Poinsettias are such a symbol of the Holidays, and can be kept fresh-looking longer with just a few easy care instructions. Locate your Poinsettia close to a bright window if possible. The bracts will continue to “color up” with sufficient light. If you are satisfied with the color, you may display the plant in a darker area, but be aware that the color might fade. Check the soil daily for water. When the surface of the soil is dry to the touch, or if the pot feels light, remove the [...]

Cyclamen come to us from the Mediterranean region and North Africa. They revel in cool, but not cold, temperatures, and provide us with flowers for several weeks each season. Florist Cyclamen come in shades of red, pink, white, purple and salmon. Some varieties are fragrant, some reach 7”-8” tall, and others may reach 12”-18” tall. They are grown from a corm, which is bulb-like structure, and can be kept over as a perennial as long as they are allowed to go dormant in the summer season. (Or not, as you [...]

Ornamental grasses are overlooked too often. A balanced landscape requires many elements, and ornamental grasses are a great choice to fill the need for a structural variation in foliage. While everyone loves the plants that give us color, we also need to “break up” the landscape to avoid monotony, and give texture to our plantings. We have a wonderful selection of native ornamental grasses available to us, and not only do they fill a design void, but they are often quite heat and drought tolerant as well. Even when dormant [...]

Central Texas has a lot going for it in the gardening realm, if you know how to play it. For one thing, we have fabulous fall weather, which our plants really love. As gardeners, we can prepare for that extra “push” the fall will give us. But, only if we prepare now, from mid to late August. Roses are looking stressed and tired from the long, hot summer. Pruning shrub roses back by 1/3 and fertilizing with an organic rose fertilizer such as Fox Farm Rose Food will bring on [...]

Summer is the perfect time to look around your neighborhood and see what is thriving in the oppressive Central Texas heat. If you have been thinking about planting in a new area, adding screening or simply rejuvenating an existing landscape, observing what does well at the hottest time of the year should give you some great ideas of what will thrive in years to come. Texas Sage, also known as Texas Ranger, Cenizo, or Barometer Bush is one of the most prolific bloomers in our hot summers. Abundant flowers appear [...]

Vines are used for many different purposes in the landscape. We might want to cover a fence to provide a screen, attract hummingbirds with a flowering vine, or just provide aesthetic appeal. Fortunately, we have a plethora of vines to choose from. Some things to consider before choosing a vine are its mature size, whether it requires sun or shade, if it is an annual or perennial, evergreen, deciduous, herbaceous, whether it climbs using tendrils, “holdfasts” by twining, and what attributes it can contribute to the landscape. CLICK HERE for [...]

How many plants do you know of that can take Central Texas heat, flower from spring to frost, be reliably DEER RESISTANT, and give fragrance in the evening? Welcome to Orange Zest Cestrum! This Zone 8 plant is a result of a cross between the greenish-white flowered Night-blooming Cestrum (Cestrum nocturnum) and the white flowered Day-blooming cestrum (Cestrum diurnum). Both are native to the Caribbean. AKA Orange Peel Cestrum, this plant can be evergreen in mild winters, deciduous in moderate winters, and a root-hardy perennial shrub in cold winters. Orange [...]