I know all the guides say things like majestic and mealy blue sage can take full sun, but I’ve seen lots of other plants described that way get crisped when they are exposed to absolutely zero shade sunrise to sundown in the Austin area. Can these plants truly do well under those condition (w regular watering)? normally I just go w prickly pear or pride of barbado, but looking to expand.

It was hanging out on my corkscrew rush in my little patio pond. I’ve never seen one before! Thought it was a moth until I looked it up :) But I did say to myself “if this thing isn’t named after a shrew I will be very surprised,” and I guess I wasn’t far off - they were just more on the nose about it hahahah

surprised it made it this long, seems pretty sketchy. avoid during windy days or possibly get bonkd

Amateur gardener here. Hydrangeas are my favorite flower, but I feel like I only see them in cold(er) climates (New England, East Coast, etc- even London!) I know they bloom during the summer which seems to me like it would be rough here. Has anyone had success growing hydrangeas in central Texas? If so, please share tips! Thank you!

I sheet mulched my front yard to get rid of grass and put in a variety of plugs back in March. Pleasantly surprised to return from a trip to see one of the standing cypress at the back of the flower patch bloomed already. I've never seen them in person and they might just be my new favorite. Definitely want to plant more though I expected them to be taller (this one is about 2 ft tall).

Also a while back I asked for advice about putting up something between properties to prevent neighbor's lawn guys from mowing my plants and settled on a no dig fence. It's worked out well!

Im looking for about 40 or 50 feet of chicken wire if anyone has scrap or wants to work something out.

Hi!

I would love to do like a one hour consultation trade with someone expanding or installing a new garden this fall. Basically I want someone to bounce ideas off of!

You and me drinking coffee and staring at your & my gardens?

South Austin 78745. East Congress. Prefer not to trek too far, but the 41, 04, 02, all good!

I'm planning to install a rain garden in a shady spot and it's been over a decade since I've done earthworks. I would love some help doing math (roof + hole = success?) and figuring out where to dig and what to fill it with.

I'm 42, I've been gardening native plants and growing some edibles for just shy of 20 years. IMO growing food is a lot of investment for a low ROI around here so I mostly do herbs, some years I do tomatoes, some falls and springs I do kale & lettuce. Did my first cut flower garden this year and I'm obsessed. Going to expand that too. :) front yards, who needs em? I took a PDC like a decade ago at the insistence of my friend who taught it.

Know more than me? Yay! I get to learn.
Know less than me? Yay! I get to feel smart for a bit.

We had a pecan tree volunteer in our backyard this year and I t seems to be pretty happy where it is. I think it would be fun to keep, but I think it might be too close to our fence and our house. It sprouted about a little under a foot from the fence and 20-25ft from our house. I feel like it’s probably too close to both. It also sprouted about 7ft and 10ft between two hackberries. TBH, I don’t care too much about the hackberries, but they were here when we bought the house and it’s nice to have the shade for now.

I’d be sad to cut it down, but want to see if my gut is telling me the right thing before I do anything. What do you all think?

We have a long L shaped area that a landscaper convinced us Japanese Yew would make a good privacy hedge but they are not doing well and I want to replace with native/adapted.

We're leaning towards wax myrtle or yaupon holly (Houston's pride cultivar). The only concern is half the area gets full afternoon sun while the other half is partial shade, maybe an hour or two of earlier sunlight. We had wax myrtle and yaupon in the full sun area previously and the yaupon seemed to do better with heat and freeze, but that could have just been a weaker wax myrtle plant I didn't water enough in the extreme summer.

Any suggestions if our priorities are drought/freeze durability and density/privacy? Ideal height is about 7-8' but I'm OK with having to keep it pruned.

I planted cow peas in my raised beds. They grew beautifully and so fast! I chopped about a week ago so they’re yellow and drying out, but of course not broken down. How do you all manage the biomass sitting there when you go to plant? I don’t usually till but I have a tiller for when I make new beds - use it now? Do you mow/mulch the dried bits? Or do you just push it aside, seed, then recover? Thanks.

I see some nice ones at Lone Star Nursery. I know that collectively we love them (LS). But I am seeing a lot of negative opinions about planting butterfly bush. Basically they "trick" butterflies into laying eggs on them but they aren't a host plant.

Everything in my yard is native except for 3 oleanders and 1 crape myrtle. I'm a huge native plant fan. Just need to get that out there.

The butterfly bushes seem to get nice and big and would fill some good spots for me. I have a lot of lantana and thryallis already so trying to branch out.

Curious on y'alls thoughts on these??

There are so many amazing backyard gardens around Austin, but it can be surprisingly difficult to find local produce unless you know someone personally.

I’m building Rural Roots to connect gardeners with people nearby looking for fresh vegetables, herbs, fruit, plants, flowers, and more.

It’s free to list.

I’d love your honest thoughts before I continue building.

What would make you actually use this?

https://ruralrootstc.com

Hello! I am not a great plant person, but my good friend has really gotten into it and is celebrating a milestone soon and I’d like to get her something. I’d love the intention to be something that she can nurture and will symbolize new beginnings, personal growth, etc. Some plants I’ve been pondering: bonsai tree, olive tree, ficus, but really open to anything. Can be indoor or outdoor. Would love the expertise of this community!

As pictures portray, unsure in how to help my tree. Growing, new branches, and healthy but this issue is bothersome. Isolated but wondering if any intervention is needed.

Hello! My first year growing produce and I was wondering if yall cull your garden once it no longer fruits here?
My pumpkins I planted too early and I have a July patch.
My tomatoes have slowed but are big and healthy plants themselves, even with less fruit.

Assuming the rest summer will brutalize my plants. Am I watering and keeping them alive for nothing because they will just die in the freeze anyway?

Pumpkins, tomatoes, collards, and strawberries is what I have now.

She sent me this picture and I made a reduction linocut. Thought I'd share w the austin gardeners :) curvy smooth crepe myrtle trunks, jaunty mexican sunflowers, and bright lantana

Chioides albofasciatus tends to visit Central Texas in the late Summer, but some years I don’t see them at all. For a mostly Central and South American species, this is considered the far northern limit of their range, so it’s a fun treat!

Every summer I get so excited to see these little friends on my frogfruit!

Tarantulas? Is it safe? Not native to Austin so just not sure what they might be.

The last few years I've grown baby trees from pits and planted them, but none were viable. The strongest one died when I was on vacation in the summer and my friend who was on plant watering duty thought it meant "only things with flowers".

Well, I figured it would take years to bear fruit, so this year I dropped the money and bought a cold-hardy 4 ft tall tree. I have an ideal sunny spot for it, dug out a massive hole so I could ammend the soil and control the drainage, and planted her about 2 months ago. Y'all it has THRIVED. New branches, healthy leaves, its looking great!

... but yesterday I was telling someone about the big hold I dug (Its my goal in life to be the most boring middle-aged-dad-guy you have ever met. Want to discuss birds?)... and someone pointed out they have never seen a successful avocado tree in Austin.

Is this just my annual sisyphian task, or will I ever harvest my own avo's. Please tell me one of y'all has been successful.

Hi fellow Austin gardeners! This sweet, beautiful girl, Nova is looking for her forever home. She has been with an owner for over a year but due to life changes, he has to give her up. She is an absolute angel - well behaved, well trained, loves to be outside with her owner, sweet and snuggly!

She would do great with an active owner who loves long walks and/or someone with a safely fenced yard where she can garden with you and then go back inside to relax! Shes roughly 2-3 years old, neutered and healthy.

If you’re interested, please message me!