VOLUME 19, ISSUE 3 • January 19, 2023

Neil Sperry editor. Gretchen Drew design and circulation.

This has been a great week. My wife and I have spent much of it with all the employees of Calloways and Cornelius Nurseries, plus I get to present a brand new e-gardens to you right now. How good is all that!

In this issue...
• Ways we tell time and seasons in gardening;
• Let’s get things done;
• Lovin' the lamb's ear;
• Steven Chamblee's 'Blasted Garden Blues' and
• You had questions and I have answers.

NEIL SPERRY'S LONE STAR GARDENING
Early spring SALE ONLY $36.95

• Covers every aspect of gardening for every county in Texas.
• More than 25 multi-page charts. (What you see is a tiny example. Click to enlarge.)
• I wrote this book for every county in Texas.
• It will pay for itself by June or I'll refund every penny.
• I sign every copy as it sells.
• Not in stores and not on Amazon.

ORDER FROM MY WEBSITE
OR CALL MY OFFICE M-F 9-5
(800) 752-4769

Photo: The clarity of the sky (and the trees' bare branches) are good signs that it's winter when I look out my window.

Gardening This Weekend

We have a few weeks of winter left in most parts of Texas. That means that the timer is ticking on jobs we need to get done during the dormant season. Click through to my list of the most critical among them.

Photo: Snapdragons are great for splashes of cool-season color in patio pots.

Native Son: When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Growing

Our boy Steven has a case of the mopes. But he's learned to "Keep calm and carry on." You'll enjoy his journey.

Photo: Poppies and larkspur have brought glory to this old wrought iron fence for many springs.

Measures of Time in the Garden

Gardeners have reason to consider the seasons, and clues are always around us. I thought you might enjoy having a few of them pointed out for you - How we tell time in our landscapes.

Photo: Sundials are an old way of determining time and seasons in a garden, but there are many others.

Try Not to Feel It!

There's not a sensory garden in America that doesn't have lamb's ear bordering a walk or spilling out over a wall. Little kids love it. So do grouchy old grandpas. But there are a couple of tricks to growing it. I'll share them.

Photo: Lamb's ear Helene Von Stein.

Q&A
Ask Neil

Cardboard boxes and bagworms; crape myrtles that can handle the cold and tomatoes that can stand up to the heat; a lumpy, bumpy, armadillo-infested lawn. All that and more. It's been quite a week for your Q's.

And, in closing…

That's what I have for e-gardens this week. I hope it's been an enjoyable read and I hope you'll click in again next week for more. And… please tell your best gardening buds about us. I have something exciting in store for you next week.

You bet I'm on radio! 45 years now! I have one more Saturday where TCU basketball will preempt my KLIF radio program Saturday, but you can join me on my statewide radio program Saturday morning 11:06-noon over 30-plus stations, then on WBAP Sunday morning 8-10 on the 820AM frequency.

Podcasts of those programs will be on my website by Monday evening. You can also read me in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, San Antonio Express News and 10 other Texas newspapers.

Please support my advertisers!

Until next week, happy gardening!

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