Cherry trees are abloom
comments ()The Japanese cherry trees are in full bloom at the Dallas Arboretum. It is a magical moment every spring during the Dallas Blooms event, which continues through April 10. I say “moment”...
View ArticleRain puts damper on coop tour
comments ()The second annual Peep at the Coops tour in East Dallas was rained out. Organizers called off the event early Sunday and rescheduled it for May 22. Word did not circulate fast enough,...
View ArticleGreat deal on spider lilies
comments ()Through Thursday, Calloway’s is offering a special price on the fall-blooming red spider lily (Lycoris radiata): three bulbs for $3. The deal is good for online orders only; you must provide...
View ArticleGeraniums already
comments ()On Thursday (March 1) only, Calloway’s is discounting its fresh shipment of so-called bedding geraniums by $2. Six-inch pots are regularly priced $6.99. Red, pink and white blossoms....
View ArticleFertilize orchids organically
comments ()Longtime Dallas Morning News garden columnist Howard Garrett shares his wife’s routine for growing healthy orchid plants and coaxing them to rebloom. Orchids do not like frequent watering;...
View ArticleWhich are more awesome? Clouds of cherry blossoms or tons of tulips?
comments ()Flower watchers at the Dallas Arboretum tell me the blooms on the ornamental cherry trees should be at their peak by Monday. Thousands of tulips are blooming now. The weekend would be an...
View ArticleWilliams-Sonoma blesses farm chic
comments ()Williams-Sonoma, the sophisticated, high-end retailer of gourmet goods, has turned its designer eye on the chicken coop and bee hive. Making your own cheeses, canning homegrown vegetables...
View ArticleFight pollution in your own breathing space
comments ()If Mexico City, with its reputation for very bad air, can improve its ozone level with walls of plants, we local gardeners could encourage Dallas and the suburbs to adopt one of the...
View ArticleThere’s a new garden in town
comments ()Belo Garden, funded in large part by Belo Corp., officially opened Thursday. Downtown workers and residents and a couple of grackles settled in before the opening ceremony was over. Why?...
View ArticleDallas Zoo plant sale
comments ()The Dallas Zoo has a plant sale every spring, but most years zoo employees and volunteers buy up the inventory and it rarely goes public. According to Susan Eckert, who handles PR, the zoo...
View ArticleDo you garden or do you landscape?
comments ()I love this new blog Gardenista, brought to you by the folks who created the highly popular DIY home-decorating blog Remodelista. I find everything Michelle Slatalla writes entertaining, and...
View ArticleOrganics guru Garrett speaks against mosquito spray
comments ()Dallas Morning News columnist Howard Garrett, who offers organic solutions to gardeners and homeowners, is on the agenda to voice his opposition before the Dallas City Council Wednesday...
View ArticleGarden visionary Wasowski dies
comments ()Andy Wasowski, one half of the team that touted landscaping with native Texas plants long before it became the trendy — albeit important — garden call of today, died Wednesday at 73. He and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dallas Arboretum’s large koi protected under recycled billboards
comments ()Insecticides containing permethrins are toxic to koi and other ornamental pond fish. (Dallas Morning news) UPDATE: Creative Water Gardens in Garland advised the Dallas Arboretum to use...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Welcome the monarch butterflies
comments ()Seasonal cool fronts are urging monarchs into their fall migration to Mexico. (Toby Talbot) Recent cold fronts (with more on the way) are pushing the annual migrating monarchs through North...
View ArticleSafe remedy to rid lawn of fire ants
comments ()Pestered by fire ants? Mounds tend to pop up in the lawn after rains, like those we has last weekend. Howard Garrett’s column in Thursday’s gardening content spells out a safe (for people...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Southern Living talks gardening at State Fair
comments ()The venerable Southern Living magazine, which has more Texas subscribers than any October Magic 'Bride' is a sasanqua camellia that blooms in fall. Evergreen, conical and featuring small...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Got bare dirt in your garden? Here’s a Saturday-only remedy
comments ()Garden club plant sales like the two described below are great places, I have found, to Red oxblood lilies, a heirloom plant, are hard to find. (The Dallas Morning News) shop for both...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Roses to sigh for
comments ()The English rose hybridizer David Austin has revealed its six new roses for next spring. David Austin's 'Salisbury' rose, new for 2013 (David Austin) The British company’s plants are known...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Orchids on sale. Hint, hint
For Valentine’s Day only, all Calloway’s locations in North Texas have discounted their orchid plants in 6-inch pots to $16.98, down from the regular $29.99. How thoughtful. They all are Phalaenopsis...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dallas, it’s time to buy camellias, that Southern belle
Camellias, an evergreen shrub that gifts Dallas homeowners with luxurious blooms in the 'Jessica's Ruffles' camellia (Dallas Morning News) dead of winter, are blooming now in North Texas landscapes....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Will it get too cold for just-planted spring color?
As a Dallas native, I know that almost every year we suffer the so-called Easter cold snap. Lows early next week are predicted to drop to the 30s, in advance of Easter on March 31. Retail nurseries...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A purple pomegranate for Dallas-area gardens
Here’s a new twist: a purple pomegranate. Named ‘Purple Sunset,’ the small ornamental shrub has barely arrived in local independent nurseries. Snag one for a large container or a specimen plant in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Two-for-one orchid sale at Calloway’s
Two or four 4-inch orchid pots in one big container could make a pretty swell centerpiece for this week’s holiday suppers. If entertaining is on your calendar, take advantage of Calloway’s buy one,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
I tend more than 30 rosebushes, but I didn’t know this
I know roses can be buried too deeply in the soil, but I did not know roses, like trees, have The illustration shows how much stem below the graft union (left) or crown (right) should be exposed....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dallasites want to see your water-wise landscape
Show off your water-wise front yard in the savedallaswater.com tour. (Dallas Morning News Staff ) Enter the contest to be included in the Dallas Water Utilities visit site to read more]
View ArticleClik here to view.
Avoid planting impatiens this spring
A fungus that devastates common impatiens, perhaps North Texas’ most popular summer shade plant, has been confirmed in Texas. It wiped out the Dallas Arboretum’s 20,000 Impatiens with downy mildew...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It’s clearance season at Dallas-area garden shops
Local garden retailers usually mark down their inventory around July 4th, and that is true this year. Already I have seen notices of discounts at several of my favorite shops. Caladiums provide...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dallas gardeners get second chance for homegrown tomatoes
Early July is the time to set out transplants for fall tomatoes. Indy retailers have fresh stock now or will by this weekend. Young plants, if kept watered, grow and grow through the heat Plant starts...
View ArticleClik here to view.
You can grow your own citrus orchard in Dallas
I’ll bet there’s a run on lemon and lime trees this weekend. Dallasite Billy Velten makes a citrus orchard sound so doable — and so far north of the Rio Grande Valley. I have one Loaded with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Old East Dallas tomato thief identified
I noticed a green tomato in the lawn this morning — not where it belongs. Something has been eating my homegrown tomatoes. A rat was my first suspicion, after eyeing the wounds on the fruits, still...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Today is sad day at the Dallas Arboretum
Have you heard? Jimmy Turner’s last day at the Dallas Arboretum is today. visit site to read more]
View ArticleClik here to view.
Best bulbs sale Saturday in East Texas
Rain lily bulbs in pinks, yellow and white are perennials, popping up after seasonal rains. (Dallas Morning News) The Smith County master gardeners have secret sources for some of the 60-plus spring-...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Pick still-green tomatoes before nightfall
A hard freeze is predicted overnight in all of North Texas, including Dallas’ inner city, which enjoys (in cold seasons) a few degrees of warmth from heat-absorbing concrete. If you’ve got fruit on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
North Texas gardens, landscapes in mortal danger if forecast holds
The National Weather Service says Dallas will be at or below freezing for 6 days, dire news for North Texas landscapes. (The Dallas Morning News)visit site to read more]
View ArticleClik here to view.
Two-for-one orchids at Calloway’s Thursday
Buy 2-for-1 orchids like this Thursday. (Sanx) Fort Worth-based Calloway’s Nursery has an antidote for mid-winter blues. On Thursday only, you can buy one orchid and get a second free at any North...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Grim news about monarch butterflies
Plant milkweed to help endangered monarchs. (Denton Record Chronicle) The overwintering monarch population in Mexico again has dropped sharply, according to the numbers reported by World Wildlife...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Monarchs are arriving, and they need food fast
Mexican milkweed is critical to the survival of diminishing monarchs. (Dale Clark) A garden reader emailed that she saw her first monarch of the year in her Flower Mound backyard. It … [visit site to...
View Article
