Most of the time, when flowering bulbs are mentioned, tulips and daffodils are what first come to mind. But, these heralds of early spring are not the only bulbs that dazzle and beautify Texas landscapes. There’s another set of flowering plants that grow from bulbs, corms and rhizomes that bloom in the summertime. Crinums. Big and beautiful – that describes the summer blooming crinum lily. Large fountains of leaves erupt from the ground in early spring from large bulbs. After a summer rain, long stalks emerge, topped with… Read More →

  Insects rule! Or, so it seems. There are approximately 250,000 insect species in the U.S., with 30,000 of these living in Texas. That’s more insect species than all the kinds of birds, mammals, reptiles, fishes and plants combined. We are continually surrounded by insects, both in and around our homes. Insects have a bad rap since the most familiar ones are the ones that bug us. Some insects can do considerable damage to crops; others are vectors of serious diseases. But, did you know that only 3% of… Read More →

Wouldn’t be nice to step out of the kitchen into the backyard and harvest some fresh lettuce, tomatoes, blueberries, figs or peaches? If fresh blackberries for cobbler or red sweet, or hot, peppers for stuffing or salsa are on a future menu, stop dreaming and get to planting. Now is time to plant or at least make preparations for growing your own groceries. Let’s start with fruits. A basic need is a sunny location with enough room. Some fruiting plants don’t take up too much space, like blueberries… Read More →

The first hard freeze of the season finally arrived for most of the area, and put an end to our annual flowers, tomatoes, peppers, and other tender, tropical vegetation. Unless, of course, you took action to protect them. But, cold weather does not mark the end of the gardening season. This is an ideal time of year for some important gardening activities. One nice benefit is that we can work outside a lot longer without passing out from heat exhaustion. Another important fact is that almost all trees… Read More →

There’s a bug in our garden – quick, kill it!! Whoa, not so fast. Maybe it’s one of the thousands of good bugs helping our plants grow! Fall is coming – burn those leaves!! Wait! – There’s a better way to recycle leaves and not add to air pollution – composting! Besides, we are under a burn ban and cannot burn leaves anyways. Wish you had some more water for your plants? Save some rain for a drier day. So many of us have grown up in an… Read More →

Spring is on its way. You can smell it in the air and see it in the woods. Daffodils, flowering quince, forsythia, deciduous magnolias, pears and plums are blooming, indicating cold weather will soon be a thing of the past. BUT, we are not out of the woods yet as the weather could easily once again turn cold. The average last freeze for the Tyler area is mid-March, about the 15th. Note the word AVERAGE. On the one hand, we may have already seen the last freeze, yet… Read More →