The Garden Porch

Houseplant pop-up event coming to East Texas on September 5th We've been sitting on this one for a while, and we're finally ready to let you in on it. When Marshall Garden Company opens, one of our favorite features is going to be The Plant Gallery, and we can't wait to give you a first look. What is The Plant Gallery? Think of it as the indoor counterpart to everything we're building outside. A curated, well-lit space full of easy-care favorites and a few showstoppers, organ

It's the first week of August, it's hot enough to fry an egg on the tailgate, and we're here to tell you it's already time to start planning your fall garden. We know, it sounds backwards. But in East Texas, fall gardening doesn't start in October. It starts right now, while you're still sweating through the last stretch of summer. Here's why timing matters so much, and what to do about it this week. Lettuce, herbs like oregano, and broccoli are some of the best fall crops to

Winston supervising the metal raised beds, as any good Chief Morale Officer would. If you've ever tried to dig into East Texas clay with a shovel and a dream, you already know why raised bed gardening is so popular around here. Our native soil, especially the red clay common throughout Harrison County and Marshall, Texas, can be stubborn, heavy, and slow to drain. That makes growing directly in the ground harder than it needs to be. A raised bed lets you skip the fight and bu

Todd and Melisa, a few years before launching the Marshall Garden Company. We are about five months out from opening the doors of the Marshall Garden Company, and if I'm honest, that number still catches us off guard every time we say it out loud. Five months. That's it. After years of planning, dreaming, and a whole lot of dirt under our fingernails, it's finally close enough to touch. So before the countdown gets any shorter, we wanted to slow down and tell you how we actu

My beautiful Brasil philodendron in a terracotta pot with Micans trailing in the background. If you've ever brought home a plant with big hopes and watched it go sideways within a few months, you're not alone. Most of us didn't grow up learning this. Somebody just handed us an "ivy" or a fern one day, told us to set it by the kitchen window, and wished us luck. We were just thinking these must be easy houseplants for beginners in East Texas. Here's the truth nobody tells you

'Henry Duelberg' Salvia (Salvia farinacea) is one of our favorite a native plants for East Texas gardens. And, the Monarchs seem to like it too. It is a naturally occurring selection of the mealy cup sage (or blue sage). You don't have to rip out your flower beds and start over to garden smarter here in East Texas. You don't need a whole acre set aside for "the natural stuff" either. Sometimes all it takes is one pot on the porch. Here's the thing about native plants. They

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