Horticulture Research Websites

Wildlife in your Garden Wildflowers

Seasonal Information Perennials

Water

The Texas Urban Landscape Guide is a resource of science-based information related to the design, installation, and maintenance of WaterWise landscapes for the principal plant adaptability regions in Texas. Built upon the WaterWise principles

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/urbanlandscapeguide/waterwise3.html

TexasET contains weather information, current and average evapotranspiration data, and irrigation watering recommendations.

http://texaset.tamu.edu/

It’s a jolting thought – Life without water. We like water and we need plenty of it, but our supply is running low. What are we gonna do?

http://savetexaswater.tamu.edu/

Water conservation does not get your attention, perhaps improved turf quality will. Both of these effects are products of a properly designed and managed irrigation system.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/turf/publications/water.html

Table of rainfall and evaporation across Texas.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/PLANTanswers/turf/publications/watercht.html

Detailed insight into efficient use of water in gardening (1980s)

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homelandscape/water/water.html

Texas A&M University Rainwater Harvesting: Basics, Collection and Storage, Stormwater Management, Rangeland Watersheds, Landscaping, Wildlife, Raingardens, and In-Home Use

http://rainwaterharvesting.tamu.edu/

Soil

Collin County Detailed Soil Map Sheet

http://soils.usda.gov/survey/online_surveys/texas/collin/maps/indexmspa.html

Web Soil Survey (WSS) provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world. NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties.

http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/

Insects

Chewing Pests from Gardening with Skip

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/gardeningwithskip/segments/052003d.html

Got bugs? Insects in the City is where you can learn more about common insects found around your home and landscape

http://citybugs.tamu.edu/

This is the official website for Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association (CCHBA). It is comprised of men, women and youth interested in the art of beekeeping.

http://www.northtexasbeekeepers.org/index.html

Diseases (Pathogens)

Diseases can occur at any stage during the course of plant growth. The rapid, accurate diagnosis of the cause of a disease, along with the implementation of a rapid treatment, is essential to ensure the protection of the crop.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/veghandbook/chapter7/chapter7.html

Do you have problems in your garden? Texas A&M University Sick Plant website will help you learn more of disease problems that occurs in and around your yard or home garden.

http://sickplants.tamu.edu/

Easy Gardening...Disease Control : A good home gardener recognizes symptoms of plant diseases quickly and takes steps to prevent or control them.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/easygardening/disease/disease.html

An overview of the science of diagnosis and treatment of vegetable diseases

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/veghandbook/chapter7/chapter7.html

Identifying and Controlling Most Common Spring Plant Diseases in the Landscape

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/newsletters/hortupdate/mar04/Spring.html

Microbiological Safety of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Chapter 1 http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/foodsafety/Module1.pdf

Chapter 2 http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/foodsafety/Module2.pdf

Chapter 3 http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/foodsafety/Module3.pdf

Chapter 4 http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/foodsafety/Module4.pdf

Wildlife in your Garden

Go out in your backyard and look around! Watch the butterflies and hummingbirds dance in search of nectar. Listen to the trill of songbirds fill the air. Hear the plop of a frog jumping into a pond. This isn't your yard, you say? It could be. It's not hard, and it doesn't matter where you live or how much space you have. START your own Backyard Wildlife Habitat project today

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/greenhouse/hortgardens/virtualtour/vtbirding.htm

Learn about the four basic elements that wildlife need and how you can create a Certified Wildlife Habitat right in your own backyard. Join more than 90,000 others who have certified their yards!

http://www.nwf.org/gardenforwildlife/

TEXNAT's primary purpose is to serve as an information database

http://texnat.tamu.edu/

Texas Parks and Wildlife wildscape website

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/wildscapes/

Certify as a Best of Texas Backyard Habitat

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/wildscapes/certification/best_of_tx/

The Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management is a non-profit, grant funded site that provides research-based information on how to responsibly handle wildlife damage problems

http://icwdm.org/Default.asp

Organized in 1980, Prairie and Timbers Audubon Society serves Collin County and surrounding counties. We invite you and your family to join our all volunteer range of nature-oriented activities

http://www.prairieandtimbers.org/

Wildflowers

A private website showing Texas Wildflowers by the Month.

http://pages.prodigy.net/jospencer/

Texas A&M University Wildflowers in Bloom includes photos of wildflowers, growing information, seed sources, soil mixture by region and additional wildflower links.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed/tamuhort.html

UT Native Plants

http://www.wildflower.org/

Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses, (K-State Libraries) contains information and more than 2650 identification photos for some 550 species of forbs, grasses, sedges, rushes, and woody plants that are found growing in Kansas.

This is an excellent site and many of the wildflowers are also common in Texas.

http://www.kswildflower.org/

This site contains a locator and pictures of wildflowers found in the state of Texas.

http://www.texaswildflowerpictures.com/wf_index.htm

Seasonal Info

Texas A&M University – Spring Gardening Index

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/earthkind/ekgarden2.html

Texas A&M University – Fall Gardening Index

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/fallgarden/fallindex.html

Texas A&M University Extension Horticulture Updates

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/newsletters/hortupdate/

Texas A&M University Home Guide to Gardening

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homeguide/index.html

Perennials

Dr. Bill Welch is editor of The Southern Garden web site within Aggie Horticulture. He is also a contributing editor for the Horticulture Update newsletter.

Perennials for Texas Landscapes

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/chart2.html

Perennial Garden Color

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/perenngc.html

Cutflower Gardening

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/cutflower.html

To increase your stock of perennials, divide spring and summer bloomers during the fall and winter.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/newsletters/hortupdate/nov02/art8nov.html

List of perennials that perform well in Texas. (Collin County is in Region 4).

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/xeriscape/table3.html

Cornell Herbaceous Perennials was created by Texas A&M University professor and Cornell alumnus Dan Lineberger. It is searchable via scientific name, common name, and photographic indices as well as through a search page in which visitors may enter more detailed criteria such as plant names, family, flower color, plant height and growth habit, foliage texture, propagation methods, hardiness zone, season of bloom, and water and light requirements. Cornell University is in Zone 5 and Collin County is in Zone 7B or 8A, so be aware that some of these plants may not perform well in Texas. Make sure you check the hardiness zone and PH preferences to make sure the plants will perform well here in Collin County.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/cornell_herbaceous/credits.html

Plants

Flowers for all Seasons: Annual flowers can provide landscaped areas with more seasonal variety and colorful accents than most other plants.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homelandscape/flowers/index.html

Many homeowners new to Texas ask which fruits they can grow and why the crops they grew back home aren't abundant here. This publication is designed to give homeowners a brief overview of the fruits that grow well in Texas and the problems that may be encountered with certain others.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruitgarden/fruitgarden.html

Plant Propagation: An Overview of Asexual Reproduction

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/propagation/index.html

Select Plants by Adaptability Region

http://floriculture.tamu.edu:7998/urbanlandscapeguide/zipcode.html

Jim McAfee's Weed Photo Gallery

http://scsphotogallery.tamu.edu/gallery/JimMcAfeeWeeds

Plant Answers website Information Index

http://www.plantanswers.com/resources.htm

Texas A&M University Plant Pictures

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/picturepages/tamuhort.html

Texas A&M University Turfgrass Program

http://aggieturf.tamu.edu/

Improving Your Lawn in Shady Areas.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/docs/Shady_Lawn.pdf

Aggie Horticulture Plant Picture Pages

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/picturepages/tamuhort.html

USDA Texas Protected Plants

http://plants.usda.gov/java/threat?stateSelect=US48&statelist=states

US Department of Agriculture – Plants

http://plants.usda.gov/

Trees and Shrubs

Texas A&M University – Pecan Kernel

http://pecankernel.tamu.edu/

Native Trees of Texas: Alphabetical Index to Common Names

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/indexcommon.htm

Texas Native Trees

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/galleryindex1.htm

The Big List of tree fact sheets

http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/biglist.htm

Gardening

Gardening with Skip

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/gardeningwithskip/index.html

Texas Home Gardening Guide: Home Gardening Guide, Do’s and Don’ts for Home Gardening, Cultural Characteristics of Various Vegetables, Harvesting and Storage Characteristics of Vegetables, Average Date of Last Spring Frost, Average Date of First Fall Frost.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homeguide/index.html

Tomato Disorders: A Guide to the Identification of Common Problems.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/tomatoproblemsolver/index.html

Cucurbit Disorders - A Guide to the Identification of Common Problems

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/cucurbit/intro.html

If your vegetable gardening is limited by insufficient space or an unsuitable area, consider the possibility of raising fresh, nutritious, homegrown vegetables in containers.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/container/container.html

Building a Raised Bed Garden: Planning, Construction, Planting and Mulching, Maintaining, and further readings

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/raisedbed/index.html

Webcast tutorials on greenhouse crop production.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/webtutor/students/macalpine/start.htm

Earth Kind Gardening Index

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/earthkind/ekgarden2.html

Earth Kind uses research-proven techniques to provide maximum gardening and landscape enjoyment while preserving and protecting our environment. The objective of Earth Kind is to combine the best of organic and traditional gardening and landscaping principles to create a horticultural system based on real world effectiveness and environmental responsibility.

http://earthkind.tamu.edu/

Commercial Vegetable Growers Handbook

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/veghandbook/

Identify the problem in your garden by scanning images of pests or by finding the most common pest problems of common vegetable crops. Then search the control database to determine the current recommendations for cultural, biological, or chemical control of your pest.

http://vegipm.tamu.edu/

12 Months of Xeriscape Color

http://www.plantanswers.com/12_mos_xeriscape_/gallery.htm

Miscellaneous

Aggie Horticulture for Kids includes areas on JMG, Kinder Garden, Nutrition in the Garden, A Rainbow of Nutrition, Human Issues in Horticulture, and Composting for Kids.

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/kindergarden/index.html

Extension Information Resources Index: Vegetable, Fruit and Nut, Gardening, Composting, Propagation, Landscape, Nursery/Floral, Horticulture Programs, and Harvest and Post Harvest

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/publications.html

Texas A&M University Extension website

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/

Texas Nursery and Landscape Association website – Landscape Texas

http://www.landscapetexas.org/

Texas Natural Resource Server

http://texnat.tamu.edu/

Texas Parks and Wildlife Plant Information Database

http://tpid.tpwd.state.tx.us/

Texas Parks and Wildlife Plant Guidance for The Blackland Prairies

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/wildscapes/guidance/plants/ecoregions/ecoregion_4.phtml

Fungicide Information

http://www.msstate.edu/dept/extensionplantclinics/home_fung/legal_verbage.html

The mission of Texas AgriLife Extension Service in Collin County is to improve county residents' quality of life with custom-made educational programs which are based on community-identified needs in the areas of agriculture, environmental stewardship, youth and adult life skills, human capital and leadership and community economic development.

http://collin-tx.tamu.edu/

British site with Garden Safety Tips and Advice.

http://www.safegardening.co.uk/

This training aid used as a primary source of the “Ohio Master Gardener Manual”.

http://www.hcs.ohio-state.edu/mg/manual/index.htm

Clemson University Powerpoint (MG powerpoints also)

http://www.clemson.edu/sandhill/page.htm?pageId=3584

Oregon State Master Gardeners Botany (on-line)

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/mg/botany/