Why a Potted Tomato Stalls in the Garage: Darkness, Cold, or Both?
A potted tomato parked in the garage can sit there for weeks without adding a single new leaf. Many gardeners blame the cold, but a…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 1, 2026
In the Garden
Wild Coffee for Florida Shade: A Native Shrub Whose Red Fruit May Attract Birds
Aria Moore F · Nov 1
What To Do When Your Potted California Avocado Droops Every Afternoon Even After Watering
John Miller CA · Nov 1
Your fig cuttings taken after the leaves drop root all winter in a bucket of damp sand
Ethan Brooks · Nov 1
From the Garden
Drain your garden hose and sprinkler before freezing temperatures reach your yard
A forgotten hose can hold a surprising amount of water, and that water can turn to ice when the temperature drops. Ice takes up more…
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 1
Hardy Cyclamen for North Carolina Shade: Fall Flowers and Winter Leaves Under the Trees
By Jasmine Hughes · Nov 1
How to Tell When Your California Oranges and Mandarins Are Ready to Pick
By John Miller CA · Nov 1
Sweet Autumn Clematis: The Fragrant Fall Vine Texas Gardeners Can Try on a Fence or Pergola
By Ella Brown T · Nov 1
Moving your potted fig into the garage too early wakes it up, and the new growth freezes later
By Ethan Brooks · Nov 1
In Bloom
What's thriving right now.
Why Compost May Not Fix Soggy Clay in Some North Carolina Yards, and How to Assess the Site
Where Central Texas Gardeners Load Up on Free Mulch Before the First Freeze Hits
By Ella Brown T
Hard frost turns your fall spinach to mush overnight unless you throw a sheet over the bed before dark
By Ethan Brooks
How to Turn a Snake Plant Offset Into a New Plant
By Ethan Brooks
Plant of the Week
One Soaking Fall Rain May Not Fully Relieve Drought Stress for North Carolina Trees and Shrubs
The sky finally opens up, the gutters overflow, and the yard looks soaked. It feels like the dry spell is over. But a wet surface...
By Jasmine Hughes · Nov 1, 2026
Read MoreThe Potting Shed
Field Notes
Cenizo Texas Sage: A Silvery Native Shrub That May Bring Purple Blooms This Fall
Picture a silvery shrub that stays leafy all year and sometimes covers itself in purple flowers. That plant is cenizo,...
By Ella Brown T on Oct 31
Your fall pepper plants are loaded with green fruit, and a cold night turns them soft unless you pick now
Those peppers hanging heavy on your plants took months to grow, so a chilly forecast can make your stomach drop....
By Ethan Brooks on Oct 31
Water your Christmas cactus by the mix in November to help protect the buds it already has
Many gardeners hear that November watering decides whether a Christmas cactus will be loaded with blooms by the holidays. The...
By Ethan Brooks on Oct 31
Rosemary for a California Patio: What It Can and Can’t Do About Pests
Rosemary smells great, looks tidy in a pot, and ends up in a lot of California dinners. Many people also...
By John Miller CA on Oct 31
Harvesting Green Tomatoes Before Frost Gives Mature Fruit a Chance to Ripen Indoors
A cold night can end your tomato season in a hurry, and plenty of green fruit may still be hanging...
By Ethan Brooks on Oct 31
Fall-planted spinach and lettuce seedlings vanish overnight when slugs move in after cool rains, so set these traps now
You plant a neat row of spinach and lettuce, a cool rain rolls through, and the next morning half the...
By Ethan Brooks on Oct 31