In the language of folklore, Jack Frost has often been credited with spurring the onset of fall color by pinching leaves with his icy fingers. Obviously today we know that's not the case, but for a long time, scientists thought coloring of fall leaves was caused by the accumulation of waste...
As the weather gets colder and the days get shorter uninvited house guests often start showing up in our homes. A variety of insects and other creepy crawlies will seek out shelter in our homes to pass the winter. Some of our most frequent guests are box elder bugs, multicolored Asian lady beetles...
Despite our best intentions to create healthy gardens and landscapes, sometimes we wind up introducing a material that has the potential to affect environmental or human health. Do you know if you have any in your yard? Let’s look at a material commonly found in the landscape and its potential...
Want to get a head start on planting your vegetable garden for next year? Then garlic is the plant for you! Garlic (Allium sativum) has been grown for thousands of years as food and for medicinal purposes. It has a long growing season, which may seem daunting. Fortunately, it is relatively...
We bought a home! After six years of living in a townhouse on the edge of Macomb, we have started to burst at the seams. In that time, we have accumulated quite a few occupants in our current dwelling. Now with three kids, one dog, a cat, and a couple of Madagascar hissing cockroaches, it was time...
There are many ways we mark the end of summer. Some refer to the beginning of school or the closing of the pool, while others view Labor Day as the ‘unofficial end of summer’. Another way, if you’re more entomologically inclined, is the appearance of fall webworm.
Fall webworm (Hyphantria...
Last year I wrote an article on silphiums. Silphiums are a grouping of wildflowers native to the tallgrass prairie of the Midwest, with stalks of yellow flowers that you see standing tall over all other plants, often in a ditch or reconstructed prairie. This time of year, late summer, is a good...
Is it a bee? Is it a wasp? No, it’s a syrphid fly, and they are rather abundant this year. We’ve had several questions come into our offices about them. While at a cookout with my family this weekend, we got to experience dozens of them flying around and occasionally landing on us.
Syrphid...
I love compost. If you have ever sat in one of my classes, you will know that 1) Soil tests can be so important, 2) Always read and follow your pesticides labels (and are those poisons really necessary?), and 3) I love compost!
Compost is derived from once-living organisms, think weeds or...
Planting a vegetable garden doesn’t just have to occur in the spring. Many of the vegetables that we grow in the spring can be also planted in late summer or early fall.
By the time summer rolls around many of our cool season plants that were planted in the spring are past their prime. They become...
