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Spring is upon us once again and with that comes the flush of new growth followed by the awakening of hungry insects! One good product to help keep your new young foliage beautiful this spring is All Seasons Horticultural & Dormant Spray Oil.

Dormant Oil is an easy and organic way of deterring pests by suffocating out anything that may have overwintered on your plants, including any eggs that may have also made it through the winter. January, February and March is the only time we’re cool enough to use it. Use it much later and you run the risk of burning your plants as it is an oil. It’s easy to use- just hook it up to your hose and spray to the point of dripping. It can be used on woody ornamentals, Crape Myrtles, Hibiscus, Allamandas, and many more. I have also found that it helps to soften up the black sooty mold that tends to stay around after an infestation of aphids, whitefly, etc. making it easier to wash/spray off. It also makes the plant sprayed all shiny and new looking again!

Note: Do not use on ferns or succulents!

-Whitney

Are you challenged with caterpillars, leafminers or whitefly every year? On your bougainvillea, hibiscus, ash or oak trees? If so, now’s the time to apply Bayer Tree & Shrub Drench. Be careful though, not to use on your herbs, veggies & fruit trees.

Another great drench and less expensive, Fertilome Tree & Shrub Systemic Insect Drench doesn’t work well on caterpillars but is great for wooly aphids in hackberry trees, asian cycad scale on sago palms, lace bug on lantana, aphids and whitefly on crape myrtle or even mealy bug that attack your hibiscus every year and drive you crazy with spraying. Again, do not use systemic insecticides on herbs, veggies & fruit trees.

It’s best to monitor your plants and spot spray individual plants when needed, but we all get busy and so the systemic may be the best option for you. We have both products in stock now for your spring application.

We always recommend you use the least toxic product to get rid of damaging insects. For example, aphids get on more plants than anything else in the spring, but on the bright side, they are also very easy to control. Sharp sprays of water many times works to rinse them off the new foliage.

Whatever your insect challenge, come and see us for help in determining the best way to control them. Many times you do not need to spray but rather let Mother Nature take care of the problem with her many beneficial insects preying on the damaging insects. We have ladybugs in stock right now, a great beneficial insect and fun to watch!

-DeAnna

Floratam

Pro- Good drought tolerance, better disease tolerance, vigorous growth quick to heal damage and resist weeds

Con- Less shade tolerant than some varieties, less tolerant of some weed killers, less resistant to severe freeze (not a factor this far south), most coarse in texture

TamStar

Pro- Said to have good drought, disease, cold, and shade tolerance

Con- Very new introduction, so we don’t know for sure if these claims will pan out for us

Raleigh

Pro- Good shade, cold tolerance

Con- Poor resistance to drought, disease

Note: There is no St. Augustine resistant to grub worms, and there are situations too shady for any St. Augustine to grow. If shade might be a problem, buy one piece of grass, cut into plugs, plant, water, and fertilize carefully, and if it does not grow over spring and summer, consider flagstone paving, wood deck, shade tolerant groundcovers and shrubs, or a combination of these.

Note: Due to our cold winter, Floratam & Tamstar will be available beginning in April 2018!

-James

One of my favorite pastimes, in between planting, fertilizing, trimming, and mulching, is sitting in my backyard and watching the butterflies dance around my garden. Here’s a few tips to entice these beauties to YOUR GARDEN!

Locate a sunny area.

Butterflies and most butterfly attracting plants require bright sunshine.

Plant nectar producing flowers.

Butterflies visit flowers in search of nectar to eat. Many butterflies seem to prefer purple, yellow, orange and red- orange blossoms. Clusters of short, tubular flowers or flat-topped blossoms provide the ideal shapes for butterflies to easily land and feed.

Select single flowers rather than double flowers.

The nectar of single flowers is more accessible and easier for butterflies to extract than the nectar of double flowers, which have more petals per flower.

Use large splashes of color in your landscape.

Butterflies are first attracted to flowers by their color. Groups of flowers are easier for butterflies to locate than isolated plants.

Plan for continuous bloom throughout the season.

Butterflies are active from early spring until late fall. Plant a selection of flowers that will provide nectar throughout the entire growing season. For blooms throughout the year, plant hamelia, shrimp plant. jatropha, lantana, bulbine, buddleia, mist flower, & penta. For flowers spring and fall, try mexican flame vine, verbena, mexican mint marigold, pavonia, passion vine, salvias, & fall chrysanthemums.

Clockwise from Top Left: Lantana, Mist Flower, Salvia Mystic Spires, Salvia Gregii, Shrimp Plant, Mexican Mint Marigold

Plant for perching.

Plant some evergreen trees or shrubs for perching and rain shelter. Example: Yaupon holly or desert willow.

Include host plants in your garden design.

Host plants provide food for the caterpillar and lure female butterflies into the garden to lay eggs.

Common Name: Larval Food Source
Black Swallowtail: dill, parsley, fennel, carrot tops
Fritillaries: passionflowers
Giant Swallowtail: citrus, rue
Julias: passionflowers
Monarchs & Queens: milkweeds
Pipevine Swallowtail: Dutchman’s pipevine
Skippers: mallows
Snouts: hackberry
Sulphurs: cassias
Viceroys: pear, cottonwood, willow
Whites: mustards, pepper-grass
Zebra Longwings: passionflowers

Clockwise from Top Left: Black Swallowtail, Monarch, Snout, Zebra Longwing

Include damp areas or shallow puddles in the garden.

Some butterflies drink and extract salts from moist soil. Occasionally large numbers of male butterflies congregate around a moist area to drink, forming a “puddle club”.

Place flat stones in the garden.

Butterflies often perch on stones, bare soil or vegetation, spread their wings and bask in the sun. Basking raises their body temperature so they are able to fly and remain active.

Do not use pesticides in or near a butterfly garden.

Most traditional garden pesticides are toxic to butterflies. Use predatory insects, insecticidal soap or hand remove the pests if problems occur.

Become a butterfly watcher!

Get to know the colorful butterflies that visit your garden. They are easy to identify with a field guide or butterfly app!

-Sally

Did you know grubworms come from June bugs? Many folks are reporting seeing June bugs all over the porch since the first of March. They are making their mating flight to lay eggs, hatch grubs and feed off the roots of your grass. Once you begin seeing them you wait 5-6 weeks before you treat. If you have ever lost your lawn to grubs, you know the devastation they can cause. There are several ways to control grubs.

First, is the watch and monitor. If you notice sections of the lawn are prematurely wilting, or turning brown you can dig down and look for grubs. If you find more than 4 in one square foot area, then it is recommended to treat the affected areas with a granular or liquid insecticide drench.

Second, you can spray out Beneficial Nematodes. These microscopic worms attack white grubs and other soil inhabiting insects. Nematodes must be supplied with adequate moisture to help them move down into the soils where grubs are feeding. At least ¼ inch of water must be applied before and ¼ inch just after, nematodes are sprayed into the lawn. Repeat applications may be necessary to maintain a good colony of them. One container covers 2000 sq. ft.

Third, you can apply Bayer Season Long Grubworm killer which lasts for 3 months to give a chemical kill of the grubs. This product attaches to the roots of your grass and kills them as they feed. This year peak time to treat is the first two weeks of April.

-DeAnna

With Passover starting Friday & Easter this Sunday, many will be gathering with family & friends to eat, play games and visit. Wonderful times!

We’ve filled our store with beautiful blooming annuals, perennials, hanging baskets and tubs of flowers for last minute “dress up” your garden for the holiday! Come see us this Friday & Saturday for the best of the best in gardening supplies to make your home it’s best. We all wish you a very happy holiday!

…And we’ll be closed Sunday for our time with family. Thank you!!

– Sally & James & Your Gill Nursery Team

“Good morning, my name is Bob. I have been coming to Gill’s since moving to Corpus 5 years ago. Every time we come into the store, my wife does the shopping, and I go straight back to the tree with the GIANT wind chime, sit on the bench, and dream of the day I could have a chime like that one.

Growing up in the Valley, chopping cotton for $5 a day makes one appreciate the value of a dollar. We weren’t dirt poor; we did have shelter, school clothes, and never missed a meal.

Leaving home and spending 24 years in the military, traveling to dirt poor countries around the world, has shown me that as a whole Americans spent too much on “stuff” when families in many of these countries are just getting by. I would feel so guilty, spending that much for something I didn’t need, especially a wind chime.

But for years it has been the siren calling to me. I have watched it age over the years, sun exposure, aging of the ropes that support it, and I’m sure some drool from me.

Over the years, after paying Corpus property taxes, so we can have these beautifully paved streets, house payments, utilities, I have managed to sock away a bit in my “chime fund”; not the sticker price, but enough to accept a reasonable bid.

It would fit in so well with the other 5 wind chimes on my patio lonesome for their Big Brother.

So, I was wondering, what would be the bottom line that you would sell the ‘GIANT CHIME’?”

-Bob

Everyone at Gill’s was touched by Bob’s letter. A military man who gave 24 years to our country and then fell in love with our wind chime. Needless to say, he got a good deal on the wind chime and now it is with Bob, hanging with his other 5 chimes. A feel good story and very happy ending!

-Sally

We planted the Purple Knight Alternanthera, in the Joseph Coat family, under our Texas Sabal Palms out front of our home on Catalina Street. It has proven its worth to me! It takes wind and sun, gives a pretty contrast to green lawn with it’s burgundy foliage, doesn’t have any major insect or fungus challenges, and if planted in the right spot, can grow to it’s maximum height of 24″ or can be pruned shorter! It has been named by the Texas Department Of Agriculture as a Texas Superstar and definitely a superstar in my book!

-Sally

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