San Angelo Garden Club

06/24/2026

Happy Birthday Janie Houck our club co-president

06/14/2026

June doesn’t have to mean planting season is over ☀️ A few things I like adding this time of year:

🫘 Beans are great for filling empty spots because they grow quickly in warm soil.
🌿 Basil usually does better once the weather is consistently warm.
🌼 Zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, and sunflowers are easy ways to bring in color and pollinators.
🌶️ Peppers can still do well if your season is warm enough.
🍠 Sweet potatoes and squash are good options when there’s enough growing time left.

My biggest June tip: I water new plantings deeply and mulch around them because summer soil dries out fast 🌿

06/14/2026

I love a good lavender border as much as anyone, but buying enough plants to fill a garden will quickly empty your wallet. Years ago, I stopped buying them entirely. Instead, I use a ridiculously simple method to turn one single plant into dozens. It takes about five minutes, doesn't require any expensive heated propagators, and mostly involves getting out of the plant's way. But you do have to know exactly which part of the stem to snip—if you're taking your cuttings from the old woody bits, you're making it much harder than it needs to be. There’s also a clever little trick using nothing but a sandwich bag and a few kitchen skewers that guarantees the cuttings take root almost every time. Once you see how easy it is to multiply them, you'll start eyeing up every lavender bush you pass. I put together a quick step-by-step guide showing exactly how to do it. Have a look in the comments.

06/14/2026

Companion planting sounds like garden folklore. Old
wives' tales. Your grandmother's superstition.

Except science keeps proving her right.

Basil near tomatoes: basil produces volatile compounds
that repel aphids and tomato hornworm moths. Studies
confirm reduced pest pressure on tomatoes planted
with basil. As a bonus, they taste great together on
the plate too.

Marigolds: French marigold roots produce alpha-
terthienyl, a compound that kills root-knot nematodes
in the soil. This is so well-documented that marigolds
are used as a cover crop in commercial agriculture.
Plant them around your vegetable beds — they're
working underground.

Three Sisters (corn + beans + squash): corn provides
a trellis for beans to climb. Beans fix nitrogen in
the soil that feeds the corn. Squash leaves shade the
ground, suppress weeds, and retain moisture. This
system fed Native American civilizations for 5,000+
years.

Nasturtiums: trap crop for aphids. Aphids prefer
nasturtiums over your vegetables. They congregate on
the nasturtiums and leave your crops alone. Sacrifice
the nasturtium to save the garden.

Dill and parsley: attract parasitic wasps that kill
caterpillar pests. The tiny adult wasps feed on dill
and parsley flowers.

Radishes among cucumbers: radishes repel cucumber
beetles. Plant a row of radishes between cucumber rows.

What DOESN'T work:
Tomatoes near walnut trees (juglone kills them).
Fennel near almost everything (inhibits most plants).
Dill near carrots (cross-pollinates, stunts growth).

Your grandmother didn't have a lab. She had 50 years
of observation. The lab caught up.

Plant friends together. Keep enemies apart.

06/14/2026

Button Flower Garden 🌸
See how to make this here: https://mideas.co/ybIqU

06/14/2026

Reuse an old wooden ladder as a vintage garden shelf for flowers and cozy decor. 🌿🪴✨

06/14/2026

06/14/2026

Deadheading makes a bigger difference than I expected ✂️ A few things I usually do:
🌸 Snip faded flowers before they start putting energy into seeds.
🌼 Zinnias, marigolds, cosmos, petunias, and dahlias usually respond really well.
🌿 Use clean scissors or pruners instead of pulling if the stems are tough.
💧 I like deadheading after watering or in the cooler part of the day.
🐝 I don’t remove every single bloom because pollinators still need flowers too.
It’s a small garden chore, but it can keep flower beds looking fresh for so much longer.