This past week has probably been a very busy time for most gardeners.

One component of creating a picturesque garden is choosing colors. Colors evoke an emotion, provide an aesthetic appeal, awaken a memory, express a traditional custom or grab our attention. Red is the color we’ve selected for the month of February. Other color options will be explored in fut…

What a week it has been. Temperatures colder than many gardeners have ever seen and probably never care to see again. Who would have ever thought we would experience so long a period of freezing cold weather?

Yes, planting season is here. Successful herb and vegetable gardens require planning, preparing the soil, selecting gardening equipment, choosing and handling seeds and transplants appropriately, irrigating, fertilizing, and controlling weeds.

Spring will officially be here before we know it, and there are a lot of garden chores to be done before it arrives. Now’s a good time to add compost and some organic fertilizer into your flower beds and vegetable gardens. There is still time to spread that thin layer of compost on your lawn…

As a parent to both dogs and cats, I like to be conscious of whether or not a particular plant will potentially cause them harm. Three common plants are severely toxic to pets. Pet parents should try to avoid placing these in or around their home and garden.

We are quickly approaching tomato season, one of a gardener’s most sought-after vegetable plants to grow. The past few years, I have seen a great increase in the demand for heirloom variety tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes are tomatoes that have not been crossbred or hybridized for at least 40 ye…

We share the same first name, we’re both Master Gardeners and we are next-door neighbors. We share something else: crazy ants. We wish to share some of what we’ve learned about these tiny nuisances.

Do you like tomatoes? Do you grow your own tomatoes? Did you know that tomato plants are usually the most popular plants grown in vegetable gardens? Do you also know that tomato plants are poisonous? Yep, that’s right. One of the most popular plants found growing in vegetable gardens is poisonous.

The visits to my daughter and her family in Chelmsford, England, have developed my interest in British daily activities like gardening. A documentary on the “Garden at Buckingham Palace” further drew my attention.

If you’re a gardener who is anxious for warm, spring weather to arrive so you can work in your garden, stop wishing and take advantage of the sunny, warm, spring-like days we occasionally do have this time of year.

As the new year begins, resolve to improve yourself and the environment by planting a pollinator-friendly garden. The flowers will add beauty to your environment and will provide food sources and habitat for butterflies, moths, hummingbirds, bees, wasps and other beneficial creatures. Your g…

I love to visit with new gardeners. Many times their excitement and enthusiasm actually become contagious. Just the other day, I had the opportunity to have a long visit with a very excited young man who wanted to learn how to grow plants that he and his wife could eat. He nor his wife had e…

Editor’s note: Victoria County Master Gardeners will feature “A Color for the Month” as part of a 2021 series. January is green. Watch the colors change in Gardeners’ Dirt each month.

I’ve noticed lots of full leaf bags out on curbs waiting to be picked up and taken to the landfill while driving to and from work. What a waste. Why take up unnecessary space in a landfill when your leaves could be so useful in your gardens and on your lawns? Fallen leaves are a wonderful fr…

I have a big dark secret and can no longer deny it. I crave starches. I dream of pasta and potatoes. I get giddy over bread. Cupcakes can rescue a horrible day. I will not be living a Keto lifestyle. The South Beach diet was difficult. The Atkins diet is torture. Maybe you want to admit that…

A new year brings another opportunity for all gardeners, new and experienced, to try their hand at growing their best garden yet. Gardeners that have planted lots of gardens over the years always seem to be very optimistic and have positive expectations for that next garden.

While looking back on 2020, I am proud of the learning opportunities Victoria Master Gardeners were able to provide in the early months of the year.

This month, my articles have all been about different types of Christmas flower traditions. Today’s article is about another type of Christmas tradition — a very different, weird tradition. I doubt there is anywhere else in the world that you’d find this tradition.

When you think of chrysanthemums, mums for short, it’s hard not to think of a front porch in the fall beautifully decorated with pumpkins and mums of a variety of autumn colors.

The past few weeks, my articles have been about different varieties of plants that typically are popular during the Christmas season. Today, I’ll continue the theme and pass along some tips for growing amaryllis.

Mention Christmas flowers to most people, and many will usually think of poinsettias, which are pretty red, or other colored, festive plants that are common this time of the year. After a few weeks, when poinsettias have dropped their colorful bracts, which are thought of as leaves, they are…

This month, when I walk into nurseries or garden centers, I’m immediately attracted to the vibrantly colored cyclamen. As a relatively new holiday plant, cyclamen is a unique and handsome plant that brings “flower color” indoors for a month or more.

Poinsettias are often known as Christmas plants because they are one of the most popular of the holiday plants, with red poinsettias being the most popular color. As of now, there are more than 100 different color varieties with new varieties introduced each year.

About 20 years ago, we visited a small town in the Hill Country and stayed in a bed and breakfast, surrounded by an old-fashioned garden. A pomegranate bush with dark orange fruit caught the setting sun, and I was struck by the simple natural beauty of the pomegranates existing side-by-side …

The gifting season is fast approaching and many people are wondering which plants make the best gifts for their plant-loving friends and family.

Believe it or not, the holiday season is here again, even though it seems like we just took the 2019 Christmas tree down. Christmas tree lots are back in town and loaded with cut trees for the holidays.

The biggest benefit of growing your own vegetables is that you get to eat them. It is no wonder that some of the best cooks are also gardeners, and Victoria County Master Gardener Association members are no exception.

If you really ever do “stop and smell the roses,” I bet you have discovered just how interesting, wonderful and just plain unbelievable nature can be. On a recent trip to the Texas Hill Country, I was again reminded of all this as I walked the banks of the Guadalupe River. Huge cypress trees…

Vegetable gardeners in our areas still have time to plant beets, carrots, spinach, turnips and mustard. Keep a close eye on all your garden vegetables because worms and caterpillars will come from far and wide to feed on all these delicious, sweet and tender vegetables. In just one night, th…

As cooler weather and shorter days arrive, gardeners change their focus from harvesting fruits and seeds to harvesting and eating flowers, stems, leaves, and roots.

Fall weather brings lots of beneficial items to us that can make great additions to our compost piles. Fallen leaves can be found in most yards and adding them to your compost pile, instead of your trash can, can help to limit what goes to our landfills.

Driving through local neighborhoods, it becomes obvious that some trees are more popular than others. I conducted an unscientific poll of several local nurseries and asked what trees were the most requested in the nursery and on landscape jobs.