Neil Sperry Gardens

1 week ago | neilsperry.com | Neil Sperry

The time was back in the ‘60s. A&M had only 3 students left in Floriculture (horticulture applied to greenhouse production). Ohio State, by comparison, had more than 240. I immediately knew that was where I needed to be, and I loved it. Kip (Dr. D.C. Kiplinger) and Ken (Dr. Ken Reisch) were my major professors for my B.S. and M.S. degrees, and I’m going to tell you three quick little things that they shared with us in class. Things I’ve never forgotten.

1 week ago | neilsperry.com | Neil Sperry

You’ll see this plant’s mother growing natively in the Big Bend Country of Brewster County, Southwest Texas. That’s arid terrain, but somehow it has found ponds at the bases of small waterfalls where it could carve out a living. It’s from those settings Dr. Greg Grant found the plant and subsequently he and Drs. Jerry Parsons and Steve George worked with the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association to produce, market, and distribute the plant.

1 week ago | neilsperry.com | Neil Sperry

Let me list some highlight kinds of things you might try to get done over this holiday weekend. It is, after all, a great time to be gardening. PLANT• Summertime color. Change out all that winter color that’s playing out as it warms up. Plant lantanas, moss rose, hybrid purslane, angelonias, fanflowers (scaevolas), gomphrenas, cleomes, amaranthus, celosias, zinnias, French marigolds, coleus, wax begonias, and a whole host of other great summer color plants.

2 weeks ago | neilsperry.com | Neil Sperry

I decided 35 or 40 years ago that I just needed to get right to the point in answering one particular question that kept coming up. “Neil, my red oak’s leaves are turning yellow. The problem is getting worse and worse. Can I save my tree? I bought it 8 years ago.” At that point I can narrow the possible causes down to two. • The person was sold a pin oak (Quercus palustris) instead of a Shumard red oak (Q. shumardii).

2 weeks ago | neilsperry.com | Neil Sperry

Autumn sage came into the Texas nursery marketplace during my career. In those ensuing years it’s become a mainstay for many of our gardens. Here are some reasons I like to recommend it. It’s native to Texas. More specifically, to the Texas Hill Country of the Edwards Plateau and the East Central Texas Plains. (See map from the Native Plant Society of Texas.)It’s a durable perennial. It’s tolerant of drought, and it handles Texas summer heat. It’s winter-hardy to U.S.D.A. Zones 6-9 (all of Texas).