Skip to main content

The Garden Scoop 2018

Climate Change and USDA Plant Hardiness Zones Part Two

Last week, I reviewed the history of USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Maps (PHZM) and their relative change over recent time.  These maps are intended to be a guide for gardeners attempting to predict the potential for winter injury to plants, which is a key factor in establishment and successful...
Finish this story

Climate Change and USDA Plant Hardiness Zones Part One

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zones are a standard that most gardeners consider when selecting plants suitable for their local climate.  These maps show us the mean annual low temperature for a given location, which helps distinguish the relative cold hardiness of plants, insects and other biota.  ...
Finish this story

Christmas Tree Selection

Everyone has their own idea of the perfect Christmas tree.  While I am not a person that picks the proverbial “Charlie Brown Tree”, I have certainly felt pity on the less attractive trees on the lot in years past.  Whatever your taste, a fresh cut Christmas tree adds a certain bit of nostalgia to...
Finish this story

Holiday Cacti

Nothing symbolizes the holiday season to a horticulturalist like a holiday cactus in full bloom.  These fascinating plants are cacti, but not at all like the full-sun, desert loving specimens we commonly think of.  Instead, these plants hail from the treetops of forests in Brazil, which is quite...
Finish this story

Home Composting

One of the single best things you can do to improve your garden soil is to add organic matter.  By adding significant amounts of organic matter, you are putting fuel back into the nutrient cycle which naturally adds plant nutrients to our soil and lessens (or eliminates) the need for fertilizer. ...
Finish this story

Facebook Live with the Horticulturalists

The world of horticulture is ever changing with an increasing interest among plant lovers for more and more digital media.  While the internet has vastly expanded the amount of plant information available to the public as text, other forms of digital media, such as podcasts, YouTube videos,...
Finish this story

Bird Migration and Native Shrubs

Autumn is not only a time of brilliant fall colors, but also a time to observe the annual bird migration that spans our continent.  Many of our feathered friends travel amazingly great distances to reach warmer climates with abundant food for winter.  This lengthy journey spans thousands of miles,...
Finish this story

Fall Color in Native Grasses and Their Ornamental Uses

Most of us think of tree leaves when we think about beautiful fall foliage, but many ornamental grasses provide wonderful fall color that often extends well into the winter season.  Right now is an excellent time to observe these grasses in the landscape and consider how we might integrate them...
Finish this story

Rosemary

In recent years, herbs have gained a larger presence in my home gardens.  Not only do these plants provide wonderful, fresh garnish for many of our favorites recipes, but they can also be a source of ornamental value as well as great pollinator plants when in bloom.  Many herbs are touted as tough...
Finish this story

Fall Color

Illinois forests are dominated by a mixture of eastern deciduous forest trees and many of our urban areas mirror this forest composition creating a wonderful palette of fall colors each year as the growing season concludes and tree leaves senesce, giving way to winter dormancy.  As a tree-lover,...
Finish this story

Larch

Last weekend’s fall weather has certainly set leaf drop into motion for the year.  I noticed some of the early droppers stating to thin their canopy as many of the walnut around our property are already yellowing and loosing leaves.  Cottonwoods are half bare, dropping more leaves each time the...
Finish this story

American Ginseng

This week marks the half way point for the 2018 Illinois Ginseng Harvesting Season, which runs from the first Saturday in September through Nov 1.  Did you even know that ginseng grows in Illinois, let alone the fact that there is a regulated harvest of this valuable native plant?  American...
Finish this story

Idea Garden Theft

Since its beginnings in 1997, the Idea Garden has been maintained by the Champaign County Master Gardeners and ever-improved throughout the years.   This beautiful, yet educational, community garden has grown to occupy over 15,000 square feet of the University of Illinois Arboretum, near the corner...
Finish this story

Natural Lawn Care

During the growing season, questions about lawn or turf care are quite common at the Champaign County Extension office.  Among the many questions we receive, there is growing interest in natural or more sustainable lawn care practices.  Many perceive this goal, of a more sustainable lawn with less...
Finish this story

Douglas Discovery Garden

The Douglas Discovery Garden is an outstanding gem of Vermilion County and the Danville area.  It offers a wide variety of gardening applications for area residents to observe and learn from so they can apply these practices in their own gardens.  The beautiful space also has an interesting history...
Finish this story

Black Walnut

Anyone with a mature black walnut (Juglans nigra) on their property is likely aware that fruits are ripe now and the baseball-sized, green bombs are beginning to fall with each slight gust of wind or, at times, seemingly at random.  This native tree is prevalent throughout central Illinois...
Finish this story

East Central Illinois Master Naturalists

Native plants offer a whole suite of ecosystems services that are often taken for granted. The faunal associations with our native flora run deep and, through this plant-animal connection, support the ecosystems of the natural world here in central Illinois.  Planting native species, even on a...
Finish this story

Organic Pest Control

In recent years, as interest in more sustainable agricultural practices has grown among home gardeners, organic pest control options have become widely available in many retail outlets and garden centers.  I use many of these products in my own garden and find their origins in nature and modes of...
Finish this story

Sycamores

Our native sycamore tree (Platanus occidentalis) is known for its extraordinary exfoliating bark which peels off to expose the beautiful creamy white and greenish colors beneath creating a camouflage-like appearance.  This summer many area sycamores are shedding bark at alarming rates...
Finish this story

Garlic Planting

Garlic is a long-season, over-winter crop that does best when planted in the fall.  It can then be harvested in the early summer, which allows space for another summer crop.  This is rather unusual timing in the gardening world and it has always interested me for that reason.  Planting garlic is a...
Finish this story