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Author Archives: sheryl.williams
Cactus Bugs by Wizzie Brown
What Are These Bugs on My Cactus?! Cactus coreids or cactus bugs, Chelinidea vittiger, are shield-shaped insects with piercing-sucking mouthparts. They are most commonly red but can vary in color. They have distinctive antennae; if you look at the antennae in cross section, they are triangular in shape. Adults have fully developed wings while immatures, or nymphs, do not and are sometimes mistaken for weevils. Cactus coreids feed in groups on prickly pear cactus. Often the first indication of damage is round, yellowish spots on the cactus pads…. Read More →
Kern’s Flower Beetles by Wizzie Brown
What is This Beetle in My Flowers? Kern’s flower beetles are a type of scarab beetle, closely related to May and June beetles. They are medium in size, reaching about 1/3 inch in length. There are multiple color variations ranging from all black, to brownish-orange or creamy white with black markings. Should You Treat for Them? These beetles eat pollen in multiple types of flowers. Often you will find numerous beetles in a single flower. Treatment of these beetles is optional as they feed on pollen and typically… Read More →
All Wisteria Are Not Created Equally by Gayleen Rabakukk
Not All Wisterias Are the Same Last month we decided to build a privacy screen to block our bedroom patio area. We settled on an open design with stock panel trellises and added planter boxes below. I was giddy at the prospect of another garden spot, imagining all sorts of vining vegetables climbing up the trellis. Nearly 12 feet of extra space for beans or peas! My husband had other ideas. “It’s permanent, I’d like something we can plant once, then it’ll grow for years.” He suggested wisteria… Read More →
In Austin’s May Vegetable Garden
Summer Season Has Arrived in the May Vegetable Garden It’s right about now that gardeners really settle in to bragging about what they are harvesting from their garden. It can be really annoying if yours isn’t as far along or if the deer and squirrels have picked everything clean. But if you are one of the lucky ones and are enjoying squash, cucumbers, and maybe even a tomato, pat yourself on the back. You deserve it for surviving the rough spring that we’ve had. May is the beginning… Read More →
Forest Tent Caterpillars by Wizzie Brown
Tent Caterpillars Start to Appear in April Forest tent caterpillars cause damage in the larval, or caterpillar, stage. Caterpillars are a greyish- brown color with bright blue and yellow stripes running down the sides of their body. The back of the caterpillar has white shoeprint/ keyhole markings. Larvae also have fine white hairs over their body but are not a stinging caterpillar. These caterpillars, although called tent caterpillars, do not make an actual tent like others in their group. Other tent caterpillars make a web between two branches… Read More →
Mexican Honeysuckle – First Responder from 2021 Winter Storm by Kirk Walden
Protective Covering Not Enough I have a lot of Mexican Honeysuckle (Justicia Spicigera) scattered around the front of my house. Too much, in fact that I couldn’t cover it all in anticipation of February’s storm. So, I chose to protect one of the largest patches near my front door. It was nearly four feet tall and six feet wide. I covered it with a tarp and weighted the corners down with large rocks. That turned out to be futile. When I uncovered it, the damage was evident. (Figure… Read More →
Ants and Termite Swarmers ID by Wizzie Brown
Watch for Flying Objects Soon it will be time for swarming insects to emerge out from their homes in the ground and fly into the air in search of a mate. Usually, this event coincides with warm temperatures and a significant rainfall event but can also occur if you forget to turn off your irrigation system. “Swarmer” or “alate” are other terms that describe the reproductive stage of ants and termites. These insects have wings when they initially leave the colony, but the wings are either shed or… Read More →
Novice Perennial Planter Meets the 2021 Winter Storm by Linda Burch
Learning to Garden In Texas In 2013, I moved to Round Rock. Texas, growing Zone 8B. I quickly learned that growing plants as a Master Gardener in Virginia required a whole new learning curve in Texas. I decided to plant Texas native and adaptive perennial plants along with a few annuals to keep the beds in my front and back yard in bloom from at least Spring through Fall each year. Bulbs, perennial ground covers, and annual seeds round out the planting. How Did Lantana Weather the Storm?… Read More →
Plant Pecans – The Bare Minimums by Ray Prewitt
The Other Best Time to Plant Pecans After discovering a small, mature, and very neglected pecan orchard on our new homestead some years back, the saying that the ‘best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago’ never rang truer. February is an important month for pecans and many other fruit and nut trees that thrive in our area. It’s my last chance to collect scions for grafting and my last chance to get bare-root trees in the ground to shore up production from my aging trees…. Read More →
Time to Plant Bare Root Fruit Trees by Alina Flasinska
Now that the big freeze is over (knock on wood) and we are coming up on the end of meteorological winter, it’s time to get those bare root fruit trees in the ground! You may have seen the tempting displays popping up in local stores and nurseries. After this cold weekend, I know I’ve started dreaming of a flush of blossoms in the spring and fresh fruit jams in the summer and fall. BARE ROOT FRUIT TREES A bare root fruit tree is a tree has been dug… Read More →