Nature’s Way Resources is proud to produce & email you this free weekly newsletter. We have no ads, but sponsors do graciously help support this project as a public service. Please note their names below & show your gratitude for this free service by patronizing their businesses! To become a sponsor, call (936) 273-1200

Nature’s Way Resources owner John Ferguson, “The Lazy Gardener” Brenda Beust Smith and Pablo Hernandez welcome your feedback and are so grateful to the many horticulturists who contribute their expertise

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“…a plant that may grow in full sun in Northern states must have afternoon shade in Houston or it will die, a national book will not tell you this.”

— John Ferguson, JOHN’S CORNER” (below)

BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH

MOTHER NATURE ALWAYS BATS LAST SO BE PREPARED!

MYRA BRANCH, who hails from “Up Nawth” in Dallas, was delighted driving through Houston with all our fields and lots covered with masses of yellow wildflowers. “What are they?” I was tempted to say “DYCs!” And— when asked same question — retired Mercer Botanic Garden’s Suzzanne Chapman added, “Or DYA’s”! (Translation: “Damn Yellow/Aster Composites!” — the result of “Naturally-occurring changes. Decades ago when I was interview-trailing the late Carmine Stahl — he of the extraordinary encyclopedic memory for Texas wildflowers /edible native plants, responded to my constant “What’s that yellow flower” with “DYC.” He finally admitted he meant: “damn yellow composite (an actual entry in Wikipedia!)

Carmine finally admitted he meant: “damn yellow composite (an actual entry in Wikipedia!)Suzzanne’s “DYA” is similar: just applied to natural genetic changes among wild asters. She noted Mercer Botanical Center, herbarium had about 6 cabinets full of Aster specimens! So don’t feel badly if wildflowers get confusing. They’re called “wild” for good reason! Best pictorial resource: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. wildflower.org/

 

IT MAY SEEM LIKE A STRANGE TIME to be discussing watering our gardens. But as anyone who has been here very long can tell you, blink and temps will be heading for 3 digits with zero rain.

Foreward is forearmed! (And smart — given the average monthly water bill in the City of Houston itself now is $87 to $106/mont, and gradual increases have already been approved through 2026.

Fort Bend County Master Gardener DON PARKHOUSE generously shared a preview below of FBCM’s free online presentation,”Using Irrigation Wisely,” Friday, May 24, at 1 pm. Landscape Success – Fort Bend (agrilife.org).

We’re all guilty of many of these mistakes below. In our 3-digit summer heat, watering mistakes can quickly become both lethal and very expensive! These are all so logical but so easy to forget in the grand scheme of things. A preview of Don’s advice:

  1. Don’t over water. Too much water will kill plants just as fast as not watering. Excess water costs you extra.
  2. All plants are not created equal. Know (or learn) water requirements for each plant. What’s right for a begonia, will kill a succulent.
  3. As a homeowner, introduce yourself to your Irrigation controller. It is NOT a set once and forget device.
  4. Don’t have your Lawn Care personnel work on your Irrigation system. An irrigation system should be serviced by the homeowner or (preferred) a Licensed Irrigation professional.
  5. Don’t water driveways, sidewalks or streets. The concrete WILL NOT GROW. Misaligned spray heads are a common problem that can be easily fixed.

This is just the beginning of check-list advice Don will share in an online presentation Fort Bend County Master Gardeners. Landscape Success – Fort Bend (agrilife.org).

Before you totally ignore Don’s recommendations, know that NOAA predicts above-normal temperatures this summer. Water is becoming a precious commodity during our hot, dry summers and rationing is a looming probability.

SPEAKING OF “FREE” WATER for your garden, the City of Houston Green Building Resource Center is now taking orders for its annual rain barrel project. (Reviews(Don’t you wish you’d had one for this week’s downpours?) Includes all Greater Houston area. AND . . . TIP O’ THE TROWEL to retiring GBRC’S STEVE STELZER, for your decades of help to this column and Yours Truly! will continue to share his expertise as a Citizens Environmental Coalition volunteer. CEC’s free monthly email event calendar is the best resource in our area for more “green” events/projects than you can ever imagine. Sign up!

HOW ARE YOUR TOMATOES DOING? TASTE BUDS READY TO VOTE ON 2024 DELIGHTS? Big winners last year at Westbury Community Gardens Tomato Tasting Festival were, l to r, CHERRY: ‘Golden Gem’; SALADETTE: (tie!): ‘Jaune Flamme’ & ‘Verona’; PLUM/PASTE: ‘Amish Gold’ and SLICER: ‘Jubilee.’ 

John’s Corner

NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD

OF SOIL AND PLANTS # 285

Subject: Healthy Soils – part 6

Continuing our discussion of what is a healthy soil, we are going to continue with the forth section below.

  1. Organic matter from almost fresh to totally decomposed in the form of humus (humins, humic, ulmic, and fulmic acids)
  2. Minerals (nutrients, sand, silt, and clay)
  3. Soil life (microbes and macrobes)
  4. Air & water
  5. Plant choices
  6. Care for, and do not destroy the health of the soil one has.

Healthy soil is also relative to the plant one is growing. For example, a soil that is great for Louisiana Irises will kill a cactus. Conversely, a Louisiana Iris will die in soil that cactus and many succulents grow well in.

Plant Choices – Planting the right plant in the correct place. This is the easiest objective to accomplish. There is a tremendous amount of information on plant choices.

One can start with the Lazy Gardener and Friends Newsletter as Brenda does a great job of telling folks about all sorts of plants, how to grow them, and showing great examples.

Both of our garden radio shows every Saturday morning, Gardenline (KTRH/740 AM) and Home Show Garden Pros (KILT/610 AM) also do a great job of giving folks information on correct plant choices.

Tip: The best information comes from books written by local authors about our climate and soil.

For example, a plant that may grow in full sun in Northern states must have afternoon shade in Houston or it will die, a national book will not tell you this.

There are also regional differences. My wife and I have purchased a few acres of land near LaGrange to build our retirement home and I want to fill the property with plants beneficial to wildlife from butterflies to quail and wild turkeys.

A few weeks ago, I was researching the “Black Cherry” (Prunus serotina) as it is a great fruiting native plant and a host plant for butterflies.

I found that there are at least 5 different sub-species of this tree growing in Texas. The one from East Texas prefers sandy slightly acidic moist soils hence it will die in the slightly alkaline clays that are much dryer around La Grange. However, there is a variety that grows in the Hill country around Austin that will work fine.

The message is to use local resources so one gets information about the area in which they live.

A couple great books for the Greater Houston area (they make excellent Christmas gifts for gardeners or even new homeowners) include:

A Garden Book for Houston and The Texas Gulf Coast, River Oaks Garden Club, 5th edition, 2013, edited by Lynn Herbert, ISBN 978-0-578-09149-6. For shrubs, flowers, groundcovers, and general home use the River Oaks Garden Club book is tremendous resource.

 Year Round Vegetables, Fruits and Flowers for Metro Houston by Bob Randall, PhD., Retired Executive Director Urban Harvest. For those that wish to grow vegetables, fruits, and herbs this book is an excellent reference: A resource guide on how to grow plants in the Houston area organically and where to get the supplies you may need. It is sold at many area gardening centers. This is one of the very best resources for Houston and Gulf Coast.

• The Texas A&M University through the agricultural extension services has recommended plant lists for every county in Texas, from fruit trees to flowers. Additionally, all the plant societies have plant information available. Local gardening clubs are another resource to learn more.

There just is no excuse for putting a plant into the wrong soil at the wrong location as there is too much information easily available.

 

TIP: Beware of shopping at big box stores and large discount gardening chains for plants and supplies. Much of what they sell does not do well in our area. I have gone into these stores and found that half of the plant varieties they sell will not do well in our area and are almost guaranteed to die. Plants get sick and are stressed (insect and disease issues) then they sell you high profit toxic chemicals to treat the problems.

For the best gardening success shop only at local privately owned nurseries. Some great ones are:

Plants for All Seasons                     (Northwest Houston/Willowbrook Area)

21328 State Highway 249                                              

Houston, Texas 77070                                         

Phone: (281) 376-1646                                       

http://plantsforallseasons.com

 The Enchanted Forest                      (Sugarland/Richmond Area)

10611 FM 2759                                                     

Richmond, Texas 77469                                      

Phone: (281) 937-9449                                       

http://www.visitourforest.com                                   

The Enchanted Gardens                   (Cinco Ranch/Katy/Rosenburg Area)

6420 FM 359 @ FM 723                                     

Richmond, Texas 77469                                      

Phone: (281) 341-1206                                       

http://myenchanted.com/         

Wabash Antique & Feed (04/24/19)  (North Central Houston Area)

4537 N Shepherd Dr.                                                       

Houston, Texas 77018                                         

Phone: (713) 863-8322                           

http://www.wabashfeed.com                         

Nelson Water Gardens                      (West Houston/Katy)

1502 Katy Fort Bend Road

Katy, Texas 77493                                                

Phone: (281) 391-4769                                                                           

http://nelsonwatergardens.com/

Nature’s Way Resources              (The Woodlands/Conroe)

101 Sherbrook Circle

Conroe, Texas 77385

(936) 321-6990

http://www.natureswayresources.com

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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.  

JOHN FERGUSON John is a native Houstonian and has over 27 years of business experience. He owns Nature’s Way Resources, a composting company that specializes in high quality compost, mulch, and soil mixes. He holds a MS degree in Physics and Geology and is a licensed Soil Scientist in Texas.  John has won many awards in horticulture and environmental issues. He represents the composting industry on the Houston-Galveston Area Council for solid waste. His personal garden has been featured in several horticultural books and “Better Homes and Gardens” magazine. His business has been recognized in the Wall Street Journal for the quality and value of their products. He is a member of the Physics Honor Society and many other professional societies. John is is the co-author of the book Organic Management for the Professional.  For this newsletter, John contributes articles regularly and is responsible for publishing it.  

PABLO HERNANDEZ Pablo Hernandez is the special projects coordinator for Nature’s Way Resources. His realm of responsibilities include: serving as a webmaster, IT support, technical problem solving/troubleshooting, metrics management and quality control. Pablo helps this newsletter happen from a technical support standpoint. 

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