Complete Gardening

The Texas Native Milkweed Central Texas Gardeners Are Planting Now So Monarchs Return Every Fall

Every fall, millions of monarch butterflies funnel through Texas on their way to wintering grounds in Mexico, and Central Texas...

By Ella Brown T on Sep 20

Gardening Tips

The Native North Carolina Perennial Combo That Makes Your Mailbox the Best-Looking One on the Street

Mailbox beds are easy to overlook, but a well-chosen planting can turn that strip of roadside dirt into something genuinely...

By Jasmine Hughes on Sep 20

Plant Care

What Your California Lavender Really Needs Now to Keep From Turning Woody and Sparse by Next Summer

Lavender is one of those plants that looks effortless in photos but can quietly turn into a tangle of bare...

By John Miller CA on Sep 20

Texas Gardening

The Native Texas Groundcover Homeowners Are Planting Where Heat-Radiating Gravel Used to Bake Their Beds

Rock and gravel can look tidy in a planting bed, but exposed stone in a sunny Texas yard does more...

By Ella Brown T on Sep 20

Florida Gardening

Florida Homeowners Are Swapping Failing Vinyl Fences for This Native Hedge That Improves Every Year

Vinyl fencing promises low maintenance, but Florida’s intense sun, hurricane-force winds, and salt air can put that promise to the...

By Aria Moore F on Sep 20

Plant Care

What Your California Hydrangeas Are Really Telling You When They Wilt in a Heat Spike, and the Two Fixes That Aren’t the Same

Drooping hydrangeas during a California heat spike can send even experienced gardeners straight for the hose, but that reflex can...

By John Miller CA on Sep 20

7 Florida Yard Habits That Bring Firefly Swarms Back to Your Backyard Every Summer

California Praying Mantises Are Generalist Predators, and Pruning or Scraping Ootheca-Bearing Stems This Fall Can Wipe Out a Potential Spring Hatch

Cottonmouths Get All the Fear, but These 7 Florida Yard Shrubs Hurt You Just as Fast

When North Carolina Gardeners Prune Their Fig Trees So the Next Crop Comes in Bigger, Not Just Bushier

From the Garden

7 Florida Fall Cleanup Habits That Strip the Seeds and Berries Cardinals Are Counting On

Live Oak: The Popular Central Texas Shade Tree Worth Shopping for Early This Planting Season

7 Florida Plants You Should Feed in September – and 5 You’ll Hurt If You Do

California Dark-Eyed Juncos Comb Your Beds for the Weed Seeds and Aphids That Take Over in Winter

Why Your California Lavender Goes Woody and Quits Blooming, and the Cutback That Actually Brings It Back

In Bloom

How To Tell When Your California Jujubes Are Ripe Enough to Pick, and the One Sign They’re Just About There

Skip the Bradford Pear in Your North Carolina Yard and Plant This Native That Blooms Just as Bright

7 Florida Ground Cover Plants That Quietly Draw Snakes to Your Yard – and What to Plant Instead

Gardener's Selection

The California Mulch You’re Spreading Right Now That Quietly Invites Rats and Ticks Straight to Your Yard

Your Central Texas Amaryllis Bulbs Refuse to Bloom Indoors Because You Skipped Their Fall Chill

The Most Underrated North Carolina Native That Edges a Bed Through Clay, Humidity, and Summer Storms Without Flopping

California Kestrels Snatch More Gophers and Voles From Your Yard Than Any Trap, but One Tree Habit Drives Them Off

The Meaning Behind a Great Horned Owl Landing in Your Central Texas Yard at Dusk

The Potting Shed

What North Carolina Gardeners Do to Pair Vegetables Together So Pests Stay Away and Harvests Get Bigger

Fall Is a Good Time to Inspect Central Texas Oaks for Stress, Wounds, and Secondary Borers – Not an Invasive Beetle Outbreak

The One Thing North Carolina Tomatoes Need in Early Fall or the Late Fruit Never Ripens Before Frost

Prepare Purple Martin Housing This Fall for a Better Shot at Spring Visitors

What North Carolina Gardeners Do to Keep Container Gardens Thriving Through Dry Fall Stretches Without Touching the Hose

This Fast-Spreading Invasive Tree Is Choking Out More Central Texas Creek Land Than Fire Ants

The One Step That Stops Florida Desert Rose Cuttings From Rotting Before They Root

7 Florida Native Plants That Bring Ladybugs In to Wipe Out the Chinch Bugs Chewing Up Your Lawn

7 Florida Native Hedges That Give You Real Privacy Where a Fence Just Cracks and Fades

9 Florida Native Shrubs That Keep Blooming in Full Sun Right Into October

8 Central Florida Native Nurseries Worth Clearing a Whole Saturday to Visit This Fall

California Bewick’s Wrens May Forage Among Roses and Eat Some Insects, but They Are Not a Proven Control for Scale or Spider Mites – and Pruning Around an Active Nest Can Disturb the Birds and Remove Their Cover

Why Your California Fig Tree Grows Nothing but Leaves, and the Care Change That Finally Sets Fruit

The Most Underrated Herb North Carolina Gardeners Should Plant This September for a Harvest Before First Frost

California Gophers Tunnel Straight to Your Roots, but No Native Plant Has Been Shown to Stop Them

The Garden Almanac

Field Notes