Flowers, Fruits, and Frass

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Start seeds with a clamshell of soil and a spraybottle.

Easy Seeding at Home With Limited Materials

April 3, 2020

Starting seed at home is easy, even with limited materials. Seeds Some of you may have already gotten your seed order for the spring, but the procrastinating gardener that I am will force me to explore last year’s seeds stash. Horticulturists typically keep their seed stash in a refrigerator to...

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Designing Around Specific Colors and Plants

April 2, 2020

Planting perennials can bring you wonderful surprises and inspiration for future garden design. This year I am raving about my nodding onion (Allium cernuum). I planted them randomly throughout the pollinator garden in my front yard, not knowing a lot about them. During the spring and early summer...

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Kitchen Scrap Gardening: Regrow Your Fruits and Vegetables!

March 27, 2020

Whether you have a young person at home for school closures, or are just young at heart yourself, experimenting with kitchen scraps can turn into a bountiful garden to enjoy again. Skip the compost bucket or garbage can, and re-grow your leftover veggies and fruits for beautiful houseplants and...

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Don't grow distant from your garden!

March 20, 2020

Free time on your hands? Avoiding social spaces, but need some time outside? First, remember that just because you're outside, the virus can still spread. If you're working with more than one person: Maintain minimum distance of six (6) feet between you and others in the area. Do not...

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Kick off spring in Pontiac with Livingston County Master Gardeners

March 12, 2020

University of Illinois Extension Livingston County Master Gardeners would like to welcome spring with an educational workshop entitled “A Day in the Garden Patch” on Saturday, April 4 from 8:30 a.m. to Noon. A Day in the Garden Patch is all about inspiring, educating and encouraging gardeners,...

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Vegetable Variety Recommendations for 2020

March 6, 2020

‘Tis the season for the garden seed catalogues. If you are like me, you are perusing through these catalogues that advertise 15 varieties of watermelon, 50 varieties of peppers, and even more tomato varieties to choose from. They all look amazing and are all claiming “vigorous!” “great flavor!” and...

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Aralia cordata 'Sun King' Photo credit Janet Draper

The 2020 Perennial Plant of the Year with Martha Smith

February 14, 2020

The Perennial Plant Association is proud to announce the 2020 Perennial Plant of the Year®! Aralia ‘Sun King’ is a fabulous high-impact perennial that brings a bold pop of glowing color and texture to the shade or part shade garden. It's a secret that just Perennial Plant Association (PPA) members...

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Illinois Vegetable Planting - Dates, Spacing, and Seeds

February 11, 2020

Originally published by Kelly Allsup on February 11, 2020. When do I plant? Should I plant seeds or transplants? What about seed spacing? Find what works best for backyard vegetable growers in Central Illinois! Vegetable...

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male asparagus ferns on left, female asparagus ferns with seed on the right

How to Achieve Asparagus's Perpetual Harvest

February 7, 2020

Originally published by Kelly Allsup on February 11, 2020. Asparagus goes great with hollandaise sauce, has a nutty flavor when eaten raw (wash it first, and cut off the lower third), and is always a welcome treat at a restaurant. With a little patience and some planning, you can grow...

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Lavender photo by Verophoto Art, via Unsplash

Sensory gardens invite interaction

February 1, 2020

Walking through any garden can be calming, educational, inspiring, energizing, or a combination of all of these. A new trend in gardening is creating intentional gardens; gardens with a specific purpose, like a sensory garden. Sensory gardens are areas designed to...

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