October Garden Tour to Missouri and Arkansas Planned After a busy summer of activities, are you looking for a fun getaway to enjoy beautiful fall foliage and gardens? Come join the McLean County Master Gardeners on their three...
Small mysterious pollinators have been visiting late-summer and fall-blooming plants in our gardens in order to sip nectar, said University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator Kelly Allsup. With wings as fast as a hummingbird and long tongues like a butterfly, these small moths hover over...
Hydrangeas are known hosts to several leaf spots, both fungal and bacterial. Oakleaf Hydrangeas, in particular, are known to develop leaf spots caused by the bacterial pathogenXanthomonas campestris. Bacterial leaf spot on hydrangea overwinters in diseased plant debris. The pathogen...
Pathogens & Parasitoids Reduction in Monarch Butterfly Rearing 1.It is difficult to avoid all parasitoids and diseases as long as caterpillars and their food are collected from the wild. 2.Totally captive-reared insects tend to lose some survival abilities after several generations and adult...
Fall Gardening Tips "When most gardeners are dealing with the remnants of their summer harvest and preparing the garden bed for winter, most vegetable growers are about to have their most productive growing season of the year: Fall," states University of Illinois Extension...
Originally published by Kelly Allsup on August 26, 2015.
Myths of Planting Spring Bulbs according to University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator, Kelly Allsup. Most gardeners know now is the time to plant your spring flowering bulbs. However before you plant spring bulb myths...
Zimmerman pine moth is a common trunk and scaffold branch borer in Scotch, Austrian, and red pine in Illinois. It is a shoot tip borer in Eastern white pine. Although it is difficult to control once inside the tree, its life cycle makes it relatively easy to control while on the outside of the tree...
Confessions of a reformed composter Composting is a fun way to make your garden growing experience great states University of Illinois Extension Horticulture Educator, Kelly Allsup. I had to share this article entitled "Confessions of a reformed composter" by fellow Horticulture Educator, Sandy...
Aphids, leaf hoppers, and lace bugs are plentiful this wet spring because of all the lush succulent growth. This flush of growth is ideal for these sap feeders that insert their mouthparts into the food conducting tissues of the plant and suck out sugars and cellulose. Generally, low populations of...
Unusual insect visitors have been popping up in the garden the past few weeks -- mainly the Dobson fly and the damsel fly. There has been a report of Dobson flies congregating around bee hives by a local bee keeper and the lemon grass growing in my straw bale has become a haven for dozens of damsel...
