Originally published in No. 2/April 25, 2016 of the University of Illinois Extension's Home, Yard & Garden Pest Newsletter It's been a great spring for the...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
I have been enjoying walks through our little woods. Many of the earliest wildflowers are about to perform their annual spectacular show. Woodland wildflowers are beautiful and a welcome sign of spring. Here are some examples of the...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
The odd weather patterns over the past few years have played havoc on my lawn. As a result, I now have out-of-control crabgrass in areas of my front yard.
Crabgrass is an annual weedy grass that, from a distance, blends into your...
Analytic data from my ILRiverHort Facebook Page shows significant increases since it began in 2011. The number of people following the Page increased steadily, with a slight bump up in 2013. Currently the Page has 636 followers. The number of impressions made a dramatic leap in 2016. Impressions...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
March 19 – 25 is National Horticultural Therapy Week. Its purpose is "to encourage others to help expand and elevate horticultural therapy as a profession."
People who interact with plants are healthier. Thus, using plants in...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Have you ever seen a garden that just took your breath away? You visit two months later, and the garden is again in full glory, and you wonder how do people do it? How do you design a garden that offers visual interest through the...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Several years ago I created a secret shade garden behind my backyard gazebo. What started as a few trees, shrubs, and a bench, has grown to a dense garden of various dry-loving, shade plants. Since I garden in the dry sand of Mason...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Now is a great time to remove invasive bush honeysuckle. Not only are bush honeysuckle invasive to native woodlands, new research shows that they also can increase the spread of tick-borne diseases.
Bush honeysuckle are upright...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Now is the best time to prune many of your trees and shrubs, including fruit trees. Pruning of fruit trees is done to improve fruit quality, develop a strong plant, facilitate harvest, and control the size/shape of the plant....
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Once again, University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners and their partners have rounded up a top-notch Gardeners' BIG Day. The 18th annual event will be Saturday, April 29, 2017, from 8:00-3:00 at Dickson Mounds Museum....
