Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Now is the time of year when we prepare our seed catalog orders for spring. Seed catalogs can tell you a lot, provided you understand the "lingo". Greg Stack, Retired Horticulture Extension Educator, provided the following...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
If you have trouble growing houseplants, the Mother-in-Laws tongue is for you.
The Mother-In-Laws Tongue (Sansevieriatrifasciata), also known as snake plant, is one of the most durable houseplants and is a plant...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Do you sometimes wonder where some of the foods we eat came from? Rhonda Ferree, extension educator in horticulture, says that she is fascinated by the multitude of newer foods on the market, including flax seed.
Flax is thought to...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Many different organizations select plants of the year and this year I plan to spotlight them each month in this column. Let's start with the Garden Club of America.
According to their website at ...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
This year's New Year's Day Rose Parade once again featured many beautiful floats decorated entirely of organic material. I always watch the parade carefully and try to figure out what organic materials are being used.
Amaranth is...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
University of Illinois Extension horticulture programs inspired citizens in local communities to grow their own food and improve their home landscapes. Here are a few examples of how our programs impacted the residents of Fulton,...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Once the Christmas holiday is over, the chore of taking down and disposing of the cut Christmas tree remains. Today, because of solid waste regulations, most communities will no longer permit the used Christmas trees to be hauled out...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Pinterest is a rapidly growing social media site where you can get great ideas on many topics.
Basically Pinterest is a digital bulletin board. You create board for various topics and then "pin" links and pictures you like onto that...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Our last gardening trend of 2014 is TREE-mendous!
A 2012 US Forest Service research study found that urban tree cover has been declining at a rate of about 20,000 acres per year or about 4 million trees per year. This greatly...
Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator
Many plants are holiday symbols, but few say Christmas as well as the poinsettia. Did you ever wonder why this came to be?
If you've done much traveling, you've probably noticed that poinsettias grow naturally as large shrubs in...
