Prairie Up: Benjamin Vogt

The Show

Prairie Up: Benjamin Vogt

air date: May 24, 2025

Reimagine lawns as gorgeous plants and vibrant wildlife with Benjamin Vogt, author of A New Garden Ethic and Prairie Up! In a metamorphosis of once hard-packed earth at an abandoned warehouse, an urban butterfly sanctuary restores life to soil and soul in daily pollinator shows at The VORTEX Repertory Theater. Bonnie Cullum, theater co-founder and producing artistic director, and Alex Cogburn, box office manager and Butterfly Garden keeper, engage the community indoors and out in today’s important issues, including habitat loss. Entomologist Wizzie Brown identifies various wasps, mud daubers, and yellow jackets. She also identifies the virus that causes monarch caterpillars to turn black. Landscape consultant Colleen Dieter, co-founder of Central Texas Seed Savers, packages seeds for local libraries to check out to gardeners. See how to contribute seeds from your garden.

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Episode Segments

On Tour

Butterfly Garden Performs at Repertory Theater

In a metamorphosis of once hard-packed earth at an abandoned warehouse, an urban butterfly sanctuary restores life to soil and soul in daily pollinator shows at The VORTEX Repertory Theater. Bonnie Cullum, theater co-founder and producing artistic director, and Alex Cogburn, box office manager and Butterfly Garden keeper, engage the community indoors and out in today’s important issues, including habitat loss.

Watch more "On Tour" videos on YouTube →

Interview

Prairie Up: Benjamin Vogt

Reimagine lawns as gorgeous plants and vibrant wildlife with Benjamin Vogt, author of A New Garden Ethic and Prairie Up!

Watch more CTG Interview videos on YouTube →

Question of the Week

Difference Between Wasps, Mud Daubers & Yellow Jackets

Entomologist Wizzie Brown identifies various wasps, mud daubers, and yellow jackets. She also identifies the virus that causes monarch caterpillars to turn black.

Watch more Question of the Week videos on YouTube →

Backyard Basics

Central Texas Seed Savers

Landscape consultant Colleen Dieter, co-founder of Central Texas Seed Savers, packages seeds for local libraries to check out to gardeners. See how to contribute seeds from your garden.

Watch more Backyard Basics videos on YouTube →

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CTG Episode Archive

May To Do List

Plant: ornamental & wildlife

Annuals: zinnia, cosmos, sunflower, celosia, penta, periwinkle, gomphrena, portulaca and other “ice” plant succulents, Mexican sunflower, salvia coccinea
Perennials & vines: (shade them for a week or so)
Semi-tropicals like Pride of Barbados
Tropical plants
Succulents
Crinum lilies, cannas, caladiums, ginger
Ornamental (clumping) grasses like muhly and Mexican feather grass
Clean up and replant containers—annuals, perennials, herbs, hibiscus, vegetables in larger containers
Top new containers with light layer of mulch to conserve water; use decomposed granite, pea gravel or other grit for potted succulents

Plant: herbs

Basil, catnip/catmint, comfrey, fennel, horseradish, oregano, thyme, rosemary, Mexican mint marigold, peppermint, lemongrass, lemon balm, lemon verbena, bay laurel
Plant: food crops
Cantaloupe, okra, Southern peas, sweet potato slips, pumpkin, summer & winter squash, watermelon
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Vegetable Planting Guides (Central Texas) http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/travis/home-landscape/edible-gardens/growing-vegetables/

Prune

Spring flowering shrubs, vines, and roses that bloom only in spring
Trees: DO NOT prune red oaks and live oaks unless damaged. Spray immediately with clear varnish.
No need to apply pruning paint to other trees
Dead head flowering plants
Cut back fall blooming perennials like aster
Prune spring bulbs only when foliage is brown
Remove sucker shoots from tomato plants to get earlier, larger fruit
Cut back spring bulbs that are brown

Move/Divide

Succulents
Spring blooming bulbs while you can still see them!

Fertilize

Foliar feed flowers and vegetables with liquid seaweed
Bougainvillea with high nitrogen
Citrus with high nitrogen fertilizer like Citrus-tone. Fertilize every few weeks through growing season.

Insects

Watch for aphids and spider mites. It’s easy to spray them off with a hard blast of water. Be sure to get the undersides of the leaves.
Ladybugs and green lacewings will be chomping down those aphids, so watch for them and their larvae.
Aphids and other insects can create sooty mold on plants, a fungus that develops from their secretions (honeydew). Wash off the culprits and the leaves. Remove damaged leaves to the trash (not the compost pile).
Walk the garden in early morning to pick off stink bugs and largus bugs from tomatoes. Check under the leaves for eggs.
Deploy grasshoppers while young. If you wait, you won’t be able to deal with them. Effective baits include Nolo Bait or Semaspore. Both contain a protozoa called Nosema locustae which is impregnated in bran flakes sweetened with sugar. Apply by hand or with a rotary spreader, early in the morning, when grasshoppers are feeding.

Lawn

Move the lawn mower setting up to high. As we head into summer, keep the roots cool by leaving the grass long. Don’t remove more than 1/3 of the top at a time. Leave clippings on the lawn to naturally fertilize.

Other tasks

Collect seeds from spring blooming plants. Clean off the chaff and let dry indoors. Store in jars, envelopes, or paper bags (not plastic) to plant in November
Mulch, but avoid touching the base of trees and roses
WEED! Do not let weeds go to seed. Do not apply chemicals: pull them up or mow down before they set seed.
Watch for powdery mildew. Apply a natural fungicide like Serenade if necessary. Generally, it goes away naturally. Avoid watering leaves at night.
Deeply water new plants. Even if rain comes, check the soil to 3” deep to make sure their roots have water. A brief shower doesn’t mean it penetrated to the roots.
Keep a garden journal to note bloom times and insect habits.

Tips

Prune herbs often to encourage new growth
Walk the garden in early morning to pick off stink bugs and largus bugs from tomatoes. Look under the leaves to for their eggs.
Water fruit and nut trees deeply to avoid fruit drop-off

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