In the Garden

Those Christmas Cactus Pieces That Snap Off Are a Free New Plant for Your North Carolina Windowsill

Those Christmas Cactus Pieces That Snap Off Are a Free New Plant for Your North Carolina Windowsill

A holiday cactus branch snaps off the plant, and most of us toss it in the trash. That broken piece may be a chance to…

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 31, 2026

Florida Gardening

Your Florida Tomatoes Go in the Ground Now, and These 7 Varieties Handle Fall Heat Best

Aria Moore F · Oct 31

Texas Gardening

Texas Bigtooth Maple: A Hill Country Fall Color Standout for Texas Yards

Ella Brown T · Oct 31

Florida Gardening

8 Florida Natives That Fill Bare Patches Under Your Oak Trees Where Grass Gave Up

Aria Moore F · Oct 31

From the Garden

Growing notes from every corner of the plot.

Winter injury can kill older fig wood and reduce brebas on cultivars that produce them

Winter injury can kill older fig wood and reduce brebas on cultivars that produce them

Picture a fig tree in January, bare and quiet, with next summer’s earliest fruit already tucked into its branches. A hard freeze can damage that…

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31

Hellebores Bring Winter Color to North Carolina Shade Gardens

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 31

How To Protect a Young California Avocado Tree and Reduce Cold Damage on Its First Frosty Nights

By John Miller CA · Oct 31

Texas Gardening

Cenizo Texas Sage: A Silvery Native Shrub That May Bring Purple Blooms This Fall

By Ella Brown T · Oct 31

Your fall pepper plants are loaded with green fruit, and a cold night turns them soft unless you pick now

By Ethan Brooks · Oct 31

In Bloom

What's thriving right now.

Water your Christmas cactus by the mix in November to help protect the buds it already has

Water your Christmas cactus by the mix in November to help protect the buds it already has

By Ethan Brooks

Rosemary for a California Patio: What It Can and Can’t Do About Pests

Rosemary for a California Patio: What It Can and Can’t Do About Pests

By John Miller CA

Harvesting Green Tomatoes Before Frost Gives Mature Fruit a Chance to Ripen Indoors

Harvesting Green Tomatoes Before Frost Gives Mature Fruit a Chance to Ripen Indoors

By Ethan Brooks

Gardener's Selection

The guides worth your time — handpicked by our gardeners.

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Fall-planted spinach and lettuce seedlings vanish overnight when slugs move in after cool rains, so set these traps now

Fall-planted spinach and lettuce seedlings vanish overnight when slugs move in after cool rains, so set these traps now

By Ethan Brooks

Starting Suitable North Carolina Shrubs From Dormant Hardwood Cuttings

Starting Suitable North Carolina Shrubs From Dormant Hardwood Cuttings

By Jasmine Hughes

What Feral Hogs Tearing Up Your Central Texas Yard Overnight Are Really Hunting For

Texas Gardening

What Feral Hogs Tearing Up Your Central Texas Yard Overnight Are Really Hunting For

By Ella Brown T

If your beets have leafy tops and tiny roots this fall, late thinning may help if they’re crowded

If your beets have leafy tops and tiny roots this fall, late thinning may help if they’re crowded

By Ethan Brooks

Trying the Mason Jar Method to Root Fall Rose Cuttings in North Carolina

Plant of the Week

Trying the Mason Jar Method to Root Fall Rose Cuttings in North Carolina

A snipped rose stem, a small pot, and a clear mason jar can make a cheap experiment for a North Carolina yard. The jar works...

By Jasmine Hughes · Oct 31, 2026

The Potting Shed

Tired of Mowing St. Augustine All Winter? These 7 Florida Natives Stay Green Without It

Florida Gardening

Tired of Mowing St. Augustine All Winter? These 7 Florida Natives Stay Green Without It

Texas Gardening

The Winter Bird That Shows Up in the Texas Panhandle and Almost Nowhere Else in the State

A coyote in your backyard this fall means doing these 9 things before you ever turn and run

If your fig tree still has hard green fruit on it now, pinch the tips and next year’s crop comes in earlier

If your fig tree still has hard green fruit on it now, pinch the tips and next year’s crop comes in earlier

Lavender Is Gorgeous and Fragrant, but Is It Really a Rat Deterrent for Your Yard?

Why your fall-planted onion sets bolt and send up flower stalks before they ever bulb

Rake Smart Under Your California Oaks: Some Bumblebee Queens Overwinter in Leaf Litter

Rake Smart Under Your California Oaks: Some Bumblebee Queens Overwinter in Leaf Litter

Your potted aloe turns mushy and brown at the base indoors this winter because the pot never drains

Fall peas flowering without pods? Check for frost, heat, water stress, and a row cover

Is your potted lavender sitting in soggy mix this winter? Check the pot’s drainage first

Is your potted lavender sitting in soggy mix this winter? Check the pot’s drainage first

These 12 Common Houseplants Hide Toxic Sap That Sickens Curious Cats, Dogs and Toddlers

How North Carolina Mums Get a Better Chance of Returning Next Fall

Turk’s Cap Can Give Passing Hummingbirds Another Place to Feed in Central Texas

Texas Gardening

Turk’s Cap Can Give Passing Hummingbirds Another Place to Feed in Central Texas

Potted peppers you bring indoors before frost may survive winter, and some might even fruit

When to Leave a Box Turtle in Your North Carolina Garden and When a Short Move Is Okay

Field Notes

Missed the Big Fall Native Plant Sale? Here’s Where Florida Gardeners Still Shop

Florida Gardening

Missed the Big Fall Native Plant Sale? Here’s Where Florida Gardeners Still Shop

That big fall plant sale came and went, but your garden plans do not have to wait another year. Florida...

By Aria Moore F on Oct 31

What Catnip Can and Can’t Do Against Texas Rats and Roaches This Winter

Texas Gardening

What Catnip Can and Can’t Do Against Texas Rats and Roaches This Winter

Cold snaps have Texas homeowners wondering what they can put by the front door to keep rats and roaches out....

By Ella Brown T on Oct 31

Plant These 7 Florida Natives Now and Your Yard Feeds Robins and Warblers All Winter

Florida Gardening

Plant These 7 Florida Natives Now and Your Yard Feeds Robins and Warblers All Winter

A winter yard can look green and still leave birds with little to eat. Florida native plants offer fruit, insects,...

By Aria Moore F on Oct 30

Why Orchid Buds Drop Before Opening: Is Watering to Blame?

Why Orchid Buds Drop Before Opening: Is Watering to Blame?

You wait weeks for those little buds to swell, and then they shrivel and fall off before a single flower...

By Ethan Brooks on Oct 30

8 Florida Natives That Replace Your Boxwood Edging and Never Brown Out After a Cold Snap

Florida Gardening

8 Florida Natives That Replace Your Boxwood Edging and Never Brown Out After a Cold Snap

A neat green border can lose its good looks fast when winter brings a surprise freeze. Florida natives offer useful...

By Aria Moore F on Oct 30

Why Your California Lime Tree Keeps Giving You a Handful of Fruit, and the One Change That Fixes It

Why Your California Lime Tree Keeps Giving You a Handful of Fruit, and the One Change That Fixes It

A lime tree covered in blossoms but holding only a few fruits can leave any gardener scratching their head. In...

By John Miller CA on Oct 30