Repeat-Blooming Beard Iris

By William ScheickContributing Editor They are “belles of the day” enjoying a “short reign of beauty.” So wrote Thomas Jefferson about bearded irises, one of his favorite flowers. A bearded iris bloom is indeed strikingly elegant: three upright petals (standards) with three arched petals (falls)…

The Soul of His Garden

By Suzanne LabryFreelance Writer here is something Zen-like about the way Tom Spencer moves through his garden. Wearing a large-brimmed hat and carrying a pair of garden shears, Spencer — the longtime host of the weekly Public Television series, Central Texas Gardener — seems in…

Cool-Crop How-To

By Skip RichterContributing Editor Fall is the best season of the year in the vegetable garden. Our warm-season vegetables are ripening in the milder days of fall, often accompanied by ample rainfall resulting in outstanding quality. The prime planting season for cool-season vegetables has arrived,…

Euphorbia Euphoria

By William ScheickContributing Editor ot of this earth! That was my impression the first time I ever saw succulent euphorbias. These improbably shaped plants struck me as imposters – grotesquely twisted and bizarrely deformed cactus-imitators. Many of them looked like botched attempts at mimicry, as…