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Nature’s Way Resources honors the contributions of our late owner, John Ferguson. “The Lazy Gardener” Brenda Beust Smith and Shelby Cassano welcome your feedback and remain grateful to the many horticulturists who share their expertise.
Published January 14, 2026
When searching for native (only!) milkweed for coming Monarch butterflies, use only your local independent nurseries or online trustworthy sites like this Native Plant Society of Texas site.
by Brenda Beust Smith | The Lazy Gardener
Latest news alerts are encouraging! More monarchs than in recent years are predicted to pass through Texas, probably around mid-March, on their annual spring migration to breeding grounds (northern U.S. & Canada), a journey of 3,000+ miles! (Want to track them?)
What should we do (and NOT do) to help them along? That’s easy. Plant TEXAS NATIVE milkweed — but the right ones only! I can’t say it any better than Molly Glentzer did in this Houston Chronicle article: “Native Texas milkweed could help save the monarchs. Here’s how to grow it.”
Read Molly’s article, then remove the “tropical red/yellow/orange milkweed” that I, and too many other gardeners, unknowingly have planted for decades. It has proven harmful (and worse) to monarchs. As a general rule, native milkweed species often feature pink or purple flowers, whereas non-native types can have orange or yellow blooms.
Where to learn exactly which milkweeds are best for monarchs? Start with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin. Click on wildflower.org/project/project-milkweed. On that page, you can click on and download: Texas Milkweed Identification Guide.
First, be sure to note exact areas where various types grow best. Varieties recommended for far-west or north Texas may or may not do well here! Try to stay as close to the Gulf Coast region as possible!
Isn’t it sad that it’s taken the recently publicized, potentially tragic, news about our monarchs to make many of us just now listen to folks who have been preaching above advice all along! To you folks, I say, Thanks! We do appreciate you hanging in there for so long.
If you already know what you’re looking for, another place to start is the
Texas Native Plant Society website. (Click on “About Chapters” for a list of Texas’s 34 local chapters. These can hopefully lead you to trusted plant resources in your area or at least close by).
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NEVER SAY NEVER . . . Pictured above is Ron Megow’s incredible, very old azalea (photographed last spring). Center, she apparently bloomed her heart out because (center) last summer . . . well, she looked totally “dead.” Fortunately, Ron didn’t dig her up because look what’s appearing on those “dead-dead” limbs now! Hope springs eternal, and sometimes works!
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A UNIQUE WAY OF LOOKING AT SPECIALITY GARDENERS is in store for those attending “TREE COLLECTORS” by AMY STEWART at the free Nancy Stallworth Thomas Horticultural Lecture (Wed., Feb. 11, 10am, at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road, Bagby Hall. Doors open: 9:30am). Have to admit, “collecting trees” does sound a bit … er … challenging? Speaker Amy is a New York Times bestselling author (“Wicked Plants”), among many other Best Sellers and Garden Club of America medal winner — to name just a few of many honors (including her own poison plant garden in Eureka that was included in Popular Mechanics’s list of the 18 Strangest Gardens in the World!)
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ATTN. GARDEN/PLANT GROUPS
— Nature’s Way Resources offers free guided tours of NWR’s extensive nursery/soil/mulch facilities for garden clubs, plant societies and other plant-oriented, organized groups. As usual, NWR’s now-expanded meeting site is free to above groups. Reservations a must for both. Great time to visit.
- GOOD NEWS FOR BUSY/LAZY GARDENERS: Curbside pickup is now available in the Nature’s Way Resources nursery, and we’re offering plant preorders for special requests. Call in your order, pick it up when it works for you, or let us try to source the plants you’re looking for on upcoming shipments. Find inventory sheet here.
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John’s Corner
NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SOIL AND PLANTS
Subject: Fluoride Update #2
When I saw the recent news report from the Office of Ken Paxton, Attorney General of Texas, regarding an agreement with Crest Toothpaste, I knew immediately which article we would feature in John’s Corner.
In a big win for our state and the health of our citizens, especially children, the Office of the Attorney General of Texas is addressing how toothpaste “serving sizes” are marketed. This directly correlates to the amount of fluoride being ingested from toothpastes marketed to children by major conglomerates such as Procter & Gamble, the owner of Crest. This action follows a similar settlement with the Colgate-Palmolive Company regarding the marketing and packaging of excessive amounts of fluoride toothpaste.
Notably, Colgate-Palmolive includes brands such as Tom’s of Maine and hello, which market themselves as cleaner, more transparent alternatives. The language in the statements released suggests a commitment to taking healthier steps to protect children and families from exposure to harmful substances at excessive levels.
While the actual fluoride content in these products will not be changing, as they currently meet FDA regulations, the marketing visuals and imagery will now reflect appropriate amounts to be used. And let’s be real, no one is weighing out their toothpaste before brushing their teeth.
With fluoride and other related substances already present in our municipal water systems, the last thing anyone needs, especially children, is excessive amounts being directly ingested through toothpaste. Fortunately, this is an area where education can make a real and immediate difference.
While John may not be here to weigh in himself, it felt important to include this update in a space he was deeply passionate about. The world we live in is capable of change, and we can work together to educate our friends and families to help move that change forward, one day at a time.
Consider this your sign to pay closer attention to how much toothpaste you’re using, and how much your children are using as well.
Shelby Cassano
Marketing Director, Nature’s Way Resources
Technical Editor, The Lazy Gardener & Friends Newsletter
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Please take a moment to read a past article of John’s regarding fluoride and related substances.
Click below to learn more about all of the different types of mulch in detail.
Explore our article library to learn more information about various mulches and other topics.
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About Us
BRENDA BEUST SMITH
WE KNOW HER BEST AS THE LAZY GARDENER . . .
but Brenda Beust Smith is also:
- a national award-winning writer & editor
- a nationally-published writer & photographer
- a national horticultural speaker
- a former Houston Chronicle reporter
When the Chronicle discontinued Brenda’s 45-year-old Lazy Gardener” print column — started in the early ’70s as a fun side-project to reporting, it then ranked as the longestrunning, continuously-published local newspaper column in the Greater Houston area. The name, she says, is not just fun, it’s true.
Brenda’s gradual sideways step from reporter into gardening writing led first to an 18-year series of when-to-do-what Lazy Gardener Calendars, then to her Lazy Gardener’s Guide book which morphed into her Lazy Gardener’s Guide on CD, which she now emails free upon request.
Brenda became a Harris County Master Gardener and, over the years, served on theboards of many Greater Houston area horticulture organizations. She hosted local radio and TV shows, most notably a 10+-year Lazy Gardener specialty shows on HoustonPBS (Ch. 8) and her call-in “EcoGardening” show on KPFT-FM.
For over three decades, Brenda served as Assistant Production Manager of the GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA’S “BULLETIN” magazine. Although still an active broad-based freelance writer, Brenda’s main focus now is THE LAZY GARDENER & FRIENDS HOUSTON GARDEN NEWSLETTER with John Ferguson and Pablo Hernandez of Nature’s Way Resources.
A native of New Orleans and graduate of St. Agnes Academy and the University of Houston, Brenda lives in Humble, TX, and is married to the retired Aldine High School Coach Bill Smith. They have one son, Blake.
Regarding this newsletter, Brenda is the lead writer, originator of it and the daily inspiration for it. We so appreciate the way she has made gardening such a fun way to celebrate life together for such a long time.
About her column, Brenda says: “I don’t consider myself a ‘garden writer.” I started out 50+ years ago as a very lazy “gardening reporter.” I still feel that way today. I hope my columns inspire/help newcomers, but I do not write to them. I write to very experienced gardeners who want to expand their horizons.
JOHN FERGUSON (1951-2025)
John was a native Houstonian with more than 35 years of business experience. He founded Nature’s Way Resources, a composting company known for producing high-quality compost, mulch, and soil mixes. He held an MS in Physics and Geology and was a licensed Soil Scientist in Texas.
Throughout his career, John received numerous awards in horticulture and environmental work. He represented the composting industry for many years on the Houston-Galveston Area Council for solid waste. His personal garden was featured in several horticultural books and in Better Homes and Gardens. His business was recognized by The Wall Street Journal for the quality and value of its products. He was a member of the Physics Honor Society and several professional organizations, and he co-authored Organic Management for the Professional.
John contributed articles regularly to this newsletter and oversaw its publication. We continue to share his past articles each week alongside The Lazy Gardener column to keep his passion, knowledge, and spirit alive for our readers.
SHELBY CASSANO is the communications and marketing lead for Nature’s Way Resources and the editor of The Lazy Gardener and Friends newsletter. Through her business, Leaf and Ledger, she exclusively partners with NWR to direct all marketing efforts, from campaign strategy and content planning to technical production of the newsletter. Shelby holds a B.S. in Agriculture with a concentration in Horticulture from Stephen F. Austin State University and previously managed the company’s nursery.
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