Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator If you are a regular reader of this column, you know that I love to grow and use herbs. Herbs are easy to grow, beautiful, fun, and rewarding to use. Most of them are as easy to grow as common vegetables. Whether you use them in...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator This seems to be the year of tree diseases, but don't be alarmed. I've seen a lot of diseases on trees this year, but happily most of them are not devastating. The reason for the increase in tree disease this year is weather. Spring...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator I have always loved elderberries. As a kid there was an elderberry bush outside my bedroom window. I waited patiently each summer for the first berry clusters to ripen. I'd eat them right off the plant whenever I walked or mowed past...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Once the Christmas holiday is over, the chore of taking down and disposing of the cut Christmas tree remains. However, Christmas tree disposal does not have to be a problem, because there are several environmentally sound recycling...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator I have an oak tree in my yard that gets oak tatters every year. I have had a couple oak samples brought into the office with the condition this year, so know it is more widespread than my backyard. If your oak tree looks like...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator University of Illinois Extension and several other organizations answered questions about the emerald ash borer at a recent Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) event. Homeowners, tree care professionals, municipality officials, and more...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator It is that time of year when a cup of hot chocolate and a chocolate cookie hit the spot. In my travels I've seen the tree where chocolate comes from and it always fascinates me. A few years ago a colleague of mine wrote all about...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator A 2014 garden trend as stated by the 2014 Garden Media Group report was called Frac'd Up: A rejection of the neat and tidy. In other words, a messed up garden is okay and maybe even preferable in some cases. I like this...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator My son Derek graduates from University of Illinois this week with a BS in community health so it seemed like a good time to discuss reunion and school color gardens. School reunion gardens are especially nice to do using flowers in...

Japanese Beetle Original article found at http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/article.php?id=732 Japanese beetle adults are present throughout the state. In most areas, numbers are low, but there have been reports of locally high numbers. We...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Beekeeping is an increasingly popular backyard hobby. It also fits the growing trend to protect pollinators, which are so important to our food supply. There are many different types of bees. Bumble bees are the only truly social...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Holiday dinners often include the traditional turkey and dressing, pumpkin pie, and more. All these foods include a variety of herbs and spices, which make the food taste great! Rhonda Ferree, Horticulture Educator with University of...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Hornets are one of those insects that many people are afraid of, but they are also very important in our natural world. Extension Entomologist Dr. Philip Nixon summed this up well in answering a recent question about how to kill...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Many different organizations select plants of the year and this year I plan to spotlight them each month in this column. Let's start with the Garden Club of America. According to their website at ...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator The Norfolk Island Pine is commonly sold as a holiday plant. It is sometimes even used as a small indoor Christmas tree. Often the small trees are sold already decorated with little balls and tinsel. Norfolk Island Pines are very...

Control of household pests has changed considerably over the last 50 years, both outdoors and indoors. There has been a fine-tuning of methods and products over the years which has reduced exposure to pesticides but may have resulted in an inadvertent increase in some pests....

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Every year I try to provide ideas for those of you who are searching for the "perfect" gift for a gardener in your family. This year I thought I'd focus instead on the nature explorers, though most are also gardeners. As the state...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator While driving around Mason County recently I saw acres of acres of peas. Peas are one of my favorite vegetables so this really excited me! Mason County's irrigated sandy soil grows many different types of specialty crops. In...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Horticultural Grilling What do plants have to do with grilling – other than eating vegetables? Well, great chefs use many "tricks" to get just the right taste from their grill and many of those tricks involve plants...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Do you sometimes wonder where some of the foods we eat came from? Rhonda Ferree, extension educator in horticulture, says that she is fascinated by the multitude of newer foods on the market, including flax seed. Flax is thought to...