VOLUME 18, ISSUE 25 • June 23, 2022

Neil Sperry editor. Gretchen Drew design and circulation.

Welcome to summertime gardening here in Texas. I'm hoping you'll find this edition of e-gardens helpful and entertaining.

In this issue…
• My favorite crape myrtle;
• This weekend's prime tasks;
• Windburn on the highway;
• Summertime pruning; and
• Our new Q&A.

NEIL SPERRY'S LONE STAR GARDENING
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• 840 of my photos. 344 pages. Hardback. Printed in Texas.

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Photo: Catawba crape myrtle is as good as it gets.

Gardening This Weekend

It sounds like some of us may get a few moments of cooler weather in a couple of days, but we've had the sampling of summer, so we know what a beast it can be. I've put together this weekend's list of homework assignments. Better click through them.

Photo: Ornamental sweet potatoes have become mainstream sources of color.

Queen of the Crape Myrtles

After being closely involved with virtually all varieties of crape myrtles for the past 45 years, I'm ready to declare my favorite color and my favorite variety. I'll explain why, but click through to read it.

Photo: Catawba crape myrtle in McKinney this week.

Nope, Nope, Nope!

This isn't going to work. No how and no way. Those elephant ears were beautiful when they were wheeled out of the nursery. There's no way they made it home last weekend in any useable shape. It's a short, but important read. Click through, please.

Photo: Painful to show you - what was this gardener thinking?

Early Summer Pruning

Even at this time of the year there are some critical pruning tasks you'll want to get done fairly quickly. I'll share several from the Sperry home landscape.

Photo: Yaupon holly's and Chinese snowball viburnum's spring growth needs to be shaped.

Q&A
Ask Neil

Questions this week range from desert willows in Odessa to East Palatka hollies that aren't in East Palatka, from crape myrtles to other crape myrtles. They're from all across Texas. Take a look for yourself.

And, in closing…

I want to give a shout back to last week's story on "St. Augustine Problem Solving." If you have St. Augustine, and if you're struggling to identify its problems, this story might help.

And, looking forward, I'll be on the radio as usual this weekend. Saturday morning 11:06-noon over 30 stations statewide. Saturday afternoon 1-3 on KLIF 570AM in DFW and Sunday morning 8-10 on WBAP 820AM. All programs are available via livestream. Podcasts of all three programs will be on my website by Monday evening.

Until next week here, stay hydrated. Wear sunscreen. Pray for rain. And pray for Ukraine.

Happy Gardening!

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