Nature’s Way Resources is proud to bring you this free weekly newsletter. While we don’t run ads, generous sponsors help support this project as a public service. Their names are listed below, please consider showing your appreciation by supporting their businesses!
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 February 25, 2026
BLUEBONNETS PLANTS
FOR SALE? THEY ARE NOW!
by Brenda Beust Smith | The Lazy Gardener
Word is, potted bluebonnets are now appearing for sale in grocery stores and plant sales. Will they work in our gardens? A LOT depends on the soil they’re already planted in and — more important — whether or not they like the soil YOU plan to plant them in! Add climate and other growing factors, and, well, it’s worth a try! (See growing tips below)
If you want to be absolutely sure the bluebonnets you buy are correctly grown for OUR climate, drop by Mercer Arboretum & Botanic Garden for their annual massive plant sale: March Mart – Friday & Saturday, March 21 & 22, 2025. And here’s the best part: available Plants Preview will go up online March 1 (same website link as above)!
Planting wildflowers at home is becoming more popular. Just be sure you respect their history and toughness. Like all wildflowers, ours have spent centuries developing love affairs with soil and surrounding plants. They know what they like, and it’s one of THE most important criteria in their decision to stay, or not to stay. For example, bluebonnets do like us . . . in some situations. Indian Paintbrushes usually don’t do well in our yards. Why?
Decades ago, when I tackled experts on this, I was repeatedly told Indian Paintbrushes are symbiotic with bluebonnets AND other plants that tend to grow alongside highways and other sun-blasted, undisturbed areas with their favorite “weeds.” That’s not to say they can’t grow and bloom alone, but they THRIVE when bluebonnets, etc., are close by.
If you just have to try: Here are some Houston area bluebonnet planting guidelines. Listen carefully, they won’t grow just anywhere.
Speaking of bluebonnets, just to be absolutely accurate: The Chappell Hill Historical Society will, as always, host the 62nd Annual “Official State of Texas Bluebonnet Festival” April 11-12, 2026, in downtown historic Chappell Hill (roughly 160 miles NW from downtown Houston on Highway 290), just before you get to Brenham.
It is SO WORTH the trip when bluebonnets (and Indian Paintbrushes) are in full bloom. (Don’t go by last year. That was a real weather fluke — Mother Nature showing us she’s still in charge!)
In the interest of fair play, Burnet (north Texas) also hosts a wonderful Bluebonnet Festival, as do many other cities around the state. (I’m just partial to Chappell Hill!) If you know of anywhere folks in our area can see beautiful bluebonnets locally, do share!
YOU’RE PROBABLY NOT GOING TO FIND directions for planting bluebonnet ‘plants’ in Houston this time of year. All traditional advice is based on seed plantings in late September to mid-November. But never hurts to try! Full sun, well-drained, friable, grass-free soil, loosened with gravel or sand if not already present. (Clay soil may cause rot.) Some folks lightly scratch seed coats. Sprinkle seeds loosely, pat down. Think roadside! No rain, water every few days at first, then periodically, with prayers, they’ll germinate!
Bluebonnet seedlings (may differ, remember we have 5 or 6 specific different varieties of native bluebonnets in Texas. And that doesn’t count varieties brought in by human or divine hands! So “budding leaves” will vary. But generally, they look something like this when they first appear. Mark sites well! DON’T MOW THEM DOWN!!!!
Bluebonnet seed popping up
IF YOU SUCCEED IN GETTING FLOWERS, do share pictures, sources, and any other planting tricks you’ve found successful: (lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com). Check our calendar below for all the plant sales coming up and their individual group websites to see if more than we’ve listed here will be selling plants for home garden plantings! Most sales also post their available plant lists.
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- NOT SURE what bluebonnets look like when they sprout? Great place to see sprouts now (and watch them develop) is the Houston Botanic Garden, especially in the parking lot. While you’re there, check the gardens for even more ideas on early Spring color!
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: RE-MINERALIZER
As we prepare for spring gardening, we often think about top-dressing with compost, mulching, and fertilizing. There is an unsung hero that we should consider: the remineralizer. Unsure what this is? Read ahead to understand why it is a fantastic addition to your garden beds and beyond.
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.
Sponsorship
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, please contact us at 936-273-1200 or send an e-mail to: lazygardenerandfriends@gmail.com
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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Conroe, TX 77385
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