The Garden Porch

If you've never grown salvia, you're about to wonder where it's been your whole life. And if you have grown it then you already know. There's a reason experienced gardeners keep coming back to this plant. Salvias bloom from late spring through hard frost, they're built for heat and humidity, they bring in every pollinator in a five-mile radius, and most of them come back year after year without being asked. In Zone 8a East Texas, that's not a plant. That's a gift. There are m

Hardy Hibiscus in East Texas bloom beautiful dinner plate sized blossoms that are breathtaking. If summer in East Texas has you convinced that nothing wants to grow out there, this list is about to change your mind. These five plants don't just survive the heat. They show off in it. Every one of them is suited for Zone 8a, thrives in our humidity, and keeps the color coming when everything else wants to quit. 1. Crape Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica) If East Texas had an officia

Some seasons of life are just hard. There's no prettier way to say it. Our community is in one of those seasons right now. What happened at that fast food restaurant... those two young lives lost right here in Marshall, others hurt and the young folks who were so hopeless that they could do something like that....... well, it's left a weight on many of us that words can't fully hold it. I've felt it. I know many of you have too. And I've been thinking about what we do wit

The Garden Trap is giving up just because you killed a plant. All gardeners mess up. Good gardeners Keep Going. Keep Growing. A few nights ago, I was folding a load of laundry and watching the Netflix documentary about Martha Stewart when she shared a quote that tickled me and stopped me in my tracks: "If you want to be happy for a year, get married. If you want to be happy for a decade, get a dog. And if you want to be happy for the rest of your life, make a garden." As g

If you're new to growing grapes, start with types proven to East Texas weather. Yes, folks grow grapes in East Texas and they are some of the greatest grapes you'd ever taste (ask the fine folks at Enoch's Vineyard if you don't believe me.... better yet just make a girls trip of that if you've never checked them out... but that's not what this post is about. Back to growing grapes...) It's a pretty magical thing. Maybe it's the idea of Italian or French vineyards or perhap

If your roses gave you a beautiful flush of blooms at the start of spring and now they’re looking a little tired, this is your sign to grab your pruners. Deadheading sounds fancy, but it’s simply the process of removing spent blooms so your rose can focus its energy on producing new flowers instead of forming seed pods (aka rose hips). It is one of the easiest maintenance tasks you can do and it makes a huge difference in how your roses perform through late spring, summer, a

(While Everyone Else Is Wondering What Went Wrong) By May, some people think the hard part is over. The garden is planted. The weather is warm (but not blazing). Everything should just grow now... right? May is an important month for East Texas Gardeners who are growing tomoatoes, vegetables and flowers. Not exactly. In East Texas, May is where gardens can either thrive or start heading toward burnout before summer even arrives. Temperatures begin climbing fast. Rain can be

And East Texas Proves It Every Single Year. Every spring, so many people (including my brother) say: "I just can’t grow tomatoes." "Mine just flower, but never give me tomatoes." "I must have a black thumb." And every spring, I have to tell the the truth: It isn’t you. It’s your timing. My brother's wonderful tomatoes are off to a great start in containers. He did it! Here in East Texas, tomatoes can grow beautifully, but our growing window is tighter than people realize. We

Meet Winston, the Marshall Garden Company’s Chief Plant Inspector. If you’ve ever caught your dog sniffing your fiddle leaf fig like it’s a snack… or your cat treating your houseplants like a personal salad bar, you’re not alone. At the Marshall Garden Company, we believe your home should be full of life in every sense of the word. Lush plants. Happy pets.

Most people assume plants simply “show up” in East Texas garden centers each season. In reality, what you see on the benches in February are the result of months of planning, growing, and coordination across an incredible network of professionals.

“Should I start from seed or buy transplants?” And the honest answer? It depends. Not on what the internet says. Not on what your neighbor does. Not on what "looks" impressive. It depends on your time, your patience, and your goals. So let’s make it make sense.

February in East Texas is a funny month. One day it feels like spring is knocking, the next day we’re scraping frost off the windshield. That swingy weather can make gardeners feel behind—or tempted to do too much too fast. Here’s the truth for Marshall and the Piney Woods: February isn’t about planting everything. It’s about setting yourself up for success.

Spring in East Texas is tomato season—and if you pick the right varieties, you can get a strong harvest before the real heat settles in. Marshall sits in that sweet-but-tricky spot where warm days come fast, humidity hangs around, and summer can shut tomatoes down early if they aren’t built for it.

Cultivating a lively indoor garden of flourishing houseplants in January is a great way to start the year. The beginning of a new year always feels like a reset for me. Before outdoor plans get rolling and spring wish lists take over, I like to start small—and indoors. Houseplants have a way of easing me into the rush of spring growing. They slow me down and remind me to pay attention. With that, thisear, I decided to refresh my own gardening brain power and enrolled in some

Visit marshallgardenco.com/garden-guides for more tips January may be winding down, but there's still plenty to keep busy with in the garden. This is a quieter month—less about growth you can see and more about choices that set the tone for what’s coming. Garden folklore has always said that what you tend in winter shows up in spring, even if no one else notices the work. Outdoors, January is for observing and preparing. Clean and sharpen tools. Protect plants when needed.

Fall in East Texas doesn’t always bring chilly breezes and falling leaves right away — most days still feel like summer pretending to…

The first thing you need to know is "deer resistant" means a plant is generally unappealing to deer and less likely to be eaten or damaged by them. That doesn't mean the plant is immune to browsing and deer "tasting" the plants.

Gardening doesn’t have to be complicated, but it sure feels that way when every bag at the garden center makes big promises. One of the...

When the seasons change in East Texas, it doesn’t always feel like fall right away — the afternoons are still warm and summer hangs on a little too long. But one of the easiest ways to bring fall to life is by dressing up your porch with flowers that thrive this time of year.

September is one of the best times to start fresh in the garden. The heat finally begins to ease (a little), the soil is still warm, and...