In the Garden

These 7 Flowers Keep Blooming in North Carolina Backyards for 20 Years Without Replanting

These 7 Flowers Keep Blooming in North Carolina Backyards for 20 Years Without Replanting

Some flowers fade after a season or two, but a few tough plants come back every spring for decades. In North Carolina, from the mountains…

By Jasmine Hughes · Nov 1, 2026

Texas Gardening

The Smells Quietly Pulling Coyotes Into Your Central Texas Yard Once Fall Arrives

Ella Brown T · Nov 1

Cold Exposure Can Stress Poinsettias on the Ride Home, So Sleeve Yours Before You Leave the Store

Ethan Brooks · Nov 1

Why Compost May Not Fix Soggy Clay in Some North Carolina Yards, and How to Assess the Site

Jasmine Hughes · Nov 1

From the Garden

Growing notes from every corner of the plot.

Where Central Texas Gardeners Load Up on Free Mulch Before the First Freeze Hits

Texas Gardening

Where Central Texas Gardeners Load Up on Free Mulch Before the First Freeze Hits

When the first blue norther rolls across Central Texas, bare garden beds take the hit first. A thick layer of mulch can help keep roots…

By Ella Brown T · Nov 1

Hard frost turns your fall spinach to mush overnight unless you throw a sheet over the bed before dark

By Ethan Brooks · Nov 1

How to Turn a Snake Plant Offset Into a New Plant

By Ethan Brooks · Nov 1

One Soaking Fall Rain May Not Fully Relieve Drought Stress for North Carolina Trees and Shrubs

By Jasmine Hughes · Nov 1

Texas Gardening

The Rose Tasks Texas Gardeners Finish in November to Protect Next Spring’s Blooms

By Ella Brown T · Nov 1

In Bloom

What's thriving right now.

Never plant these 12 neighbors next to next year’s tomatoes, or your harvest comes up nearly empty

Never plant these 12 neighbors next to next year’s tomatoes, or your harvest comes up nearly empty

By Ethan Brooks

Hummingbirds Spend the Winter in Florida, and These 7 Native Plants Keep Them Feeding Until Spring

Florida Gardening

Hummingbirds Spend the Winter in Florida, and These 7 Native Plants Keep Them Feeding Until Spring

By Aria Moore F

Florida-Friendly Landscaping in an HOA: What the Law Protects and How to Ask

Florida Gardening

Florida-Friendly Landscaping in an HOA: What the Law Protects and How to Ask

By Aria Moore F

Gardener's Selection

The guides worth your time — handpicked by our gardeners.

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Can a banana peel really make potted peppers flower and fruit more?

Can a banana peel really make potted peppers flower and fruit more?

By Ethan Brooks

How Leaving Some Seed Heads Standing May Offer Lesser Goldfinches Winter Food in Your California Yard

How Leaving Some Seed Heads Standing May Offer Lesser Goldfinches Winter Food in Your California Yard

By John Miller CA

Why No-See-Ums Swarm Your Florida Patio While the Yard Next Door Stays Bite-Free

Florida Gardening

Why No-See-Ums Swarm Your Florida Patio While the Yard Next Door Stays Bite-Free

By Aria Moore F

Curled Citrus Leaves in a California Fall: Check the Soil and Weather Before You Water

Curled Citrus Leaves in a California Fall: Check the Soil and Weather Before You Water

By John Miller CA

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

Plant of the Week

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

The Potting Shed

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

Florida Gardening

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

Texas Gardening

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

Florida Gardening

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

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

Hellebores Bring Winter Color to North Carolina Shade Gardens

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

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

Texas Gardening

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

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

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

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

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

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

Starting Suitable North Carolina Shrubs From Dormant Hardwood Cuttings

Starting Suitable North Carolina Shrubs From Dormant Hardwood Cuttings

Texas Gardening

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

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

Field Notes

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

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...

By Jasmine Hughes on Oct 31

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

Your mower deserves a winter break, and parts of your Florida lawn might not need grass at all. Native groundcovers...

By Aria Moore F on Oct 31

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

Texas Gardening

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

Out across the flat fields of the Texas Panhandle, a hawk from the Arctic may be hunting this winter. The...

By Ella Brown T on Oct 31

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

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

You step outside with your morning coffee and spot a lean, gray-brown animal staring back at you from the edge...

By Ethan Brooks on Oct 31

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

Few things test a gardener’s patience like a fig tree loaded with hard green fruit while the season winds down....

By Ethan Brooks on Oct 31

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

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

A silvery, purple-flowered herb sounds like the perfect way to make a yard pretty and keep rats out at the...

By John Miller CA on Oct 31