The glow of the intense bright red color, corky ridges on the branches, and bright orange or red berries of your neighborhood burning bushes may entice you, but remember planting and growing them will lead to further degradation of the Illinois wildscape. The ornamental berries of this common...
It will soon be time to put our gardens to bed for the year. Fall is a perfect time to get the kids out in the garden, with the cool temperatures and changing of the season. Have them help you with some garden chores combined with fun activities, engagement with nature, and even learning too!...
Don’t fret over whitefly infestations on flowers as these latecomers to the landscape most likely don’t require control because they won’t make it through the Illinois winter. Only plants that make the journey back inside should be monitored and or treated for these insect pests.
Clouds of...
Like it or not, fall and winter will be here before we know it! During the off-season, too many gardeners leave their vegetable or flower gardens bare over winter. This can cause major problems for the following growing season, especially an invasion of winter weeds and erosion of high-quality...
Are you ready to toss in the towel on your overgrown, drab-looking container gardens for the year?
Unfortunately, our gorgeous summer containers are now fading due to the stress of the summer heat, possible insects or diseases, and the changing temperatures and sunlight in fall. Don’t give up! Now...
The larvae of a moth may be wreaking havoc on your lawns right now and could be exacerbated by the lack of rain leaving behind lots of dead grass in its wake. Recent sightings of large fall armyworm infestations of turf have been reported in Bloomington Normal this week.
Fall armyworm (Spodoptera...
We are officially into the dog days of summer; with daylight noticeably shorter than around the June solstice, berry season is sadly coming to an end. However, there is one local berry that is putting on a show right now. Besides its fruit, elderberry has many other contributions to the landscape...
They are annoying, pesky, and won’t leave you alone. They look like little bees. Most people think they are sweat bees because of their black and yellow stripes but they don’t sting despite their extremely offensive behavior during the latter part of the summer. Regardless of their...
It is almost pawpaw eating time! For those not already in the know, you too could soon have the opportunity to try your first delicious pawpaw fruit. If you’ve never heard of pawpaw before, don’t know what the fruit or the tree look like, and are interested to hear what all the...
Rainy weather is leaving gardeners confused. Traditionally, Illinoisans would be gearing up for a very hot and very dry late summer and I would be encouraging consistent watering as the key to good harvest. However, with the deluge of irrigation from the sky, there are some other landscaping tasks...
