…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 16

Fireflies flickering across a warm Texas evening feel like something out of a childhood memory, and many Central…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 15

Few backyard sightings stop a Texan in their tracks quite like a Greater Roadrunner trotting across the yard,…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 15

Plenty of Texas gardeners have heard that certain plants can help keep pests from sneaking inside, and spearmint…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 15

A headline claiming that a Texas native vine sends ticks packing sounds like exactly the backyard solution every…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 15

Somewhere in a Texas yard, a Greater Roadrunner is jogging across open ground, head low, eyes sharp, looking…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 15

A fragrant native shrub called Texas kidneywood grows wild across parts of South, Central, and West Texas, and…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 15

Texas homeowners sometimes spot a Greater Roadrunner sprinting across the yard and wonder what it would take to…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 14

Step onto a Texas porch on a warm summer night and you might catch a small gecko frozen…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 14

Planting a patch of native Texas wildflowers will not make mosquitoes pack up and leave your yard, but…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 14

A plant called catnip has been making the rounds online as a natural roach deterrent, and the science…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 14

Yaupon holly is a tough, native evergreen shrub that grows across Texas and Florida, and it can do…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 14

American beautyberry has been getting a lot of attention lately as a possible natural defense against ticks in…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 14

Spotting a small lizard clinging to your porch wall on a warm Texas evening is one of those…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 13

Spotting a Greater Roadrunner darting across a Central Texas yard is one of those moments that makes you…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 13

A native Texas vine called coral honeysuckle has been making the rounds online with some bold claims about…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 13

Scorpions near the front door are a real concern for Texas homeowners, and the idea of a fragrant…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 13

Central Texas summers are long, hot, and full of mosquitoes, and plenty of homeowners have heard that putting…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 13

Every summer evening in Central Texas, bats flicker across the darkening sky, snapping up insects on the wing.…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 13

A bare fence in a Central Texas backyard can feel like a missed opportunity, especially when neighbors are…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 12

Scorpions are a real concern for Texas homeowners, and the idea that a single native plant could make…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 12

A single vine climbing your backyard fence can quietly become one of the most useful wildlife plants in…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 12

Few birds stop a Texas gardener cold like a male Painted Bunting, with his electric blue head, red…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 12

Step onto a Central Texas porch after dark and you might spot a small, wide-eyed lizard frozen near…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 12

Scorpions rank near the top of the list of things Texas homeowners dread finding inside their homes, and…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 12

Every spring, Central Texas yards fill up with small purple-flowered plants that most homeowners yank out without a…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 11

Watching bats streak across a warm Texas evening sky is one of summer’s small pleasures, and plenty of…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 11

Coral honeysuckle is a Texas native vine that produces clusters of red-orange tubular flowers from spring into summer,…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 11

Fireflies blinking along a summer fence line feel like something out of a childhood memory, and plenty of…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 11

Spotted a bright green spider with long spiny legs lurking in your tomato plants or perched on a…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 11

Summer evenings on a Central Texas patio can turn miserable fast once the mosquitoes show up. Bats swooping…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 11

Spotting a gecko on your porch at night feels like a small victory for the backyard ecosystem, and…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 10

Scorpions showing up around the house is one of those Texas realities that nobody enjoys, and plenty of…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 10

Fireflies flickering along a summer fence line are one of those yard moments that make Central Texas evenings…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 10

Every spring, Central Texas lawns fill up with small purple flowers, and the knee-jerk reaction is to yank…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 10

Scorpions and Texas summers go together whether homeowners like it or not, and finding one near the front…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 10

Watching bats swoop across a summer evening sky is one of the quieter pleasures of a Central Texas…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 10

Spot a bright-green spider perched on your porch shrubs on a warm Central Texas evening and you might…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 9

Summer evenings in Central Texas used to mean watching fireflies blink across the backyard, but many neighborhoods have…

By Ella Brown T · Aug 9