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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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‘While it is February one can taste the full joys of anticipation.
Spring stands at the gate with her finger on the latch.’
— Patience Strong (1907-1990) English poet
Most folks consider our native morning glory (Ipomoea sagittata) a horrible nuisance. But I love mine . . . when it’s blooming!
MEA CULPA TO Houston Public Media (88.7 FM). Last week’s list of our local radio gardening radio shows neglected to include MEG TAPP.
Meg, a member of The Garden Club of Houston, has not only forgiven me, she’s sharing advice for today’s and tomorrow night’s predictions — 39º tonite & 32º Thurs nite — but NO precipitation, thank goodness as I’m one of many, I’m sure, who hasn’t planned for such cold. Love Meg’s response (below) to my neglect! Houston Matters airs at 9am on 88.7FM. Meg’s gardening segment is the 2nd Monday of each month.
BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH
DON’T FRET IF YOU DIDN’T COVER PLANTS FOR THESE FREEZES!
by MEG TAPP
Plants are not people – they don’t expect the dress for the weather. They need to be uncovered as much as possible to feed themselves (from the sun). Birds need plants to be exposed so they can feed on bugs as well. If it going to be below freezing for just a few hours, leave them alone and don’t cover them. You may have done just the right thing by not covering your plants – that’s the glass half full.
Now, for the glass half empty — If it going to be below freezing (31° or below) and stay that way for more than several hours, take action and cover your plants.
The most valuable part of your plant is where the main trunk meets the soil. You think you are growing a beautiful plant that you see, but what you are really doing is nourishing and fostering a complex web of systems – roots, microscopic organisms, earthworms for example – in the soil and the byproduct of that is your beautiful plant. All this to say, take care of your soil after a freeze. You can do this by using an organic fertilizer around the base of your plant. It is your choice if you want to use liquid or granules; be mindful of the moisture of the soil. If your soil is already wet because of rain, then I’d use granules and lightly water them in, just to get the breakdown of them started.
The parts of the plant that are damaged by a freeze will either re-grow or they won’t. That is it – not a lot to think about there. The best thing to do is to wait it out and see what happens over the next few weeks. The exception is if you have mushy foliage then get that out of there and into the trash. You don’t want to start a whole cascade of rot with wet and decaying material laying on top of a healthy part of a plant. Once you can see what has died and what is growing again, you can selectively prune. Just wait to prune until you feel confident that we won’t get another big freeze.
Going forward, start saving your old towels, sheets, and blankets. If you have them on hand, you’ll be able to wrap your trunks for freezes. Frost cloth is great for covering the foliage part – but getting the trunk snug and wrapped will go a long way in protecting your plants in the future.
For more: www.houstonpublicmedia.org/tag/meg-tapp/
- ADD TO (LAST WEEK’S) CALL-IN RADIO GARDENING SHOWS!
Garden Club of Houston’s MEG TAPP joins CRAIG COHEN on
Houston Public Media’s HOUSTON MATTERS SHOW,
9am at 88.7 FM Meg is on 2nd Monday of each month
Should I cover my plants when it’s about to freeze? – Houston Public Media
Show call in: 713-440-8870 — E-mail talk@houstonmatters.org
Monarch on Prideof Barbados (Caesalpinia pulcherrima)
AS LONG AS YOU’RE INSIDE . . . unable to garden in this rollercoaster cold, how about following (indoor research) advice from Houston Botanic Garden, where folks are collecting and updating plant data, referenced from authoritative scientific sources, for HBG’s massive collections database. But did you know . . . none of this would be possible without “Citizen scientists”?
They’re talking in part about us, folks who love and grow plants . . . by tagging, or simply by chronicling our sightings, good and bad results, etc. Research scientists cannot be everywhere at once. That is where we come in. As HBG staffers point out: nearly every gardener has one of the most valuable data collection tools: A SMART PHONE!
Citizen science apps are easy to use and share crucial info on birds, bugs, or plants. A few recommended by Houston Botanic Garden to help get you started:
- Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation – Xerces.org
- Audubon Society – Audubon.org
- Budburst.org
- NASA GLOBE Observer – science.nasa.gov
And, HBG emphasizes . . .
- “EVERYBODY should be on iNaturalist!” – inaturalist.org
TIP O’ TROWEL to LADY BIRD JOHNSON WILDFLOWER CENTER in Austin for promoting Plains (or Prairie) Fleabane (Erigeron modestus), a drought-tolerant, hairy-leaved native perennial clump with white/pink, aster-like flowers Mar.-Oct. Extremely well-drained. Cut 1/3 back for continuous summer blooming and butterflies.
Joseph A. Marcus photo
ATTN. GARDEN/PLANT GROUPS — In wake of Hurricane Beryl, 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.
I actually knew someone who waited every spring to put in her new spring garden until Pantone announced its “Color of the Year.” Not sure how she’d have done it this year. Don’t find many ‘brown” blooms around these days!
Brenda Beust Smith’s column is based on her 40+ years as the Houston Chronicle’s “Lazy Gardener” column — lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com Brenda’s column focuses ONLY on the Greater Houston Area
John’s Corner
NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD
OF SOIL AND PLANTS
Subject: paraquat nutrients contamination in fast foods atrazine biocontrol of pests plastic particles documentary on government lies sewage sludge
According to the investigative publication Lighthouse Reports (9.27.24) a recent study reveals government collusion and corruption with the toxic chemical industry. If you are tired of being sick and high medical costs, one of the reasons is corruption in our government.
“US taxpayers funded a covert campaign to downplay the risks of pesticides and discredit environmentalists in Africa, Europe, and North America.
Paraquat is among the most toxic agricultural chemicals ever produced. It’s banned in the European Union, where the consequences of its use are still being felt, but in parts of the world it’s still being sold. This is made possible, in part, by an influence machine that works to suppress opposition to a $78 billion global industry.
A year-long investigation managed to penetrate a PR operation that casts those who raise the alarm, from pesticide critics to environmental scientists or sustainability campaigners, as an anti-science “protest industry,” and used US government (taxpayer) money to do so.” This was done through a US based company called v-Fluence (see below for more on their criminal activities using taxpayer dollars).
US taxpayers funded a covert campaign to downplay the risks of pesticides and discredit environmentalists in Africa, Europe, and North America, by Lighthouse Reports (9.27.24)
The benefits of organic gardening and food continue to be found. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition (2024) found that organic crops and crop-based foods are up to 60% higher in many antioxidants than conventionally grown crops and they contained less of the toxic heavy metal cadmium.
Moms Across America funded a study (2024) of food from 10 fast food chains. All the samples were found to have veterinary drugs from antibiotics to animal contraceptives in them. Numerous papers have found that highly processed fast foods are behind many health problems.
I read another research paper the other day that gave me a chuckle. The paper was published in the journal HortTechnolgy (2022) found that in containers used to root cuttings and that were mulched with a one-inch thickness, it reduced the number of weeds germinating in the pots. The weed biomass was reduced by 82-100%. They tested seven types of mulch like paper pellets or pine bark to boiled rice hulls. Most experienced gardeners know that mulch reduces weed growth.
The journal Microbial Ecology (2024) had a paper that found that wood ants combat a range of plant diseases, including those that affect apples. The researchers at Aarhus University isolated five species of bacteria and fungi that live on the ant’s legs. Two of them were successful in combating apple rot and apple scab diseases.
Another microorganism was effective at controlling gray mold and fusarium head blight which affects hundreds of crops. The promising effects of these ants on disease and their impact on pests make them promising candidates for biological control.
We are hearing more and more about the dangers of micro and nano-plastic particles in the environment. In the journals NanoImpact (2025) and Microplastics (2025) two new studies were released.
They found that micro and nanoscale plastic particles in soil and water significantly increase the amount of toxic material like arsenic (6X) that a plant will absorb. They found this was true of many other pollutants also.
They then found that when these toxic pollutants were present, they doubled the amount plastic particles absorbed by our intestines.
For gardeners to reduce their exposure one can only use biodegradable plastic mulches and pots instead of conventional black plastic. Do not store soil amendments sold in plastic bags, outside in the sun where they quickly start to break down.
A good friend shared this link with me last week on the connection between big pharma and big agriculture. The title was “Big Ag and Big Pharma: The Connection Between What You Eat and How Long You Live”
According to the report above, Big Ag spent $32.7 million on lobbying in 2024, and Big Pharma spent $294 million in 2024!
If one watched the cabinet confirmation hearings for Robert Kennedy, it is easy to guess which senators are on the take from the above lobbying. The documentary below “Unpack the Lies” shows how much money (millions of dollars each) that the senators attacking Kennedy received from Big Pharma.
From the Organic Consumers Association: Atrazine is best known for being the pesticide that turns male frogs into females. Atrazine disrupts the endocrine system, which regulates the development of the brain and the nervous system, as well as metabolism and blood sugar levels, along with reproduction. Real-world studies have definitively linked atrazine to:
- gastroschisis, a birth defect where the newborn’s intestines spill outside the body
- choanal atresia and stenosis, a birth defect of the nose that can cause life-threatening airway obstruction, requiring multiple corrective surgeries
- breast cancer
- low fertility, low sperm count, and poor semen quality
- early menarche
- irregular menstrual cycles and low estrogen levels
- missed periods and bleeding between periods
- gestational diabetes
- low birth weight
- preterm birth
- wheeze, a symptom of lung disease, asthma, congestive heart failure, or heart disease
- kidney failure
- Parkinson’s disease
Animal studies reveal atrazine’s capacity to cause a range of other ailments, including neurodegenerative disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and obesity.
We shouldn’t tolerate any more of the birth defects, infertility, and chronic health conditions this toxin is causing. Atrazine has been banned in the European Union since 2003! Note: Atrazine is often used in “weed & feed” artificial fertilizers.
An investigative report released on February 16, 2025, by the independent news organization The Guardian, found that a US based company v-Fluence, was secretly profiling hundreds of Americans. Over 500 food and health environmental advocates were targeted.
They provided derogatory information about industry opponents, their families and their children. They attacked scientists, politicians and others seen as opponents of pesticides and genetically modified crops.
A large part of their funding came from the US government via the US Agency of International Development (USAid). The company was founded by the former public relations director of Monsanto.
The employees at USAid need to be investigated and if found guilty prosecuted for their crimes against US citizens.
A new documentary was released on February 17, 2025, titled “Unpacking The Lies We’ve Been Fed.” A Story About How America Became So Sick and What We Can Do Together to Make America Healthy Again, For the Children
Link to the documentary trailer: https://rumble.com/v6hdhda-unpacking-the-lies-weve-been-fed-trailer.html and to the film https://unpackthelies.com/film/.
I watched this documentary last Monday evening, and I was astonished by how corrupt some of our government agencies have become, and why America is so sick.
A new study found that exposure to multiple pesticides may cause childhood and adolescent cancers, especially brain and central nervous system (CNS) tumors, according to researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. They combined and studied data collected from over the last 22 years and were the first of its kind to look at the effects of multiple pesticides. Journal GeoHealth (February 2025)
Early life exposure to pesticides is also linked to lower cognitive function, adverse birth outcomes, and behavioral issues. The pesticides also disrupt hormones, damage DNA, and cause inflammation.
We have talked about the dangers of sewage sludge (biosolids) and the compost or fertilizer made from them on many occasions. It was recently found out that the 3M corporation notified the EPA in 2003 that PFAS were turning up in sewage sludge.
An EPA report released in 2022 shows that 31% of all biosolids were used in agricultural applications and another 24% were used on home gardens, landscaping, golf courses, schools, sports fields, and parks, etc.
In Texas, Johnson County, south of Ft. Worth, is taking steps to declare a state of emergency and seek federal assistance from FEMA over farmland contaminated with PFAS from sewage sludge applied as fertilizer.
The contaminated fertilizer produced by a city of Ft. Worth sewage treatment plant was used on a neighboring farm and has contaminated two adjacent cattle ranches. The contamination was slowly sickening and killing their livestock.
The EPA and FEMA refused to comment on the issue. TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) stated they did not see any harm to human health or the environment. Reported in the New York Times newspaper (February 2025).
Note: Several companies in the Houston area sell compost made from sewage sludge. Gardeners beware.
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
John is a native Houstonian and has over 35 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. For years he represented 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 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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