VOLUME 22, ISSUE 42 • October 15, 2026

Neil Sperry editor. Gretchen Drew design and circulation.

It either (a) already is or (b) soon will be cooler across Texas. That's reflected in this week's e-gardens.

In this issue…
• Spidery good times (spider lilies);
• Tasks as it cools down;
• Protecting plants for winter starts now;
• Little pruning mistake, big problems later; and
• The popular Q&A part from the garden.

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Photo: Spider lilies against a dark background can make a dramatic sight.

Gardening This Weekend

Cooler weather will be with us for the next several days. That's going to give us a lot of time to get out into the landscape and garden. This is the place I outline the most time-sensitive tasks each week, and that's what you find with just one quick click.

Photo: It's almost time to move cold-tender plants like aglaonemas in from their summer camp settings.

They finally bloomed!

It might have been the heat. It could have been the drought. Maybe they were trying to trick me. Whatever the reason, my spider lilies finally bloomed. That's kinda the way they operate, but they're well worth the wait. Let me tell you about them.

Photo: Can there be a more stunning sight in the fall garden?

Tiny mistake. Major calamity.

Leaving pruning stubs is a quick way to ruin a great tree. Somebody did that with this tree years ago, and now the tree is on the verge of dying because of their careless or unknowing pruning error. You won't believe the impact it can have. Read on.

Photo: Leave a stub. Invite decay.

Thinking ahead to winter's cold

Sometimes I come awake in the night with ideas that might fit into the next issue of e-gardens. This is one of those thoughts. I'll let you judge whether I should have followed it through: things we can (or should not) do now to give our plants the best chance of surviving possible extreme cold this winter.

Photo: Stock up on frost cloth now.

Q&A – Ask Neil

You posted really good questions this week. A replacement for wax myrtle in black clay soil. Air-spading and working with shrubs in the process. Advice on tree wraps. An Esperanza that's hardly recognizable. All those and more. Take a look at how I answered them all.

And, in closing…

That's it for this week's edition, but we're already underway for the next. My ideas are running wild. Set an alarm to be by your e-mailbox at 6 next Thursday evening.

Until then, my advertisers and I appreciate your checking in. And I'd appreciate your telling them, "Thanks for making it happen."

Tune me in live on the radio this weekend or catch the programs on podcast by Monday evening. Stop by a nursery near you this weekend. Church is always a good plan. And be kind to someone. You never know how much it might mean to them.

Until next week…

Happy gardening!

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