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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 March 18, 2026
by Brenda Beust Smith | The Lazy Gardener
If you’re not having any gardening challenges, this might not affect you. But if you are — or just love super-hardy flowers in general — here’s your chance to see up close:
1. Texas Superstars® and
2. A Louisiana Iris that really popped my eyes out! First …
Galveston County Master Gardeners want to introduce all of us — and especially newcomers — to the now-40-year-old Texas Superstars® plant program (texassuperstar.com/). This Texas treasure focuses on surviving our special challenges (tough winters, droughts, floods, blustering heat, and picky, PICKY soils) — which can vary unbelievably around our multiple ecosystems where, often, the twains don’t comfortably meet!
First let’s set the foundation with a Texas soil map
Google “Texas Soil Maps” photos and you’ll find the huge variety of soils and varying “Texas” climates, and where they sometimes overlap. Unsuspected soil challenges can make gardening very challenging, especially for new gardeners.
40 years ago, to help puzzled Texans (and steadily-growing numbers of incoming) gardeners, Texas A&M (with Texas Dept. of Agriculture’s Go Texan program) initiated the now wonderful, complex Texas SuperStars* project. Credit also goes to Texas Nursery & Landscape Assn. (TNLA) other participating groups, including Galveston County Master Gardeners. Don’t miss GCMG’s upcoming Texas Superstar Trail! A few Superstars you will see include:
Texas Bluebonnet, ‘Alamo Fire’, Lupinis texenis
‘Henry Duelburg’ Salvia, ‘Salvia farinacea’
- Texas Bluebonnet, ‘Alamo Fire’, Lupinis texenis (the 1st identified Texas Superstar® in 2000). Hardy winter annual native to Texas. 1 foot tall; width — 1 foot wide. Bloom time is March to May. Low water maintenance. Plant scarified seeds in October and November
- ‘Henry Duelburg’ Salvia, ‘Salvia farinacea’ (Texas Superstar® 2006). Texas native, full sun, 3′ tall & wide/ Bloom time Spring > Fall, showy blue flowers. Adapts to most soils, drought, humidity, and heat tolerance. Attracts bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
- Belinda’s Dream Rose, Rosa ‘Belinda’s Dream” (Texas Superstar® 2002) Full sun for best blooms, 5′ tall, 4′ wide. Well-draining soil. Moderate water usage. Rich fragrance. Disease-resistant, Earth Kind® designation
- Rock Rose (Texas Mallow), Pavonia lasiopetala. (Texas Superstar® 2021). Native shrub, full sun to light shade, 2′-4′ tall. Well-drained soil; prefers higher pH soil. Low water usage, Tolerates heat, drought, and sun, Blooms April – December. Use in xeriscapes, rock gardens, and mixed borders
- Belinda’s Dream Rose, Rosa ‘Belinda’s Dream” (Texas Superstar® 2002) Full sun for best blooms, 5′ tall, 4′ wide. Well-draining soil. Moderate water usage. Rich fragrance. Disease-resistant, Earth Kind® designation
- Gregg’s Blue Mistflower, Conoclinium greggii, (Texas Superstar® August 2024). (“King among butterfly plants” (reports Mike Arnold, PhD). Herbaceous perennial native, Full sun, well-drained soil, Low maintenance and carefree; Use in mixed borders, rock gardens, pocket prairies, mass plantings for slopes, pollinator garden. Reference: https://texassuperstar.com.
DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF FLOWERS! Texas Superstars®Science is documenting remarkable ways flowers impact our mental health. Regardless of age or gender, receiving flowers almost always triggers genuine/excited, extended smiles and reduces stress levels beyond the immediate response (5.5 points lower than those without flowers (especially yellow ones) and for days afterwards, reducing depression, anxiety, agitation, etc.).
How? Why?
Just the sight of flowers’ soft, organic shapes/colors/scents signal stimulate brain nerves, triggering hormone-related relaxation hormones and activating brain regions associated with calmness and positive feelings. Check links above for more info!
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Louisiana Iris
RECENTLY, WHEN I WAS SUPPOSED to be focused on financial matters, I had trouble not staring at the most incredible Louisiana iris in front of me. It was so mesmerizing, I almost expected it to say, “Quit staring at me, lady!”
I’d never seen such lush, rich, deep, DEEP satiny-purple coloring! Turns out the official name is Black Gamecock, and it’s an award-winning late-spring-early summer-blooming, 2-3′ LA iris that thrives in wet, boggy, or shallow water with full-to-partial sun.
It’s also one of ‘too-many-to-count’ blooming now in Frances Brand’s personal Humble gardens (pictured above), now, in “soil that drains well” and “is not too boggy or very wet.” Full afternoon sun. Usually they bloom in March, but this year started in mid-January, stopped for the freeze, and started up again in mid-March!
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‘Tis the season when most gardening clubs, etc., are desperately trying to fill their club speaker schedules for the coming year. You can’t do better than to contact our many speciality gardening groups! Most have speakers (have to ask them about speakers, conditions, etc.!) and are always interested in attracting new members and sharing what’s new with their favorite plants.
Plant Societies, almost all of which have members who speak to groups. I have not had a chance to update this list, but these are the best folks to speak on their favorite plants! (Please let me know if any of you are no longer active: lazygardenerbrenda@gmail.com)
- AZALEAS. Azalea Trail riveroaksgardenclub.org (membership by invitation only)
- BEGONIAS. absastro.tripod.com/branch.htm
- BONSAI. houstonbonsai.com
- BULBS. Garden Club of Houston Bulb & Plant Mart, gchouston.org (membership by invitation only)
- BROMELIADS bromeliadsocietyhouston.org
- CACTUS & SUCCULENTS Houston Cactus & Succulent Society. hcsstex.org
- CAMELLIAS Houston Camellia Society. Email: gedavis456@aol.com
- DAYILIES (numerous chapters) daylilies.org. Click on “Regional Activities”
- FERNS Gulf Coast Fern Society. gcfernsoc.org
- HERBS Numerous chapters, including (based in Houston) Herb Society of America/South Texas Unit. herbsociety-stu.org
- HIBISCUS American Hibiscus Society/Lone Star Chapter. lonestarahs.org
- MASTER GARDENERS programs near you: mastergardener.tamu.edu
- NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY OF TEXAS / Houston chapter. (numerous area chapters) npsot.org/Houston
- OLEANDERS. International Oleander Society (based in Galveston. oleander.org
- ORCHIDS. Houston Orchid Society houstonorchidsociety.org
- PALMS. Houston Palm Society. palms.org/houston
- PLUMERIAS. Plumeria Society of America. theplumeriasociety.org
- ROSES. Houston Rose Society. houstonrose.org & Texas Rose Rustlers (antique roses). texasroserustlers.org
- TREES. Trees for Houston treesforhouston.org
- VEGETABLES. Urban Harvest. urbanharvest.org
NOTES: If I omitted any (GARDENING ONLY) specialty groups, please let me know. Houston also has literally thousands of neighborhood garden clubs. If you can’t find one in your area, log on: Houston Federation of Garden Clubs: houstonfederationgardenclubs.org.
Best of luck to you! FAVOR? If I’ve overlooked any groups or you have disbanded, please let me know so I can add/or post corrections:
Would you also let me know:
1. If you successfully schedule someone, to confirm that the group is still active?
2. If you simply can’t reach or get a response from groups? I’ll try to run down another source for that plant/topic for you. And I’ll inform readers to remove
that group from this list.
THANKS!!!
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ATTN:
— 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: What Is A Healthy Soil?
Continuing with last week’s theme, we will be exploring what healthy soil is, how to build and maintain it, and more. Please read on to enjoy the writings and teachings of our late founder, John Ferguson.
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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