VOLUME 19, ISSUE 11 • March 16, 2023

Neil Sperry editor. Gretchen Drew design and circulation.

As I type this it's almost 3 p.m., just 3 hours before we distribute e-gardens. It's about to get stormy and cold in DFW. Parts of Texas are already experiencing it and many of the rest of you soon will. Please protect yourself and your loved ones, then take care of your plants.

In this issue…
• Emotional ties to these yellow plants;
• Son Todd's lovely video from Kauai;
• Lovely Steven Chamblee's visit to Fort Worth;
• This weekend's altered garden tasks; and
• Questions and answers. Oh boy!

NEIL SPERRY'S LONE STAR GARDENING
$36.95 - on sale a
short while longer

• Covers all aspects of outdoor gardening for every county in Texas.
• 344 pages. 840 of my photos.
• It took me a year to write it, but a lifetime to learn it.
• It will pay for itself, or I'll refund your money.
• I sign every copy as it sells.
• Not in stores and not on Amazon.

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

Photo: Matt C. from Dallas shared this handsome photo of a flowering peach. Short-lived (10-15 years), but spectacular spring-flowering tree.

Gardening This Weekend

Pull on the long johns. It's gonna be cold tonight and the next several nights. Let's take a look at things you'll need to do soon and over the weekend as we head into the mainstream of spring.

Photo: Keep an eye on the thermometer the next several nights.

Native Son: Yin, Yang, and a Touch of Meraki

Our buddy Steven Chamblee went back to one of his horticultural homes. He files a great report on the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.

Photo: We’re not sure which looks more real: the wisteria wig or the Spanish moss beard.

Kauai, Hawaii, as Todd Saw It

Our son Todd and his wife Jen visited the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands last week. Todd works in television, and he bought a drone 2 years ago. Combine those facts with lush Hawaii and see the beautiful video he sent us.

Photo: A screen capture from Todd's video.

Yellow's the Game!

Bright colors advance visually in the garden, and no hue comes forward better than yellow. If you want to see your color at work, I have three plants that are near me wherever I go.

Photo: Three of my favorite yellows.

Q&A
Ask Neil

Disobedient plants in the garden, a redbud named "Burl," a live oak doing the big splits and the old "disappearing spinach" trick. Those are just some of the questions. Take a look.

And, in closing…

Our friend Carolyn Skei (who happens to be the editor of Neil Sperry's Lone Star Gardening) has done it again. Four more ribbons for her trophy case, this time from the Quilter's Guild of Dallas big show last weekend.

"Buzz's Garden" began with iPad manipulation of Carolyn's iPhone photo of Buzz Lightyear, her beloved American tabby with whom she shared her house and her garden for 17 years. She had the resulting image commercially printed on linen, then she stitched the quilt heavily both by machine and by hand.