Gardening

Get the Best Christmas Gifts at Citrus Fest This Weekend at the Eastside Farmers Market

Want to get your loved ones an unusual, thoughtful Christmas gift that keeps giving year after year? Of course you do. Your father doesn't need any more ties, socks or boxers and your mother is only using that coffeemaker because you bought it for her. She secretly hates it. So head to Urban Harves ... More >>

Where Do Mexican Gardeners Throw Away Their Clippings?

And do Mexicans eat chocolates?

The Land of Tomatoes and Honey: A Tour of the White House Kitchen Garden

Although it's not officially fall yet, plump orange pumpkins are resting on mounds of hay and dirt in and around two plots that -- along with dozens of others -- makes up the 1,100 square feet White House Kitchen Garden. It's a warm day in early September and the garden is sprawled out like a sunbat ... More >>

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme...And Mint, Marjoram, Oregano, Chervil...

Simon and Garfunkel apparently only had four herbs in their garden, but you should have much more than that in your backyard. It is herb and vegetable planting season in Houston. Our terribly cold winter (haha) has passed, and the weather is perfect for gardening. It's a great time of year to build ... More >>

Dirt and Water

Both of the cauliflower plants in the photo were the same size when I planted them a month ago. The transplants got the same sun and rain, but the normal one on the left was planted in a commercial potting soil, whereas big brother was inserted into custom soil. Why bother to mix soil? The same r ... More >>

Top Five Edible Flowers

applelikeDandelion.​Let's get something out of the way: this post is not about fruit. Yes, I understand that much of what we consider to be fruit develops from the flowering part of the plant. But I'm talking about those botanical bits that people associate more with bouquets than with burrito ... More >>

Wildflower Season Will Suck This Year, Experts Say

A bad spring might be coming​Any Texan with a kid or a sweetie has taken part in the annual trek to see bluebonnets and other wildflowers bloom riotously in what passes for spring here. If you were getting your hopes up about Spring 2011, tamp them down right now. The long and extensive dro ... More >>

Local Spotlight: Pershing Middle School

Fresh peppers grown by the students of Pershing Middle School.​What: Vegetables that taste good and teach well. Now that school's back in session, Charles Coursey can go back to what he loves: teaching, gardening and teaching kids about gardening. A history teacher at Pershing Middle School ... More >>

Herbs: Grow Your Own, Man

Apartmenttherapy.comEven Martha Stewart would be jealous of this little display.​September is a great time of year to start a windowsill herb garden. Not only are these plants attractive and aromatic, you'll be able to add fresh-picked flavor to your meals all winter long. After the jump, eig ... More >>

Bobby Heugel's Weekly Cocktail: The Margarita

​Nobody wants to talk about margaritas on May 6, the day after Cinco de Mayo. However, rather than avoiding discussing the source of the dreaded May 6 hangover, we thought we'd confront the Tex-Mex monster head-on. You can almost smell the lingering stench of artificial margarita mixes and poo ... More >>

75th Annual Azalea Trail

The first green is golden, or in this case various shades of pinks, whites and reds

Growing Tomatoes? Start Eating Bananas!

​I went with "Sweet Million" cherry tomatoes this year. I hear these little cluster tomatoes ripen fast and taste like candy. Last time I planted tomatoes, I chose Celebrity, Beefsteak slicing tomatoes and one Brandywine heirloom. And I waited and waited and waited for a tomato to ripen on the ... More >>

Giant Watermelon Radishes

​Here's a radish that you could snack on for a few days. It's called a watermelon radish. The first time I recall seeing one was at Soma, the upscale sushi restaurant on Washington. Here's what I said about it in the review: "The salad came on a glass plate with one cobalt-blue edge. It was ... More >>

Urban Gardening: My Organic Dirt Patch

​Inspired by the incredible urban gardens Jim Sherman tends in the Fifth Ward, I decided to take a shot at the urban gardening thing myself. ​ So I went to Wabash Feed Store and bought some dirt and some locally made organic fertilizer. San Jacinto Environmental Supplies on 34th St. make ... More >>

Urban Gardening: Deer Tongues and Kumquats

​I had one of the best salads in recent memory yesterday. Urban gardening expert Jim Sherman cut a bunch of greens and herbs from one of his demonstration gardens in the Fifth Ward and filled up a plastic shopping bag for me. I took the fresh greens home and tossed them with a simple mustard v ... More >>

Summer Wines: Think Pink

Photo by Robb WalshI asked the wine guy at Richard's on Bissonnet at Wesleyan what he's recommending these days. He pointed at the end-cap display, which was stocked with several rosés from the Rhone, all selling for under $10. Makes sense -- it's cheap, you can serve it chilled, and your wine geek ... More >>

Jimi Hendrix's Brother Has Got His Own World To Look Through

Photo by Renee McMahonBeing Jimi Hendrix's baby brother is a rough gig. And Leon Hendrix doesn't make it any easier on himself.He's lost battles over his brother's estate, he's been a drug addict and crook, he's scratching out a living playing his brother's songs before small, bored audiences, but h ... More >>

Scoop It Up at Cricket's Creamery & Cafe

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Bayousphere

Get Lit: More Houston History in Handy Book Form

Mexican-American Culture

EVERGREEN Wildflower Hotline

Image of the Week

Image of the Week

Houston Garden Center

Best Picnic Spot

Best Florist

Best Environmental Attorney

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Stoner Science

Our staff risks all to determine if a plant will get them high or if it's just another Internet lie

Best Place to Buy Roses

Fannin's Flower Row

Best Florist

David Brown

Best Place to Pretend You're South of the Border

Canino Produce Inc. Farmer's Outlet

In the Garden

Meet Camille Waters, an urban guerrilla armed with lettuce

Best Place to Buy Roses

Buchanan's Native Plants

Best Vietnamese Restaurant

Vietopia

Best Place to Buy Roses

Jana's Flowers

Best Tree

Live oak at Elizabeth Baldwin Park

Winging It

For business or pleasure, here comes the Great Butterfly Chase

The Weed Eater

Prickly pears. Pepper grass. Cattail stems. It's all snack food to T.R. Zimmermann.

Late Bloomers

Valentine's Day was long gone. The wilting wait for the flowers wasn't.

No Artificial Flavors

Lisa Ludwig is cutting back on sugar, and her installations suffer because of it

Best Plants

Suzan Prejean, The Plant Lady

Best Florist

In Bloom

Gulag Gardens

At Hobby Airport, the rallying cry is "Free the ferns"

Keep Off the Grass

Felder Rushing lectures at the Harris County Agriculture Extension Center

Dish

Time to Sow

A man named Verious plants a seed, and a vision takes root in the Third Ward

The Texas Rose Rustlers

They went in search of the vehicle of fragrance, and found adventure and companionship.

Korean Adventure

Camellia Korean leads you to take chances -- and make discoveries