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Author Archives: sheryl.williams
What’s Happening in the Austin April Vegetable Garden
Enjoy the April Vegetable Garden! All warm weather vegetables can be planted during the month of April. Remember to choose vegetable varieties that grow in Central Texas. Seeds or Transplants? You can find almost all vegetables available to purchase as transplants for the April vegetable garden. However, you can save money by planting seeds when possible. Some vegetables like tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers need to be transplanted instead of planting seeds to allow the crops to mature before hot weather sets in and extends the productive period of… Read More →
Texas Tough Plants Featured in 2024 Webinar series
Texas Tough Plants for Austin These past couple of years have been especially hard on our landscapes. The extreme cold and summer droughts have left gaping holes in many of our yards, and it’s hard to know which plants should be chosen as replacements. Help is on the way! Webinar Series Focused on Plant Selection Travis County Texas A&M AgriLife will be hosting several programs in 2024 to help Austin area gardeners be more successful. Topics range from native landscapes to container gardening. The program features experts from… Read More →
Genista Caterpillars Munch on Mountain Laurels and More!
Caterpillars on your Mountain Laurel? Spring seems to have arrived in Central Texas and my mountain laurels are putting on blooms. If you’re like me and enjoy going in for a good sniff of those grape candy smelling flowers, while you’re there take a look around for caterpillars that may be munching on foliage. Genista caterpillars can be quite common on mountain laurel but may also be found on crape myrtle and honeysuckle. These caterpillars can grow up to one inch in length and are greenish yellow to… Read More →
What’s Happening in the Austin March Vegetable Garden
The March Vegetable Garden Checklist by Paula Wolfel March is the month that Austin gardeners wait for all year. In much of Travis County, you can plant your vegetable garden in mid to late March. An important step before planting your garden is to prepare your soil for its new occupants. Also, this month, you can start hardening off seedlings that were grown indoors to gradually expose the tender plants to the wind and sun, and acclimate to outdoor conditions. Finally, although warm temperatures seem to be here… Read More →
Leafcutting Ants
Large Mounds Made by Leafcutting Ants Too Texas leafcutting ants, Atta texana, are fascinating ants native to Texas, Louisiana, and parts of Mexico. Leafcutting ants create large, extensive colonies, often with multiple mounds clustered in a single area. Mounds are volcano or crater-shaped with a centralized opening and may be mistaken for fire ant mounds, but fire ant mounds do NOT have a centralized opening. Usually, worker ants of this species, who forage for food, are the most commonly seen leafcutting ants, but in spring it is possible… Read More →
What’s Happening in the Austin February Vegetable Garden
The Austin February Vegetable Garden Checklist by Paula Wolfel This month is filled with multi-tasking in the garden. For those who have a winter garden, you will spend this month cleaning up from last’s month’s freeze and continuing to be on the defense, protecting your garden from temperatures that drop below 32 degrees. Take advantage of the warm days and pull weeds and pick and discard any frozen/defrosted, dead leaves or plants. Early in the month, work 1-2” of compost into your soil and put a layer of… Read More →
Exoskeletons – The Part That Goes Crunch
Why Insects Crunch by Wizzie Brown Insects and other arthropods have an exoskeleton, which means their “bones” are on the outside of their body. The exoskeleton serves as a protective covering, helps prevent desiccation, allows muscles to attach to it from the inside for movement, and provides sensory information. Four Layers The exoskeleton is made up of four layers: epicuticle, procuticle, epidermis and basement membrane. The most outer layer, the epicuticle, serves as a barrier to the outside environment and helps the insect avoid desiccation. If you have… Read More →
What’s Happening in the Austin January Vegetable Garden
The Austin January Vegetable Garden Checklist by Paula Wolfel Many in Austin saw at least one freeze by early December. With that occurrence, I picked the last of my summer eggplants and made Pasta alla Norma and Eggplant Parmigiana (both can be stored in the freezer if you have a lot of eggplant) and I pickled my jalepenos. And with that is the end of my summer garden—except my chard—and magically space in the garden is free for more winter vegetables like greens, lettuces, brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower,… Read More →
Woollybear Tiger Moth Caterpillars
Woollybear Caterpillars Common Right Now Woollybear caterpillars of the Tiger moth have been a common sight lately in the Central Texas area. These insects are native to the United States and are sometimes called “woollybear caterpillars”. “Woollybear caterpillar” is a more general term that refers to various species of caterpillars that are densely covered in hairs, called setae, and tend to wander. Common Color Variations While these caterpillars can be highly variable for individual species, the common ones seen lately are woollybear (Isabella tiger moth), saltmarsh caterpillar (saltmarsh… Read More →
What’s Happening in Austin’s December Vegetable Garden
December Vegetable Garden Checklist by Paula Wolfel The short lived cold front that passed through a few weeks ago definitely teased Austinites. My basil plants took a beating and my summer squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes that were already struggling from the drought did not survive. But my eggplant and peppers are still going strong, so I face the struggle of every Austin gardener: when do you call it quits and move on to the next season!? Hopefully by now you have your brassicas, root vegetables, and leafy greens… Read More →