Plant Focus: Turk’s Cap Malvaviscus arboreus

This North Texas native excels in our climate and should have a place in nearly every garden. This perennial can get over four feet tall and nearly three feet wide in the far north of it’s habitat. In warmer climates where it grows year-round it can tower over seven feet tall. The Turk’s Cap can tolerate a wide variety of soil and water conditions and it has adapted to a wide range of climates with a range that extends from USDA zone 7 all the way south to Florida, Cuba, Mexico, and the entirety of the Gulf Coast. In southern climates that rarely get freezing weather the Turk’s Cap is an evergreen plant and will flower year-round. Further north it will die back to the ground in colder weather and reemerge every spring as a woody perennial. Malvaviscus arboreus is often found as an understory plant where it thrives in…

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All About Mulch

Garden mulch is simple topic that is often misunderstood by so many people. Mulch is far more than just a decorative finish for a garden bed. Used properly, mulch is one of the key ingredients for maintaining a healthy landscape. Used improperly and mulch can actually kill plants and drive off precious moisture. Let’s start by discussing dyed mulches. Mulch that has been dyed red or black is some of the most popular mulch out there, and one doesn’t have to look twice to realize why. It looks fantastic and can really make a boring garden bed pop. It used to be the case that dyed mulches used toxic and unnatural dyes. On occasion, especially with the cheapest mulch from the big box stores, this is still the case. By and large however, most dyed mulches use iron oxide for red and carbon for black and darker brown mulch. The…

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4th of July Garden Activities

Independence Day is uniquely popular for outdoor activities: socializing, grilling, pool parties, and of course fireworks. Do you have fireworks going off in your garden? You should! The outdoor garden area can be one of the most popular gathering places for your friends and family. Many many summer plants are just absolutely exploding with color right now! Crape myrtles in particular are showing off their blooms with a dizzying display of color. If you’re interested in planting one, it is the perfect time to select the exact color you want as they are all in bloom at the nursery right now. Here in North Texas almost every crape myrtle you choose will be freeze tolerant for any weather we get with few exceptions. If your crape myrtle is not blooming or even showing substantial dead branches and trunks, AND is shooting up abundant new growth from the ground it has…

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The heat is here!

I know everyone has noticed but the heat is here! Late June and July’s warm temperatures support vigorous growth for a wide range of plants. Heat-loving vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, okra, and sweet potatoes thrive during this time, producing abundant yields. Flowers such as zinnias, sunflowers, marigolds, and cosmos are currently displaying vibrant colors and attract pollinators. One thing to note however is that many perennial flowers and shrubs reach their peak bloom in July in North Texas. Examples include daylilies, coneflowers, salvias, butterfly bushes, and hydrangeas. Several fruiting trees, such as peaches, plums, and figs, are also bearing fruit and some of those like sand plums are already ripe, while berries like blackberries and blueberries are also ready for harvesting. That means it’s time to start planning for fall! This is also the time when we start to see problems with tomatoes, such as blossom end rot. This…

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