If you invite me to your garden for a tour, I probably won't be looking at your flowers, but rather start turning over leaves or inspecting holes, looking for the insects that may reside there. Several clues will prompt me to inspect a plant, like frass (insect poop), holes in the leaves, yellowing...
Cicada eggs laid 17 years ago are now emerging in northwestern Illinois. University of Illinois Extension entomologist Phil Nixon said this is the Iowa brood that covers portions of western Illinois, northern edge of Missouri and most of the southern two-thirds of Iowa. The Illinois area...
Fresh sun-ripened tomatoes are an essential ingredient in many garden-inspired recipes: pico de gallo, caprese salad and salsa. In these dishes, a store-purchased tomato simply will not do. These tomatoes have been chilled, thawed, stored, handled and potentially sprayed with chemicals. For...
Yes – this news is a gardener's dream come true – for at least the 2014 growing season! All the winter data is in and the experts now say Japanese beetle numbers in northern Illinois will be much lower this year. Many Japanese beetle larvae did not survive the winter – particularly in the northern...
Oak leaf blister has started to appear on oak trees on the Illinois. This disease is caused by the fungal pathogen, Taphrina caerulescens. Members or the red oak group are more commonly affected by the disease. Symptoms are distinctive, and appear as scattered blister-like, puckered, or...
Fire blight symptoms were observed on several Callery pears this past week,” says Travis Cleveland, University of Illinois extension specialist. “The symptoms were more severe than those observed during the 2013 growing season.” Fire blight is a bacterial disease that affects rosaceous...
The dreaded squash bug is inevitable if you are growing squash, melons and pumpkins says Horticulture Educator, Kelly Allsup. It is responsible for major crop failure and causes hysterical gardeners running to buy chemicals in which to kill them. Besides this issue these crops can be really easy...
As a horticulturist, I am often asked to name my favorite plant. After my mind spins from traveling through my past, I am left momentarily speechless. Is my favorite plant the bountiful bunch of cymbidium orchids from Holland or the vivid blue poppies from the Chelsea flower show in London or...
