A native plant garden in Midland, Texas, that provides habitat, reduces water demand, and inspires joy. Photo by Emmy Ulmschneider By Mary Sirgo, Permian Basin Master Gardener I love native Texas landscapes; you don’t have to sell me on the value of a sense of place. My fondest memories are exploring natural wild spaces and undeveloped lands across the state. Even with that perspective, I don’t recommend setting the goal of planting 100% native species in your yard and garden, especially for...

Photo by Amanda Green By Amanda Green, Permian Basin Master Gardener Now that spring is here, you may be thinking of planting your patio planters. Some do vegetables, some do ornamentals, but we do small native butterfly gardens. As we’re trying to move towards more native plants, we had trouble finding a good fit. Texas native plants are known for having deep roots, some up to 15 feet long, so they wouldn’t work. Would they? Through trial, error, and lots of practice, we’ve come up with a...

Native plants, Blackfoot Daisy, Melampodium leucanthum, and Zizotes Milkweed, Asclepias oenotheroides, up and growing for Monarchs Photo by Emmy Ulmschneider By Emmy Ulmschneider, Permian Basin Master Gardener It is March, and for me, March means Monarchs. I am fascinated by the epic journey that Monarch butterflies make. We summarized last fall’s southward migration in a September blog post: https://www.westtexasgardening.org/post/monarch-migrations. So, at the start of spring, my mind...