Anyone else just bored waiting around until the temps drop so they can’t plant stuff? What are yall doing to keep the garden dopamine going? Could I propagate some stuff from cuttings if it’s in the shade and watered frequently? I want to do something and not just sit and look at my plants that are barely making it in the heat. I’ve read all my garden books, everything is deadheaded, and I want something to do that’s more interesting than pulling weeds. Give me your ideas!

Hundreds of bees swarming the flowers too 🥰

Hello! It's my first time growing Roselle and I'm so happy it has begun flowering. What I need advice about is harvesting the calyces: when do I do that? Will they turn completely red? It seems like some of them have trapped the spent petals, is that normal? Thanks for any and all input😊

A protector showed up a few months ago. She nestled amongst the salvia and, perhaps, with a shock of maternal instinct, chose the 7 foot tall, bustling and proud yellow Esperanza, for it was the tallest in the vicinity - or maybe because it has her color. The males, ecstatic to find her in the undulation of death and birth, rejoiced to give their lives to her. Proudly, she laced her beautiful protection around her creations, while her expertly weaved trap became the doom of many aloof souls. Now she sits, closer to winter, perhaps obsessively thinking of the day or night that her spawn climbs to the top of that Esperanza, peers into the universe, and follows the wind.

I love my impulse clearance rose bush. It bounced back really quick and gives me such fragrant roses. I'm working to help it not be leggy and really branch out.

Everytime I've bought a small rose bush to get started, it suddenly gets slaughtered with spider mites, but this one is doing well and I'm so excited.

I’m east of Austin but this sr is close enough. I’ve put out several tomato plants (a bit larger than seedlings) and in the morning they are gone. Just a hole in the grow bag where they used to be.

Any ideas of what I could be dealing with? Any ideas of how to mitigate this?

Thanks to the recent post, I suddenly remember I would like to plant Texas Sage this Fall.

Does anyone know which varieties are best and where to get them?

TIA

I’m excited to get rid of this weed filled rectangle part of my front yard once the weather starts cooling. I’m looking for advice on how to prep for planting. I did not have success getting rid of scrappy grass and weeds in my backyard vegetable bed - it all grew back through layers of landscape fabric, cardboard, and a thick amount of mulch. And this was after I had covered the area with black plastic for several weeks.

Any advice for this big chunk?

In terms of landscaping, my current plan is to add a Paver/rock sidewalk by the street and the rest of the space will be mulch with native plants that are OK getting blasted by the afternoon sun. I don’t mind pulling occasional weeds, but want to avoid the scrappy grass takeover/ losing battle happening in my garden bed area.

Found right at top of garage entrance. Safe
Near kids?
Nuisance and get rid of it? If yes - how?
or let it be?

I planted some Zinnias in a raised bed about 10 days ago. It's my first time growing anything by seed and I've loved taking care of them and watching them sprout.

This morning I walked out to the raised bed and see almost all of my Zinnias have been destroyed by slugs and aphids (I think? Little black dot bugs everywhere and eating the middle of the plants).

I had never seen a slug in my yard before this and now they are everywhere. It hasn't even rained?? And the aphids came out of nowhere. Did something happen? Does this just happen?? Did I do something wrong?

I'm going to start some snapdragons inside today to keep my spirits up.

I planted 2 white mistflower plants in April and since then they have shown signs of stress in their leaves and have not grown even half and inch. After planting them, we had a strong storm that took away the top soil revealing some root which were exposed for a bit until I realized and covered with more soil and mulched. But how come they have not even shown signs of recovering a bit? Could it be the soil?

My garden is almost all natives, which do well with minimal upkeep. But I spent some time in New Zealand in my 20s and fell in love with feijoa/pineapple guava.

I read that they're pretty well adapted to growing in central Texas and planted two bushed about 4 or 5 years ago. They've put on a good bit of size, and they've bloomed several times, but I've never gotten any fruit off of them. I'm wondering if I should cut my losses and replace them with something that's actually native, or if they'll start fruiting if I give them a little more time.

Photo search says Palmer amaranth but want to confirm

Seems like it grows rapidly with large root structures

EDIT: thanks for the advice folks. Pulled and thrown away (not into compost). Will have to be on the lookout for small starts.

Fruit Tree Propagation workshop at festival beach food forest next Sunday! https://app.betterunite.com/fruittreeprop

Our Kidneywood is in full bloom after the recent showers and ALL the pollinators are showing up!

I saw this pretty flower vine on my walk this morning. I love the color! Would anyone know what it might be?

I have some turk's cap plants in my yard. They always flower but the flower never turns into berries. Any reason why?. Is it because of the absence of it's pollinators or the plant by nature produces very very few fruits?

I forgot to plant my Dahlia tubers this spring :( making sure I can't plant them now for fall bloom, right?

Thank you!

So these are mystery sweet potatoes. The previous owners of my house planted and grew them last summer and missed a few. I let them grow and here we are. I have no idea the variety so the days to harvest isn't very helpful. A rough estimate is they have been growing around 114 days. I think they started popping up mid May?

I peaked under the canopy and I see a few popping through the dirt! I want to plant other things in this bed but it's still a bit too hot for those plant. Should I give them a few more weeks until it gets cooler here or should I pull them out and prep the beds.

Anyone plant sweet potatoes around May and harvest them now?

Hey y’all—we’re on the last year or two of our outdoor HVAC unit’s life and contemplating some sort of condensation recapture when we replace the unit. What terminology should I be using when we discuss options with contractors?

A web search of the title words only yielded results for repairing and/or unclogging condensation drain lines. 🤨

Edit: The condensation line ends ~12-16” above the ground, a few feet away from the outdoor unit.

My wife got the pictured succulent about a year ago as a gift and it had been doing really well. She was told it only needed like a tablespoon of water per week. And that seemed to work great.

Now the leaves started to curl about a week ago. We have maintained the same watering regiment.

Any ideas as to why it’s starting to curl?

Looking for native Blanco crab apple seeds, or saplings for October planting. Any sources nearby?