Gardeners Corner Fall 2023

Monarch caterpillars crawling around milkweed plants.

Butterflies can eat to live, live to eat in a balanced garden

August 29, 2023

URBANA, Ill. — A favorite thing about visiting gardens in the summer is catching sight of a butterfly enjoying nectar from a brightly colored zinnia or a monarch caterpillar munching on a milkweed leaf. When designing a butterfly garden, expand and balance plant selection to provide more than nectar plants for adult butterflies. As the growing season winds down, pollinators are busy feeding and...

Blog articles

two children walk on a mulch path under trees

Ideas for youth to explore and connect with nature

August 11, 2023

Flowers, Fruits, and Frass

Spending time in nature is beneficial to our health and well-being. It can improve our mood, make us feel more relaxed, help us be more active, and even connect us with our community. For children, time playing in nature is needed for healthy development. Don’t let the benefits of time outdoors...

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Reap the benefits of intergenerational gardening

July 31, 2023

Over the Garden Fence

Gardening, like many life skills we learn as we grow up, is generally cultivated from our families, whether with our parents, grandparents, guardians, neighbors, or community group. Gardening is a life skill because it allows you to grow food for yourself and your family and incorporates many...

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News releases

August 23, 2023

Build drought-tolerant gardens this fall for next summer’s blooms
URBANA, Ill. — Many Illinois gardens are entering the fall stressed from the lack of summer rains combined with scorching hot temperatures. These conditions easily stress some plants; however, many plants quickly adapt to hot, dry conditions. Drought-tolerant plants are not only tough and...

Two row tunnels protecting plants in a garden

September 18, 2023

Tips for extending the garden’s growing season
URBANA, Ill. — Harvest season in a vegetable garden doesn’t have to end so soon. Stretch growth with techniques that extend the typical growing season past the point where crops would normally be grown outdoors. Protection from frosts can happen at either end of the growing season. A...

Yellow rake sitting against large tree with fall leaves on the ground

October 2, 2023

Consider pollinators during fall garden cleanup
URBANA, Ill. — Pollinators are important to the global food supply and local ecosystems. About 35% of food crops rely on pollinators for production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Meaning without pollinators, there would be no food. If you have enjoyed an apple this fall or a...

Miscellaneous herbs growing in a wooden container.

October 23, 2023

Keep growing with herbs indoors this fall, winter
URBANA, Ill. — Just because days are shorter and colder and the outdoor gardening days are over, that doesn't mean growing must come to an end. Indoor green houseplants are an option, so add some herbs to the mix this fall and winter. Whether growing indoors or outdoors, plants still...

October 18, 2022

Don’t dump Halloween pumpkins, donate or compost them
URBANA, Ill. – Every year, come November billions of jack-o’-lanterns whose wilting faces are now past their prime need to find a new home. Tossing pumpkins in the trash bin is the simplest solution, but is not the best for the environment says...

Gardeners Corner is a quarterly newsletter from gardening experts around the state. Each issue highlights best practices that will make houseplants, landscapes, or gardens shine in any season. Have a gardening question? Find an Extension expert near you at go.illinois.edu/ExtensionOffice.

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Illinois Extension

Gardeners Corner Fall 2023

Butterflies can eat to live, live to eat in a balanced garden

Ideas for youth to explore and connect with nature

Reap the benefits of intergenerational gardening

Ep. 147 More than just mums: Fall blooming plants for the garden | #GoodGrowing