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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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BY BRENDA BEUST SMITH 

L to r, Peppermint Lace (pink/white), Mandevilla, Dr. Moi hibiscus, Thyralis, Mimosa

This is a great time to note which plants are going strong in your yard and in yards of your lazy neighbor who never waters at all. Might want to consider some of his to replace wimps in your yard! In fact, how about sharing with our readers word of your “watered-only-by-rain” plants now blooming?

Some of mine are beautiful, ‘tho not as lush as many I’ve seen (Lazy gardeners don’t get jealous, we know it’s our fault). But that makes blooms we do get all the more precious! Above are my (L to R), ‘Peppermint Lace’ crepe myrtle, Dr. Moy hibiscus, Thyralis, and Mimosa

Texas Superstar® ‘Dr. Moy’ Hibiscus produces some of the largest (12″ across!) record-setting flowers of any such cultivars. Mine die back in winter, but have come out faithfully every spring. (So far!) The deep cherry pink-to-near red flowers of Moy Grande can measure over 12″ across! Recommended was a full-to-mostly sunny position in a moderately-moist, fertile soil for the most flowers and vigorous growth. No, I’ve never protected it in winter. It dies back, and (so far) returns (in late spring! Developed by Dr. Moy at San Antonio Botanic Gardens.

Where to get these and other highly recommended plants for our area? Unfortunately some (not all!) plant sale sites will deliberately mis-name similar plants. Your safest bet: your area’s independent nursery. Your success ensures their success and the reliability of plant names.

On the other hand, too many folks “tease” their plants by giving them far too LITTLE water in this horrible heat. Or, even worse, they hold the hose for only a few minutes over each plant. This only encourages roots to grow up closer to the surface, in soil that will heat up too quickly.

Best idea — if you don’t have any deep water attachments for your hoses — is to lay the hose next to plant stalks and let it trickle down into lower soil levels. Water at near ground level will evaporate more quickly than most plant roots can absorb it.

Crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica), a true Lazy Gardener plant, is our Official State Shrub, thanks to a national group organized by McKinney, TX, which claims the title, America’s Crape Myrtle City. The annual The annual Myrtle Trails of McKinney run through August.

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(Pictured:) CORAL VINE (Antigonon leptopus) can be found at Nature’s Way Resources and many local independent nurseries.

• 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!

• SUBMITTING CALENDAR EVENTS?: For next upcoming newsletter, submit in exact format (see top of calendar below. Reformatting = delay)

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Popular Texas Superstars, l to r, Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis); Gold Star Esperanza (Texoma stans ‘Gold Star’); Belinda’s Dream (Rosa, woody shrub) and (below), Basham’s Party Pink Crape myrtle, Lagerstroemia indica x L. fauriei

All photos: Stacy D. Mills, GCMG & Karen Nelson, GCMG

WHAT EXACTLY ARE

Texas Superstars®?

BY SUE BAIN and KAREN NELSON

Galveston County Master Gardeners

The Texas Superstar® Program was identified in the early 1980s when landscape plants were ill adapted for our tough weather conditions. We needed plants that could survive weather extremes, droughts and heavy rainfall and varying soil conditions. The Texas A&M AgriLife Research/ Texas A&M AgriLife Extension faculty, researchers, extension specialists, county horticulturists and executive board spearheaded the plant selection and trials. 

Combined with the Texas Department of Agriculture through its Go Texan program, printed brochures of the Texas Superstar® plants to give to the public and retailers. The Texas Nursery & Landscape Association (TNLA) helped “spread the word” about the latest selections through their monthly publication. The Texas Superstar® program started with these partnerships, and the future of the program is dependent on the continuing growth and strength of these partnerships.

Texas Superstar plants are proven to be Texas tough that will bring easy care and beauty to anyone’s landscape. Only the most reliable, toughest, and best-looking plants become a Texas Superstar®.

To earn the Texas Superstar ® designation, every plant undergoes several years of extensive field trials and in several Texas locations. The trial testing includes using Earth-Kind® methods through water conservation, reduction of fertilizer and pesticides use, landscaping for energy conservation and reduction of landscape waste entering landfills.

The Texas Superstar® brochure provides plant listings and descriptions that have met all qualifications and qualities. The plants are grouped in sections of Annuals, Perennials, Per-Annual Plants, Woody Shrubs, Trees and Specialty Plants (see attached examples). There are over 90 Texas Superstar® Plants. New Texas Superstars® are announced yearly.

John’s Corner

NEWS FROM THE WONDERFUL WORLD

OF SOIL AND PLANTS 

Subject: Citrus Greening   Water Movement in Soils

I was reading a recent article on a new treatment for citrus greening disease. Researchers at Texas A&M University have discovered that an antimicrobial peptide found in common spinach plants has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.

These peptides occur naturally, and we consume them when we eat spinach; hence, they are considered very safe. They used a common benign virus to carry the peptides to the infected trees.

After only one application, they saw promising results, as there was a 50% increase in yield on infected plants. Plant Biotechnology Journal (2025)

After the flooding in central Texas a couple of weeks ago, I was asked the other day about how water moves through the soil.

Water movement through the soil can be both very simple and complex. The type of soil, whether sand, silt, or clay, organic matter content, microbial content, and things like earthworms, all affect how soil allows water to move through it.

Let’s look at two major factors that affect water movement, porosity and permeability. First, porosity varies from different types of soil or rock. Styrofoam has a very high porosity, but zero water will move through it (zero permeability). Limestone rock often has very low porosity, but large amounts of water can move through it (high permeability). Porosity measures the pore space in the material which affects a materials density. Permeability measures how much of a liquid like water or air can move through it.

The Woodlands Water newsletter has a YouTube link to a short video on Texas aquifers that is very good. It is from the Texas Water Development Board and can be found at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HJ5Q2yH5S8

The photo below is a very platy soil that we know as clay. Lots of porosity but very little permeability. This is why clay soils are used to line lake bottoms or build the dams.

When our soils have good organic matter content the microbes feeding on and living in the organic matter can help hold the soil particles apart and glue them together to increase both permeability and porosity by producing soil glues called glomalin. The organic matter is also home and food for many species of microbes that help plants grow.

As shown in the photo below, this type of soil makes it easy for plant roots to grow into. This allows the plant to spend more of its energy on growth, flowers, and fruit.

The photo below shows a mycorrhizal fungal hypha that colonizes plant roots, produces soil glues that hold sand particles to its body giving the soil some structure. The sand helps protect the fungi from being eaten by other microbes and this process will help the soil resist erosion better.

The chart below from USDA studies shows how organic matter helps the soil hold water. Good quality compost is one of the best ways to build soil organic matter along with an aged (partially composted) native mulch.

Compaction is a major factor in preventing water (whether from rain or irrigation) from entering the soil. Obviously, compaction reduces permeability, and it also reduces porosity, so the soil holds less water or air. Think of a slice of bread with all its large pores is light and fluffy. If we squeeze it hard, all the pores are gone, and it is harder and tighter and denser (compaction)

The picture below depicts a heathy soil with all its components from sand and clay to microbes, earthworms, and organic matter. This is the type of soil our plants love. 

Developing good soil structure is the most important part of water conservation in our landscapes and essential to have beautiful gardens. It is also the most cost-effective tool we have.

The benefits are many times greater than irrigation systems, rainwater harvesting, and water reuse combined. By using compost, native mulches, organic fertilizer, and trace minerals, our soil gets healthier, and problems decrease.

For example, a topsoil with a 3% organic matter content by weight can have a 60% porosity. If filled with 35% air and 25% water, it can hold over 120,000 gallons of water in the top 18” per acre and the subsoil can hold even more! A gardener

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