VOLUME 19, ISSUE 2 • January 12, 2023

Neil Sperry editor. Gretchen Drew design and circulation.

Spring has been in the air (until last night). Birds were singing. (They’ll sing again soon.) Our thoughts have been turning toward exciting times ahead.

In this issue...
• Getting the most out of color;
• This weekend's homework;
• Air plants just hangin' around;
• Diane Sitton matches plants to their pots; and
• Your questions and my answers.

NEIL SPERRY'S LONE STAR GARDENING

Early spring special only $36.95

• 11 Chapters. 344 pages. 840 of my photos. Already in 6th printing - thank you!
• Full details on lawns, trees, shrubs, vines, groundcovers, annual and perennial flowers, fruit and vegetables.
• 12-month perpetual calendar (48 pages) telling you when to plant, prune, fertilize and spray all the plants that you're growing. I've never included that in any book before.

• Not in stores and not on Amazon. That's to keep the price as low as possible.
• Order directly from my home signing table directly to the post office and to your mailbox.

Order from my website at any time www.neilsperry.com
Or call my office M-F 9-5
(800) 752-4769

Photo: Tiny Tillandsias always call out my name when I walk into Calloway's.

Gardening This Weekend

We'll hit the middle of January this Sunday. That means that half of your January tasks should be completed in the next several days. Think of them as your homework. Click through to see your assignments.

Photo: It's time to plant peaches. But a type that matches chilling hours for your area.

A match made in heaven

There's a knack to matching plants with pots, and our contributing super-writer Diane Sitton anoints us with a bit of that knack.

Photo: What could be more playful than a vintage-looking chicken paired with colorful portulaca!

These plants will grow on you

Here are some plants with unusual life histories. For the most part they grow suspended in air. They have functioning roots, but those roots may never touch real soil. Let me explain.

Photo: The huge orchid family includes thousands of epiphytes.

Colorful Suggestions

Great landscaping color doesn't happen by accident. It's the result of careful planning and planting. Utilize all the tools you have available to you - flowers, fruit, foliage and hardscaping. I'll explain. Click through for the details.

Photo: Concept of "rooms" in landscape is evident in Sperry gardens.

Q&A
Ask Neil

See if you can spot any trend. This week our questions included freeze damage, freeze damage, freeze damage, freeze damage, possible freeze damage, plants that lost leaves right after the freeze and a couple of other topics to keep us awake.

And, in closing…

I hope you've enjoyed this week's e-gardens. Things are really picking up in Texas landscapes and gardens, and I'll be back with more next week right here.

I'll be pre-empted again on KLIF by TCU basketball this Saturday afternoon, but tune me in on my statewide program Saturday morning 11:06 - noon, also on WBAP 820AM Sunday morning 8 - 10.

Let others know about e-gardens, and please thank our advertisers.

Until next week…

Thanks for reading, and

Happy gardening!

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