Brazos County Master Gardeners

10/13/2026

The Brazos County Master Gardeners will give a free talk about gardening at the Mounce Library on Saturday, October 17th!

This month, Maureen Reap will talk about tree selection. This program will be held in the upstairs meeting room. Registration not required.

10/02/2026

Join Horticulture agent Stephen Brueggerhoff talking about cole crops: cauliflower and cabbage for a fall veggie garden. Starting at 11 am and hosted from Brazos County Master Gardeners page.

10/01/2026

What Now?

Being a lifelong gardener, I’m talking decades here, this year has tested my gardening affinity with a plethora of pests. Rosemary could usually be counted on to be trouble free, so browning and dead terminal leaves had me asking – What now?

The webbing that surrounded the dead leaves pointed to web spinning spider mites. Hot, dry, dusty conditions with added stress from irregular water would provide the right environmental conditions to promote spider mite infestations. The problem was the lack of actual mites.

Morning checks of the suffering rosemary finally caught the culprit. The genus Pyrausta, mint moths, is as far as I could confidently narrow it down. The likely suspect out of this large genus, is the Southern Purple Mint Moth, Rosmarinus officinalis. Life cycle is a small moth laying eggs on host plant, small caterpillars hatch and spin the webbing where you can see the frass. Caterpillars morph to pupae that are small dark brown and tapered at each end and held in the webbing. These hatch out to moths. This cycle can be repeated several times in a season. Recommended control is to cut off the affected stems, which has an added benefit of pruning your rosemary. I squish any caterpillars and roll the stems between thumb and finger, muttering “take that you bugger”, before disposing them. You can also use insecticidal soap or insecticides containing Bacillus thuringiensis. Be sure to read all directions and cautions before using them.

It paid off listening to a professional entomologist encouraging taking a closer look instead of jumping to conclusions on the identification. Spider mites being arachnids, not insects, are related to ticks and spiders involving completely different chemical control methods. Removing the affected stems works for either – an unashamed plug for cheap and readily available mechanical removal, i.e. clippers or fingers. Knowing your pest is the first step in controlling your pest.

09/25/2026

Join Horticulture Agent Stephen B with quick tips evaluating your lawn after summer.
Starting at 11:30 am and hosted from Brazos County Master Gardeners page.

09/17/2026

Mark your calendar! Wings in the Garden, a family friendly event celebrating pollinators is in two weeks at our beloved DIG, September 26 from 9 am to 11:30 am. Check out our website for more info: txmg.org/brazos/event/. Write-up from AgriLife TODAY - https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/event-advance/wings-in-the-garden/

Wings in the Garden is a free celebration of pollinators hosted by the Texas Master Gardeners in Brazos County on Sept. 26 in Bryan.

09/01/2026

From Stephen B Brueggerhoff, Brazos County AgriLife Extension Service Agent for Horticulture:
While the dog days of Summer drag on with sustained heat, this is not the time to rest on our Mountain laurels. The key to Garden Success is preparation, patience, and persistence. I offer a few tips to maintain and sustain garden beauty and prepare your Fall vegetable garden for a bountiful harvest.

Late summer and early fall are the perfect time to evaluate and make plans to modify your landscape. Use Earth-Kind landscape design principles to conserve resources and choose trees, shrubs and perennial plants appropriate to attract and useful habitat for pollinators.

Rehab or establish new garden beds in early September, then wait a few weeks and plant cool season vegetables like beets, radish and turnips by seed; broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage by transplants. Get ready to germinate carrots and spinach by mid-October.

You still have time to prune re-blooming roses, no more than 1/3 the canopy for a Fall showing. Tip prune basil flower stalks to improve delectable leaf harvest. Selectively prune upright rosemary to keep the bush in form and at preferred height and spread. If you are successful with thyme, your plants will have spread into a thick matte that appears to sprawl throughout the garden; prune back to keep these useful herbs from growing into unwanted areas of your garden.

We have a window of opportunity to fertilize your lawn in late summer. Complete a soil test for accurate recommendations of fertilizer applications. Forms for sampling, including instructions for sampling and submission guidelines can be found from the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Soil, Water and Forage Testing Laboratory online:

Soil, Water and Forage Testing Laboratory

08/24/2026

https://txmg.org/brazos/hardy-hibiscus-article/
This link is to a great article from our Brazos County Master Gardeners website, written by Stephen Brueggerhoff, CEA – Horticulture, Brazos County AgriLife.Extension. Check it out and while there, explore all the helpful gardening tips and upcoming local events.
Photos from my garden here is south College Station . Includes two hardy hibiscus and two examples of Rose of Sharon or Althea.