VOLUME 14, ISSUE 20 • May 17, 2018

Neil Sperry editor. Gretchen Drew design and circulation.

It’s been warm, but pleasant. It’s been fun preparing e-gardens this week. I hope you enjoy it!

In this issue…
• Bromeliads come back into our gardens;
• Why magnolias are dropping their leaves;
• A round of new tasks for the weekend;
• My newest favorite fern; and
• It must be exciting to be Steven Chamblee. You’ll see why.

All that I've learned in summary form…
When I started writing Neil Sperry's Lone Star Gardening, my goal was to have a book that compiled everything I'd ever said or done. Well, I might have missed a few things, but I came pretty close.

• 11 chapters and 344 pages.
• 840 of my photos.
• Covers every aspect of landscapes and gardens.
• An up-to-date complete reference book for all of Texas.
• Hardback, printed on high-quality paper.
• Printed in Texas (San Antonio), mere miles from where I was born.

Not in stores and not on Amazon.

Available only from my website or by calling my office (800) 752-4769 weekdays.

$31.95 plus tax, postage. Satisfaction guaranteed.

Note: We welcome aboard a new advertiser and a product we're had on our house for many years, Gutter Helmet. Tell 'em 'Hello!"

Photo: Purple coneflowers - some of my favorite flowers to photograph!

Gardening This Weekend

Things are really changing. We're almost past spring, and summer is knocking loudly at the door. I've assembled my list of gardening responsibilities accordingly. It's a different list to be sure. Better check through it.

Photo: Coneflowers are great bee plants.

Native Son

If you wait month-to-month just to read Steven Chamblee’s next episode, you’re in for a treat. And it just gets better and better as you read to the end!

Photo: Old Plainsman. (The flower, not the hand.)

From the Sperry Gardens: Brilliance autumn fern

Forty years into this shade gardening thing and I've learned to appreciate plants that don't whine when they can't see the sun. Autumn fern is one of my favorites, and the variety Brilliance is especially pretty.

Photo: Brilliance autumn fern shows off its stuff.

Question of the Week: May 17, 2018

"Neil, I'm worried about my magnolia tree and why it's dropping so many leaves. Is there something wrong with it? What should I do?"

Photo: I've been asked this probably 25 times in the past two weeks alone.

Out of the Greenhouse and Into the Gardens

My collection of bromeliads is making its move back into our landscape. I've been a fan all of my life, and I've settled into some of the small types. Let me share some of their joys.

Photo: Colorful Neoregelia in Sperry landscape.

And, in closing…

Put a pitchfork in it! This compost is done! But we'll be back with another e-gardens in 168 hours. (Probably best not to try holding your breath.)

In the meantime, spend some fun time in your landscape and garden this weekend, and join me on the radio, on Facebook, in your local newspaper, on my website, tuned into a podcast, at a burger joint or in church. Lotsa chances to meet up.

Until sometime at one of those places,

Happy Gardening!

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