As spring planting begins and we look forward to the harvests of our labors, one of the best summer treats are strawberries. Depending on cultivar planted, June-bearing provide a large crop of larger strawberries and everbearing strawberries produce smaller berries throughout the growing season....
Rainwater is frequently treated like a waste product – gathered up, hustled off our yards, and into the nearest body of water. But instead, what if we kept it where it fell, used it, and directed it back into the ground. We could help mitigate flooding, conserve water, and be rewarded with a...
With all the media frenzy around this year’s upcoming cicada emergence, what can we really expect? Let Extension help you separate fact from fiction.
Why do they live so long?
Cicada larva (or grubs) spend most of their life underground, feeding on tree roots. Depending on the species...
Over the past several weeks, residents in northern Illinois have experienced some unseasonable weather. Warm, spring-like temperatures, thunderstorms, rain, hail, sleet, and snow have been the reality along with 70-degree high days with 20-degree low nights. All of these warm days have woken our...
Every spring, I look forward to the return of the hummingbirds. Their aerial antics around the feeder, zooming by with iridescent flashes of green, red, and white, chasing each other with the precision of a tiny fighter jet – they always brighten my day. When will they return and, more importantly...
At its core, composting is recycling organic matter into nutrient-rich soil. Plants and other vegetative matter are broken down by decomposers such as insects, worms, fungi, and bacteria, making the nutrients they contain available to other growing things. It also helps to improve the...
Dormant winter pruning always leaves a mess of trimmings that usually end up being composted or placed in your yard bin. There is another use for those trimmings; you can us them to create plant clones!
Plant propagation is the science and practice of creating new plants. This can be done with...
Winter is a time to stow away your gardening tools, put your gardens to bed, pack away your gloves and dream of warmer weather, counting down the days until you can start planting again…or is it? What if I told you that now is the perfect time to not just plan your gardens (especially if you’...
During the holidays, there are a few plants that seem ubiquitous, even if only during the month of December. But have you ever wondered why we “deck the halls with boughs of holly” or kiss under the mistletoe?
Holly
Holly (Ilex sp.) is a group of almost 500 species of both deciduous and...
December showers may not bring holiday flowers in Illinois, but houseguests, neighbors, and friends just might! One of the most recognizable of these gift plants is the Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima).
A native to Mexico, the English-known Poinsettia was known to the Nahuatl and Aztecs...
