Good Growing 2015

Overgrown Weeds Oh My!

As I look out the window, the wind is blowing, leaves are slowly beginning to change color and float to the ground, the sky is overcast and it is officially fall as per the calendar and it is starting to feel and look like fall. I love fall for many reasons, the changing colors of leaves, cooler...
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Gateway Small Fruit and Vegetable Conference

This upcoming conference combines the Ill Small Fruit/Strawberry School with the Southern IL Vegetable School. The dates are Feb. 10-11 and will be held in O'Fallon, IL (across river from St. Louis). It's an excellent program that will offer many folks an opportunity to learn more management...
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Playing Favorites

It never seems to fail – once people know you're a horticulturist and you teach about plants, people always want to know what your favorite plants are. Often my reply is do I have to pick just one? There are so many amazing plants out there and depending on your garden or landscape some may work...
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beetles dead on window sill

Lady Beetle Invasion

Each fall, as temperatures diminish and day length gets shorter, Asian lady beetles begin to accumulate around larger buildings. They're getting ready to go into their winter habitat, which in their native Asia, is sheltered areas along a mountain side. It's hard to find very many mountain sides in...
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Upcoming Educational Opportunities

You may or may not believe in global warming, but I don't think anyone can argue that our climate has been changing of late. Whether climate change can be attributed to Mother Nature or to man or a combination, there's no doubt change is occurring. What is normal? By my count, there have been at...
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Protecting Fruits from Disease

We've certainly caught up with moisture for the year during this past month. I'm sure most would like to see some sunshine and warm weather. I'm not sure we've had the combination of these two for many days this spring. But the grass in the lawn is certainly enjoying the weather. For most crops,...
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