Rusty Dog Gardens

06/08/2023

Friends in the garden. Tawny Emperor and Question Mark butterflies, attracted by my patch of native nectar plants.

05/27/2023

Photo dump from my wildflower patch. I mixed native seed mix with damp compost and spread it around last fall. This is just after year one! All of these will reseed and continue to add beauty to the land.

05/15/2023

Please call or email your state reps to vote AGAINST SB 1426 so Hill Country habitat can be protected. Here's a script to use:

"I am a constituent in [neighborhood] urging you to vote no on SB 1426. This bill would categorize Ashe Juniper trees, also known as "cedars" in the Hill Country, as trash trees that cannot be protected. These trees are an important part of the Texas ecosystem and are necessary in the lifecycle of the Golden-Cheeked Warbler, an endangered bird species that only nests and reproduces in the Texas Hill Country where there are oaks and ashe junipers. Thousands of birders and nature enthusiasts travel to Texas every year to spot these beautiful birds and it would be a shame to jeopardize their population even further.

Thank you for your consideration and everything you do to conserve Texas habitat."

04/25/2023

🚨🚨🚨 public service alert 🚨🚨🚨

This milkw**d is being sold as Asclepias Tuberosa but it's actually Asclepias Curassavica, also known as tropical milkw**d.

Tuberosa is a native milkw**d, Curassavica is not native to our region and creates problems for monarch butterflies by messing up their migration patterns and infecting them with parasites.

Please DO NOT buy this mislabeled product. It is so frustrating to know that people want to help the monarchs and plant native milkw**d and then are misled by a grower and retailer who know better.

Get honest native milkw**d from Houston Audubon natives nursery, , and

04/22/2023

Louisiana Iris in the rain garden. It was fun to plant these in the school's colors!

04/21/2023

With amazing volunteers, we transformed this muddy plot into a shade-friendly native plant garden.

Swipe to see the before and progress pictures.

Plants used:

The Cherokee Sedge will provide ground cover and help with erosion.

The Dwarf Palmetto is the focal point in the center.

Under a roof opening with direct sun, we planted Louisiana Iris, Daylily, and Inland Sea Oats to absorb the water.

Blue-Eyed Grass is along the new shortcut path.

Everything was chosen in concert with the unique requirements of this space. There is a slope, indirect afternoon sun, and limited water. Fortunately native plants can thrive in tough conditions.

03/30/2023

A third of household water use goes to lawn and landscape irrigation, of which half is wasted through evaporation and runoff.

Water is getting more expensive in Houston. Now is the time to reduce your lawn, replace water-hungry plants with low-water native options, and use drip hoses or rain barrels instead of sprinklers when irrigation is needed.

Use this rate hike to get your friends and neighbors on board with native plants. It's good for the planet and the pocketbook.

03/29/2023

We may be taking a break but your plants aren't! A RDG customer sent in these photos of her penstemon and lizard's tail growing beautifully this spring 🌱

03/07/2023

We've been quiet lately...resting, reflecting, and planning our next phase as a business.

It has been incredible to meet so many Houstonians committed to gardening with native plants. We heard your request for a permanent nursery loud and clear.

Please tell us what you would want to see us become - we are listening!

11/27/2022

Ringing in the Advent Season with a wreath vase full of native Ashe Juniper sprigs. We are also using Yaupon Holly, Agarita, Bluestem, and Muhly grass in our native plant holiday decor.

11/05/2022

Native Asters are very commonly treated as a w**d in lawns. In ecological terms, the lawn is the w**d- not the aster.

Many pollinators depend on asters as a fall nectar source, so leaving them is very important to sustain their populations.

It's imperative that we start to change the concept of what a "w**d" is and start sharing our properties with nature. It did belong to nature first, after all.

🌳

10/17/2022

Another reason to get your new native plants in the ground - the monarchs are coming and they'll be hungry for nectar!

this week's cold front should be pushing LOTS of Monarchs south toward Mexico! Butterflies prefer to migrate during the day (birds at night), so pay attention to the sky, the flowers and--in the morning--the trees, where you may find clusters roosting amongst the leaves on the branches.