VOLUME 12, ISSUE 37 • October 13, 2016

Neil Sperry editor. Gretchen Drew design and circulation.

Welcome to the mid-October issue of e-gardens. We have lots of important information for you, including:

• American beautyberry
• Care of winter ryegrass
• Spider lilies hitting their prime
• An obnoxious lawn weed of fall, and
• The popular "Gardening This Weekend"

I thought they were all gone!

We’ve unearthed 11 boxes of 1st Printing Neil Sperry’s Lone Star Gardening! If you’d like a signed 1st Printing copy of my newest book, order immediately.

Only $31.95 plus tax and postage. This offer will go away at 5 p.m. Friday October 14, or as soon as we run out of copies, whichever comes first. Order online, or call my office Friday 8:30-5:00 (800) 752-4769.

Photo: American beautyberry is in full fruit across Texas right now.

Gardening This Weekend

It's a busy time for us all. Each week I highlight the most critical goals and share them with you right here. And once again, we proudly present them.

Photo: Nursery mums have never looked better. Pot a few up for entries and patio accents.

Beautiful Berries

You'll have a difficult time finding a showier shrub than this one - at least while it's in fruit. And it's native to Texas as well. If you have the right conditions, it could be glorious in your gardens, too. I'll tell you how.

Photo: American beautyberry is at its peak across Texas right now.

Plant of the Week: Spider Lilies

Yeah. I know we featured spider lilies here back in August. But this year they've decided to bloom in October, and everywhere I've gone people have been asking for IDs and growing tips.

Photo: Spider lilies have been southern favorites for generations. They've bloomed erratically this fall.

Question of the Week #1

"Neil, what is this weed, and how can I get rid of it?"

Introduced as a forage grass for livestock, this aggressive invader seems to be taking over many Texas home lawns. What is it? What can be done to stop it?

Photo: K.R. bluestem

If You Have Ryegrass

This is a planting of ryegrass I make every fall. Without it we'd have a giant mud pit over the winter. It's not a real part of our landscape, but it's important visually. Click to see my care tips for ryegrass.

Photo: This is our annual fall planting of ryegrass to prevent a muddy mess in winter. (two days ago)

And, in closing…

We've arrived at the end of the trail for another week, but we're reloading already for next week's fun journey.

Steven Chamblee will return to spin another great gardening story. I’m going to write about digging and dividing perennials in fall. And we'll have lots more timely information as well.

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Until next Thursday, Happy Gardening!

Neil