Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Mint! For some, the word brings to mind fresh breath, refreshing drinks, or a place where money is printed. As a plant nerd, to me, mint means square stems. Here's why. All mint plants are in the Lamiaceae family. Although not...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Earth Day falls every year on April 22. As you use this day to reflect about our world around us, you might  try to look at a small piece of our world from a completely different viewpoint. Take dandelions, for example. To...

Sugar and spice make everything nice, especially Christmas cookies. But, do you know where your sugar and spice come from? Sugar beets vs Sugarcane The sugar we use comes from two different plants: sugar beets or sugarcane. Sugarcane Worldwide, 70% of our sugar comes from sugarcane. Sugarcane...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator May Bach and Jennifer Bass were honored for their outstanding contributions to University of Illinois Extension's Master Gardener Program during the 2017 Illinois Master Gardener Conference in Normal. May and Jennifer were among 36...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Now is a great time to remove invasive bush honeysuckle. Not only are bush honeysuckle invasive to native woodlands, new research shows that they also can increase the spread of tick-borne diseases. Bush honeysuckle are upright...