texas

We were watering Pentas earlier this week and came across this funky looking fellow (above). At first, we thought it was a more common Tomato Hornworm, but after doing some research, it’s a Tersa Sphinx (Xylophanes tersa) caterpillar! Actually, both in the photo are Tersa Sphinx caterpillars at different stages. Pretty soon they’ll transform into their beautiful moth form.

Caterpillars have been a big topic of conversation here at Gill’s this Summer; more rain than usual = more caterpillars. A good rule of thumb is to leave them alone unless you see a large congregation and they’re eating enough of a plant to cause harm. A few munched leaves here and there is not a problem. If you do get a large infestation, you can treat with organic Thuricide that only targets caterpillars.

Most different species of caterpillars are only attracted to specific host plants. Pentas are a host plant for the Tersa Sphinx, which was a big clue for identification. We know that Monarch caterpillars like milkweed, Gulf fritillary’s host plant is Passion Vine, and Swallowtail caterpillars like Rue and Dutchman’s Pipe Vine.

Once caterpillars reach their butterfly or moth form, they feed on nectar from a broader variety of South Texas plants like Lantana, Zinnia, Mist flowers, Turk’s Cap, and lots more. So, it’s a good idea to plant host plants and nectar plants together to enjoy the caterpillar’s full life cycle.

-Jesse

Right now is a very exciting time for us South Texas Gardeners. It doesn’t feel like it yet, but our Summer season is coming to a close, and our best growing season is right around the corner. That’s means it’s time to decide what you’re growing and get going! Here are our tips for getting started.

Plan Your Garden

It’s veggie time – start by thinking about what you like to eat! You can produce a surprising amount of food for you and food to share in a small backyard (or front yard) garden. If you have limited space, containers or small raised beds are great. Watch James’ guide to container gardening – Grow Food Everywhere! Consider mixing Fall flowers like Marigolds, Lobelia, or Violas with your herbs and veggies.

Start Your Seeds!

If you’re starting from scratch (seed), right now is the time to start cabbage, squash, beans, and lots of others. Here’s our schedule for popular Fall veggie seeds. Also, check out Wyatt’s video demo about starting seeds – it’s not the only way, but it really helps with germination. If you prefer transplanting, we’ll start getting all our Fall veggie plants in the next week or 2. Our Texas growers have been prepping for a big Fall.

Clear out Weeds and Tired Plants

As our Summer veggies and cover crops finish their life cycle, harvest what you can and clean out the rest. When you start prepping your soil for new plants, you’ll be encouraging new growth, including weeds. So, take your time pulling weeds and get as many of the roots as you can.

Prep Your Soil

If you’re planting in the ground, your soil needs a good turning before planting. This is a good time to add some compost as well. By turning about 1 bag of Nature’s Blend compost into every 12 sq. ft. of soil (or a similar amount if you make your own compost), you create a perfect environment for young plant roots to take hold. If you’re prepping raised beds, we love Gardener’s Magic soil. It’s specially formulated for raised beds; just dump the bags in and start planting.

Think Trees Too

Fall is THE best time to plant trees in our area. Cooler temps mean less watering for you and less stress on the young tree. Planting in Fall also gives the tree roots plenty of time to get established before temps warm up again next Spring/Summer. New citrus and fruit trees have arrived this week, and lots of our South Texas favs like Cedar Elm, Live Oak, and Crape Myrtles are here with more en route. Check out Josh’s citrus planting demo – lots of these planting tips are great for all kinds of trees.

We’re starting to see Ruby-throated hummingbirds make their way through for the Fall migration! These tiny birds are BIG eaters. They stop here in the Coastal Bend to fuel up before their non-stop flight across the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s how to host them in your backyard.

Right now is a great time to plant all kinds of blooming plants that hummingbirds love. Hummingbirds find plants using their excellent vision and are attracted to bright colored blooms, which indicate a high-sugar food source. Some of our favs for South Texas are Flame Acanthus (aka hummingbird bush), Salvias (like native Salvia greggii and Salvia leucantha), Cape Honeysuckle, native Turk’s Cap, Firecracker plant, Coral bean – the list goes on! Plant a few of these and hummingbirds will find them.

The right plants plus a few feeders will attract and feed lots more hummingbirds. We’re excited to try Hummingbird Momma organic nectar. It’s designed to approximate the consistency and nutrients found in flowers without any red dye or preservatives. If you make your own nectar, all you need is 1 part sugar to 4 parts water.

If you want to learn more about hummingbirds, visit the Rockport Fulton Hummerbird Celebration this weekend, September 16-19! The weekend includes a tour of “hummer homes” aka local homes and businesses that plant and maintain their yards year round to attract hummingbirds.

Mexican Mint Marigold is one of my favorite plants – they’re tough, they bloom beautifully in the Fall, and they make an amazing salad dressing! Here’s a crunchy, all green salad that works great with the Texas Tarragon flavor.

Let’s make the vinaigrette first so the flavors have a few minutes to marry while we work on the salad. You’ll need a small glass jar with a tight fitting lid and these ingredients:

a few sprigs of Mexican Mint Marigold (MMM) leaves
¼ of a clove of elephant garlic
pinch of flaky salt
¼ cup of good olive oil
1 teaspoon Ume plum vinegar
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon raw honey
juice of ½ a lemon
fresh cracked black pepper

Chop the MMM leaves and the garlic together, then add just a pinch of flaky salt. Using the side of your knife blade, smash and drag the MMM, garlic, and salt across your cutting board several times until you have a smooth paste. Regular garlic is fine to use, but I like the milder flavor of the elephant garlic for this recipe. The large pieces of flaky salt help to grind the herbs and garlic. Course Kosher salt would work well too.

Add the remaining vinaigrette ingredients and your herb/garlic/salt paste to the jar and shake it up until creamy, then set aside while we make the salad.

For the salad, we’ll need only green things:

a handful of brussels sprouts
1 bunch of lacinato kale
2 chopped green onions (save the white parts for something else)
1 avocado – cubed
handful of green peas

Chop your brussels sprouts lengthwise into very thin shreds. Remove the kale stem and chop the leaves into thin strips and add to a large bowl with the brussels sprouts. Add the peas and green onions, then toss while adding the dressing a little bit at a time – not too wet. Add the avocado last so it doesn’t get mashed while you toss.

Top with a sprinkle of hemp hearts and Mexican Mint Marigold flowers – yes, they’re edible too!

Enjoy,

-Jesse

2021 has been a year for the record books in so many ways. Big challenges, big lessons, and lots of gardening to help us all stay centered and move along. As we reflect, we wanted to share 2 big things that happened this year at Gill’s that have nothing to do with any viruses or freezes!

Part 1: New Partnership

James and I were in our mid-twenties when we decided to go into business together back in 1978. Immediately upon hiring our first employees at Gill’s, James and I felt a very strong sense of responsibility and purpose to our employees, and to you, our customers. That feeling has lasted 43 years and is still going strong. Overwhelmingly, we feel thankful for the many people that have worked with us at Gill’s to bring the best plants, garden supplies, and services to you. And that you’ve trusted us to be your go-to source for gardening.

A few years back, James and I hired Jesse Jenkins, a public policy consultant from Austin, Texas. Jesse was looking for a big career change and his love of nature and interest in plants and design attracted him to Gill’s. Within months, we felt Jesse had the desire, the intelligence, and the ethical fiber to lead Gill’s into the future. He is thorough, steady, and constant. He is honest and respectful to everyone. He is willing to make the tough calls and take responsibility, always with the welfare of our team, our customers, and our community as his top priorities.

Jesse has been our General Manager for over three years and is now our partner and part-owner of Gill’s. He is working closely with James and me and all of our staff, several with decades of experience at Gill’s, and an exciting and enthusiastic group of Millennials and Gen Z-ers. James and I have all the confidence that Jesse will lead our team into the future, evolving as we must to serve you. Thank you for your trust and support!

-Sally

Part 2: Young Retailer of the Year Award

One of the first people I met at Gill’s (aside from Sally and James) is Wyatt Page. Three years ago, he was a star employee in the garden center, quickly learning and taking on more responsibility. So, we decided to promote him to Garden Center Assistant Manager to work closely with DeAnna and help build up our team.

Early in 2021, one of the many green industry publications that we read and study, Green Profit Magazine, announced that they were seeking nominations for their ‘Young Retailer of the Year” award. The award “recognizes young professionals under 30 in the horticulture industry who have inspired others with their leadership qualities and are hardworking, passionate, creative, and innovative.” That sounded just like Wyatt to me, so I wrote a nomination letter. To both of our excitement, he was selected as 1 of 3 finalists from across the country!

Over the Summer, Wyatt and I traveled to Columbus, OH to attend the Cultivate ’21 green industry conference. After 4 intense days of educational seminars, meeting new plant growers, and visiting some amazing garden centers, we attended the final event where the winner of the Young Retailer award would be announced. Wyatt was up against some very impressive competition, but sure enough, he won! What a celebration!

Read the full cover story about Wyatt and the team here. One of the judges told me that the deciding factor was Wyatt’s passion for learning and teaching others. If you’ve spent any time with him here at Gill’s, that passion is obvious and inspiring.

-Jesse

We’ve been out traveling this January and February, looking for the best plants to bring to Gill’s this Spring. There’s lots to be excited about!

Debbie, Kelsie, and Jesse attended the Tropical Plants International Expo in Tampa, Florida. They came back with new sources for blooming outdoor tropical plants, new varieties of houseplants, and rare and unusual plants. Kelsie even brought a variegated Philodendron “Jose Buono” back with her on the plane – somehow NOT against TSA rules!

James and I have been driving around Texas, finding pretty plants AND reminding our vendors how important it is that we get the best of the crop. We always bring them cookies – that makes them smile! We were excited to see our Texas growers recovering nicely from last year’s freeze with beautiful and plentiful crops of perennials and shrubs.

An interesting fact about Gill’s…

If a grower shows up with plants we don’t like, we send them back. They have learned over the years to only send us #1 grade!! ☺

-Sally Gill

Nothing says Spring like planting flowers! Our South Texas climate gives us lots of options for blooms right now and blooms through the Spring and Summer. Here are our tips for timing, planting, and care to get the healthiest plants and brightest blooms.

Timing – What to Plant, What to Expect

Plant Impatiens, Petunias, Begonias, Gerbera Daisy, and Geraniums right now for intense, amazing color for the next 2ish months. As temperatures warm up in April/May, we’ll transition to a new palette of flowers like Vinca, Zinnias, Moss Rose, and Purslane that will last and bloom through the Summer. Right now is also a great time to plant blooming perennials like Salvias, Coreopsis, Lantana, and Penta that will bloom again each year and look their best for 2-3 years.

Planting – Tender Plants, Tender Roots

For small, tender annual flowers like Petunias and Begonias, use a good fluffy potting soil in pots to allow tender roots to penetrate. When planting in the ground, amend existing soil with Nature’s Blend compost to loosen up clay soil and add nutrients. Whether planting in pots or in the ground, be sure not to plant too deep – plant level with the surrounding soil so the tiny feeder roots on the surface are not buried. Allow adequate spacing between plants for good air circulation and healthy growth. Spacing depends on the flower you’re planting. For example, Petunias should be about 8” apart, while Periwinkles should be 12-16” apart.

Feeding and Care

Fertilizing is essential if you want the best blooms. We recommend Medina Hasta Gro every 2 weeks and Rose Glo once a month – both are organic and excellent for promoting new blooms. For annual flowers, pinch off any old/faded blooms to encourage new blooms. Blooming perennials need to be cut back right now before they start growing rapidly. This is the best opportunity to promote more blooms and a nicer look and shape overall.

-Debbie and Jesse

Why does Mark Scott, community leader and eight-term city councilman, grow zinnias? So he can keep fresh flowers on his wife Carol’s bathroom counter for a big portion of the year!

They were college sweethearts and have been married for 38 years. I think there’s a lesson for us all!

Mark and Carol welcomed me into their home a few weeks back. I wanted to see his zinnia garden in person. I’d seen it on social media and could tell from the photos he was serious about growing them. Come to find out, he purchases exotic zinnia seeds from all over the world; this year they came from Washington, California, Maine, England, Latvia, and Japan.

Zinnias grow native primarily in Mexico, as far south as Guatemala, and as far north as Colorado.

They are members of the Aster family and are closely related to the daisy. Zinnias were available by seed as early as the late 1700s, but it wasn’t until the mid-1800s when the French developed the double form of the plant that they became wildly popular in the United States.

Zinnias are one of the most giving summer bloomers in South Texas and they come in a wonderful range of colors from pinks, corals, and whites to yellows, purples, and oranges. You can buy one package of mixed California Giant Zinnias, plant them in your garden with full sun and regular watering and be sure to have flowers on your dining room table all summer long. My mother grew zinnias when I was a young girl because she loved the bright colors. And because they were easy!

Mark dedicates about 10’ x 40’ of a sunny portion of his backyard to his zinnias. He works his soil each year in February with compost to enrich it and builds raised beds for planting his seed. He plants rows 24” apart with weed mat between each row. In March, Mark digs a small trench, drops seed in, and once seedlings are 2” tall (within about a week) he pulls excess seedlings to give plants room to grow. Zinnias are prone to getting a bit of fungus on leaves if they stay wet so Mark uses soaker hoses to water from below. That keeps the soil moist and leaves dry!

Mark loves sharing his zinnias. Beyond gifting his flowers to Carol – especially the purple blossoms – her favorite, Mark delivers them to his friends and family. People know when they open their front door and see a mason jar with zinnias on the front porch, Mark has been there. What a great way to make a person’s day better!!

Mark begins every morning outside. After a bike ride, he sits in his beautiful courtyard, shaded by pecans and oak, and plays fetch with his dogs. Carol and Mark spend time most evenings in their courtyard, drinking a bit of wine, picking and pruning on their plants, and reflecting on the day. Their love of nature and family and friends is beautifully reflected in their garden; thank you for sharing your gift with us, Mark and Carol!

– Sally Gill

texas

Plan Your Garden

Start Your Seeds!

Clear out Weeds and Tired Plants

Prep Your Soil

Think Trees Too

Part 1: New Partnership

Part 2: Young Retailer of the Year Award

Timing – What to Plant, What to Expect

Planting – Tender Plants, Tender Roots

Feeding and Care

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