Over the next few weeks, some of central Illinois will experience a rare phenomenon that only occurs every other decade. As soil temperatures warm, millions of insects will emerge from the ground in forests, city parks, yards and gardens. They will carefully navigate the terrain and...
Spring is a time of abundant blooms as well as one of the best times of year to establish new woody plants in your landscape. This year, consider adding one, or all, of my favorite Illinois native spring-flowering trees to your landscape, and you’ll enjoy spring floral displays for years to...
The ‘Annabelle’ hydrangea has been a mainstay of the ornamental shrub world since its release in the 1960’s. This showy shrub is filled with beautiful snowball-like flowers that adorn its spindly branches each summer. The blooms begin as pretty green puffs that turn white at maturity,...
Every spring, the awakening plant world has those hard-to-miss harbingers which alert us that winter is over and help to welcome spring. In native plant communities, I think of spring ephemeral wildflowers as the primary signal and watch intently for their blooms each year. However, in...
Every spring, a group of enthusiastic woodland hunters frequent forests across Illinois in search of a mysterious and elusive fungi – the morel.
Many are armed with years of practical knowledge and experience to inform the success of their hunt. Many, like me, simply get lucky by stumbling upon...
Hydrangeas are one of the most popular landscape shrubs in the US. They are known for their exquisite flowering display, with many offering a season of beautiful blooms that remain attractive into winter. Beyond flowers, these amazing shrubs offer additional ornamental beauty from neat...
As spring continues to bring warming temperatures, home gardeners begin the tricky business of deciding when to plant what in their vegetable garden. In the past week or so, I have started receiving questions from anxious gardeners ready to get the season started.
While there are some...
Anyone who has gardened long enough likely has a pile of seed packets squirrelled away with intentions of using those seeds someday. Many times, I keep seed packets in my collection because I just can’t stand to throw things away, especially seeds that may have some viability. However,...
This past week’s warmer weather has been an exhilarating blast of spring when contrasted with the icy, extreme cold just one week earlier. The warmup has spurred many of us to get back out in the garden to start getting ready for spring. While our landscape beds and gardens will be...
Wintertime offers few activities out in the garden, other than filling bird feeders and carefully watching dormant plants for any sign of awakening as spring nears. However, winter dormancy is the ideal time to prune woody plants. With trees and shrubs inactive in their winter slumber,...
