VOLUME 22, ISSUE 41 • October 8, 2026

Neil Sperry editor. Gretchen Drew design and circulation.

Oh, how beautiful can one week be! I hope you've loved it as much as I have. It's a great time to be a gardener.

In this issue…
• A fantasmical fern;
• This weekend's things to do;
• Real facts about spring bulbs in Texas;
• Diane Sitton's garden arches; and
• My answers to your questions.

NEIL SPERRY'S LONE STAR GARDENING
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• Cover price $38.95, but look at that price now!
• Contains a 48-page perpetual gardening calendar of when to plant, prune, fertilize, and protect every plant that you grow.
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AVAILABLE ONLY FROM MY WEBSITE

Photo: Maximillian sunflowers are some of the most dramatic wildflowers of autumn.

Gardening This Weekend

This is my favorite time of the gardening year. It's cooling off and we have hope of rains now. And, finally, I'm not covered up with a ton of other things I have to get done. Here are the most timely tasks of early October.

Photo: White oxalis (Oxalis crassipes white) has a second season in fall. Pink is more common than white. When you find either, plant them!

Putting arches to work in gardens

They’re among the most dramatic accents you can add to a landscape. Diane Sitton has collected examples of some very attractive garden arches she’s seen in person. Don’t miss her lovely story.

Photo: Garden arches hold so many jobs in our landscapes.

The real facts about spring bulbs in Texas

I called Dr. Greg Grant yesterday evening to get the fine tunings of the Smith County (Tyler) Master Gardener Association's annual fall event From Bulbs to Blooms. Mark the calendar for October 24, and plan to be there. Click for all the details.

Photo: Carlton daffodils I got from the Smith County MG sale several years ago - caught in a rain shower.

Ferns of fun and fantasy

Young gardeners are fascinated by odd and grotesque plants. Carnivorous fly traps. Plants that grow flush with the gravel and look like split rocks. And this thing that looks like it's right off a big elk. Staghorn ferns caught my eye, and I'll tell you their story.

Photo: Very young staghorn fern at Calloway's Nursery showing both its fertile and shield fronds.

Q&A – Ask Neil

How to train an overly vigorous Peggy Martin rose. How to save not-so-vigorous pomegranates. How soon to remove plant ties and lower branches from a live oak, and picking a replacement for a Texas mountain laurel. Those are fun and new questions, and there are more. Click to see how I answered.

And, in closing…

I'm finishing up a 15-hour workday as I type up these closing thoughts. It's just been one of those weeks, so I'll close by wishing you many more of these beautiful days and evenings, a little rain when it's appropriate, and a bunch of kind people, singing birds, and beautiful flowers around you.

Join me on the radio this weekend. Until then, and next week right here, thanks for reading…

And happy gardening!

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