AMERICAN GARDENER

Zone 8 gardeners enjoy mild winters with temperatures that occasionally dip to 10–20°F (-12 to -7°C). While many succulents are strictly tropical, a surprising number are cold-hardy enough to survive zone 8 winters outdoors with little to no protection, returning reliably each spring. In other words, Zone 8 is a warm, mostly mild hardiness zone … Read more

Plant families group vegetables that share common ancestry, structural characteristics, growth habits, pest vulnerabilities, and nutritional profiles. Understanding vegetable families helps gardeners practice crop rotation, recognize related pests and diseases, and appreciate the remarkable diversity of edible plants. Below is a comprehensive guide to every major plant family that includes cultivated vegetables. List of Vegetable … Read more

Picture: Dungeness Crab At California State Capitol Museum Crabs are crustaceans belonging to the order Decapoda, with over 6,700 species worldwide. They’re known for their hard exoskeleton, ten legs (including two claws), and side-walking gait. From oceans to forests, crabs have adapted to nearly every environment, showcasing incredible evolutionary variety. Marine crabs, like the blue … Read more

Origin & Introduction Diabolo Ninebark is a cultivar of Physocarpus opulifolius, a species native to the eastern and central regions of North America. The cultivar itself, however, was selected and developed in the Netherlands during the late 1980s and introduced to the horticultural market in the early 1990s. Its dramatic, near-black purple foliage was an instant … Read more

Dahlias are warm-season flowers that live and die by the calendar. Plant too early and the cold will rot your tubers; plant too late and summer slips away before the blooms arrive. Few flowers command attention in a garden the way dahlias do. From dinner-plate varieties the size of a small hat to delicate pompons … Read more

Texas is one of the most ecologically diverse states in the country, spanning ten distinct natural regions — from the piney woods of the East to the Chihuahuan Desert of the West, and from the rolling prairies of the North to the subtropical Rio Grande Valley in the South. This remarkable diversity means there is … Read more

Australia is home to one of the most diverse and remarkable spider faunas on the planet, with an estimated 10,000 species ranging across every habitat from tropical rainforest to scorching desert. The continent’s long geological isolation has allowed spider lineages to evolve in unique directions, producing forms and behaviors found nowhere else on earth. From … Read more

Trees provide one of the richest habitats for spiders on earth, offering bark crevices, leaf canopies, hollow trunks, and an abundance of insect prey. Different species exploit different layers — some live under loose bark at the trunk, others build webs high in the canopy, and still others hunt actively across leaves and branches. This … Read more

Banana plants, with their broad leaves, dense foliage, and moist environments, make ideal shelter for a variety of spiders. The most genuinely associated group is Cupiennius, a genus of 11 species native to Central and South America that hunt among banana leaves at night. These are large, hairy, brown spiders that are only mildly venomous … Read more