Silver and Gold

Silver and Gold

I’ve always said, despite the calendar, when the first sweet-smelling jonquil blooms, spring is here. My jonquils say it’s here. I didn’t grow up with access to nursery-purchased bulbs but did have a chance to see many a naturalized stand of them in my rural ancestral...
Helping Bluebirds in East Texas

Helping Bluebirds in East Texas

Thanks to extensive ecosystem and habitat changes, the ever popular eastern bluebird (“the songbird of happiness”) was once considered doomed to extinction. Although their numbers are now stable in America, mostly thanks to artificial nest boxes, the devastating...
Frozen in Time

Frozen in Time

Here we go again, having to deal with another round of devastating freeze damage. Severe cold can cause all types of problems for susceptible plants not prepared for it, especially tropicals and zone 8 evergreens from Asia. Freezing temperatures can damage tender...
Reasons for Not Topping Crapemyrtles

Reasons for Not Topping Crapemyrtles

And so, it begins: Crapemyrtle butchering season. The only pruning crapemyrtles ever need (if at all) is thinning the trunks as they are developing to the desired permanent number, removing suckers as they sprout at the base, and cutting out dead wood and crossing or...
From Tree to Shining Tree

From Tree to Shining Tree

He who plants trees upon his paternal estate repays a debt to his posterity which he owes to his ancestors. Newcastle Weekly Courant, England, 1837. Years ago, while teaching at SFA and helping with what is now SFA Gardens, one of our supporters was quoted as saying...