Texas Garden Alchemy

01/22/2026

Hey Garden lovers, it's going to be freezing for 36 hours or more this weekend starting Friday later in the day (the rain may start earlier) so if you've got new babies in your garden I would WATER THEM FIRST then cover them up with mulch, leaves or frost cloth, old blankets and sheets, a overturned plant bucket with a rock on it, an old box, get creative. Especially for new sedums which can melt away. and Sure, many established natives will be fine but if you want them to look their best or if their habitat is primarily a bit more southerly and you have the wherewithall, covering won't hurt! I may even wrap up my Texas Persimmon because she's fairly exposed and I love her so. It's been so mild hitherto she still has all her leaves. She lost a couple of little branches in a hard freeze her first winter---I think this will be her third on a birm I built in my front yard. I am also going to cover my blue agave. The green Giant is on her own...it always presents some fun problems covering up the thorny dudes. If I have enough time material I'm going to cover my Ceasalpinnia gillesii that was supposed to be a Ceasalpinnia pulcherimma but really has a nice form now...and some of my Salvia greggiis cause they're looking so good and I love to see them bloom early. I'll let you know what I actually get around to after covering more client's plants today.
At least the freeze may give me a chance to finally upload new Garden and Client landscape pictures from the last several years... stay warm!

08/25/2023

Hummers pollinated my ladyslipper Euphorbia lomelii (Pedilanthus macrocarpus) and I now have some cool fruits! I've had this plant quite a few years now and these are its first fruity balls! Really tough I love its big waxy stems, which is good cause that's mostly what it is!

08/25/2023

I've always thought Polistes Carolina (i think?) the red paper wasp was a pretty elegant wasp, sexy bu**er! Still in annoyed when they snack on my outdoor teak table right in front of me, the nerve! Go get those Hackberry cats! I love when they land on the freakin water though, how cool is that? Long water floaty legs...

08/23/2023

A bunch of these super cute black and white bees were going nuts on this Agastache. They're about 3/4" and moved very fast, difficult to photograph, seemed a little annoyed by the paparazzi.

08/03/2023

Hanging out, waiting for a snack. "There she weaves by night and day a magic web with colors gay" --Golden orb weaver sightings never get old.

04/26/2023

I was unpleasantly surprised to find out this overstepping law made for cattle in a pasture was applied to a suburban butterly garden, but hopefully these on-their-way-out laws will be gone soon. Milkweed is the ONLY thing baby Monarchs (caterpillars) can eat. It takes three generations of Monarchs to make the migration back to the forest in Mexico and the corridor through the plains is super important. Plant milkweed! Plant pollinator gardens!

Across the Midwest, some city codes threaten people with fines for having milkweed on their property. But experts say many places have dropped those rules to support monarchs with urban and suburban butterfly gardens.

04/02/2023

Spring is here, and while we know you're eager to start sprucing up your outdoor space, we politely and respectfully urge you to BUZZ OFF with your yard work. 🐝

70% of native bees nest underground in the colder months, while 30% lay eggs in natural, hollow stems...which means many important pollinators are still hibernating. Show them some love and respect by delaying your garden and yard work for a few more weeks.

Get a head start on helping pollinators with tips for building your own pollinator garden: https://www.fws.gov/story/how-build-pollinator-garden

Photo Credit: Green metallic sweat bee in a cavity, by Katja Schulz / CC BY 2.0 http://ow.ly/goo050Ik9Iz