good for the soul

Houston blooms as No. 3 best city for urban gardening in the U.S.

Let's get gardening, Houston

Folks in the Bayou City have plenty of reasons to develop a green thumb: Houston has harvested new acclaim as the No. 3 best city in America for urban gardening in 2026.

Lawnstarter's annual report, "2026’s Best Cities for Urban Gardening," compared 500 U.S. cities based on their respective public access to community gardens, climate, the prevalence of nurseries and gardening supply stores, and the number of regional gardening clubs and online groups.

Atlanta topped the list as the No. 1 best U.S. city, followed by Miami (No. 2); St. Louis (No. 4); and Jacksonville, Florida (No. 5).

For the uninitiated, urban gardening is the practice of growing plants or food in densely populated areas. Local examples include Blackwood Skyfarm, which is the largest rooftop farm in Texas, or Urban Harvest's 160 affiliate gardens – but backyards, apartment balconies, and vacant lots could also fit the bill. Additionally, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department has an Urban Garden Program where residents can volunteer to help locate sections of local parks to turn into community gardens.

Houston was No. 1 nationally in the "supplies" rank, and Lawnstarter said the city is home to 253 landscaping equipment shops – the most in the U.S. – and the second-highest number of gardening stores (276) and nurseries (132). The city also earned a respectable No. 6 rank for its "support and interest" of urban gardening, meaning many residents are searching terms like "community gardens," "vertical gardening," and others.

Here's how the city fared in the remaining three categories:

No. 115 – Public access
No. 157 – Climate
No. 390 – Private access (based on average yard size for starting an at-home garden)

Cathy Walker, president of the American Community Gardening Association, offered some tips for first-time gardeners to help get their hands in the soil: choose only a few easy growing plants to start; learn which growing zone you're in to determine the plants that will thrive in your area; watch how much sunlight your garden space gets daily; and prioritize keeping soil healthy with compost and mulch.

Ecoregions are also helpful for understanding what plants will thrive. Whereas zones are about temperature, ecoregions are much more detailed groups. Planters can learn about their ecoregion and get personalized growing tips from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation in its new native planting app, Wild Thumb.

Starting your own garden can also have a financial benefit, the report suggested. However, up-front costs can get high in gardening, so gardeners might have to stick to it for a few seasons to see savings.

"With grocery prices projected to rise by 3.1 percent in 2026, there’s never been a better time to grow your own food," the report's author wrote. "Estimates show that growing a 600-square-foot plot for fruits and vegetables can save you around $600 in a single season."

The top 10 best cities for urban gardening in 2026 are:

No. 1 – Atlanta
No. 2 – Miami
No. 3 – Houston
No. 4 – St. Louis
No. 5 – Jacksonville, Florida
No. 6 – Orlando
No. 7 – Cincinnati
No. 8 – Fort Meyers, Florida
No. 9 – Tampa
No. 10 – Austin

urban gardening gardening houston

toy story

Houston Toy Museum will shutter in the Heights after 4 years

Luke Skywalker action figure Houston Toy Museum

Photos via Houston Toy Museum

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Childhood whimsy took a mortal blow this week as the Houston Toy Museum announced it would be closing its storefront on 19th Street at the end of August.

"The truth is, we fell in love with the idea of being in a space that already held so much history and nostalgia for so many," wrote founders Matt and Sara Broussard in an Instagram post on Wednesday, July 22. "So we dreamed big, took a leap, and in some ways bit off more than we could chew. Even so, we are deeply proud of what we have built and have no regrets!"

The couple cited rising rent prices as the primary reason for the closure. The Greater Houston Partnership reports that gross office rent prices in the second quarter of 2026 had jumped to $31/square foot, up from a $28/square foot a year ago. For a 4,932 square foot building like the Houston Toy Museum at 321 W. 19th, such increases can compound into an untenable amount.

The Broussards assured their fans and supporters that the Houston Toy Museum was not disappearing completely. They plan to continue hosting events around the city, including pop-ups and LEGO builds. Their Instagram post ended with a hopeful promise that they will find another storefront location sometime in the future.

When the Houston Toy Museum first opened in 2022, it quickly became a one-of-a-kind hub of pop culture in the city. Built from donated toys and the Broussards' large personal collection, it housed an impressive array of everything from century-old dolls to the immense G.I. Joe playset the U.S.S . Flagg (which is 7.5 feet long) to modern video game systems. The museum hosted film screenings, community talks, and more on the history and importance of play. It also sold a lot of toys in the gift shop.

All of those items are headed to storage, but the Broussards remained upbeat and thankful for the four years they were able to entertain and delight Houston.

"What started as a daydream became a space filled with joy, nostalgia, creativity, connection, and community," said the statement. "We watched families make memories here, saw people reconnect with pieces of their childhood, hosted incredible events, and felt an outpouring of support that we will never forget.We owe so much to you, our community. You showed up for us again and again, and we cannot thank you enough for believing in what we created. Heights residents, and beyond, you helped spread the word about our little museum. Many of you have been our biggest cheerleaders from day one and we are forever grateful for that."

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