If you are like me, you may enjoy the sight of deer browsing in the forest. They are fascinating creatures to observe and one of the largest wild animals in Illinois. My interest in watching deer waned one morning last week when upon opening the drapes to the backyard I found myself nose to nose...

I was out shopping the other day and what greeted my eyes – stands of spring bulbs for sale. Then you stop to look at the calendar and realize that it's almost the end of September and that the perfect time to plant spring bulbs is right around the corner. Bulbs are awesome and amazing plants to...

Ophiophobia: the fear of snakes.  Seeing a snake stops me in my tracks, leaves my heart pounding and scarcely breathing while my eyes are fixed on the reptile. Being someone who has made a living working outside much of my life, snakes are not a rare thing in my day-to-day...

Very often what grows in a garden are those fruits and vegetables we enjoy eating. Though, sometimes our gardens may exceed our appetites. After growing fifteen kale plants last year, my family determined, we probably could live off of two. And ten cherry tomato bushes were nine too many. One...

"Which maple should I plant?" is a question I routinely encounter. My response, "None!" Maples (Acer spp.) aren't bad trees. In fact, they are great trees. Drive down most streets and you will see a maple in everyone's yard. Speaking with landscapers about their inventory and what they...

The other week, a colleague of mine and I began a youth program called Junior Master Gardener – Learn, Grow, Eat & Go! It's a curriculum that was developed by Texas A&M to help youth learn about gardening, plants, healthy eating, and getting up and moving. One of the great things about the...

There are times when trying to figure out what to write every other week can be a challenge. Then you wake up and its 5 degrees out and you immediately begin to think to warmer weather and next year's growing season. That of course led me to thinking about seed starting. One of my favorite things...

I was at the store the other day and sure enough, Poinsettias are out and about. Usually without fail at some point I will come home with one, it's pretty much an annual guarantee. If you are like me and fall for the pretty poinsettia and bring it home, there are some basics to poinsettia care that...

I've been receiving a lot of calls lately about trees and diseases in the last few weeks. Calls or emails usually include the statement of what's going on and how do I stop it and fix it. The first thing to remember with foliar diseases – by the time you see a problem – the leaves were infected...

This past weekend I was finally able to get into my garden to begin the much delayed clean-up process from last year's garden. What should have been done in the fall was time and again delayed this spring usually due to weather or the occasional other weekend commitment. As I was going through...

In my current role as a horticulture educator with the University of Illinois Extension, I have the pleasure of working with Master Gardener volunteers who share a love of the outdoors and a willingness to give back to our communities. U of I Extension is building a new group of volunteers that...

Working as a horticulture educator with University of Illinois Extension, one would think visiting a garden center is fun and relaxing. You may be surprised, but for me and certainly horticulturists everywhere, it can be stressful. Where every other shopper sees roses, I see rose rosette virus....

I was presenting a program the other day and a question came up asking if a plant was related to another plant since they had similar common names. It got me to thinking how important it is to understand the difference between common names and scientific names of plants. Common names are just that...

I was on Facebook the other day and was so excited when I saw a picture of beautiful flowers in bloom, sun shining and saying 8 weeks until spring. Of course, I immediately had to share it as it had me smiling and I wanted to make other fellow gardener's smile at the thought that spring is on the...

The University of Illinois Extension serves as a leader in the state for offering research-based advice on a multitude of topics. My role as a horticulture educator places me in the realm of anything that grows, creeps, crawls, or flies. Tree fruit questions have been the most common among...

They're baaack!! Japanese Beetles are buzzing and flying again and have already begun to feed on some of their most favorite plants including lindens, grapes and roses. With the emergence of Japanese Beetles, people usually also begin to ask about grub control. First off, in regards to Japanese...

As of today (February 10, 2016) there is a little over 5 weeks left until Spring! I am more than ready for Spring to arrive….I want to open windows and get back out in the yard and get my garden cleaned up from last year. Granted, as we are all well aware, even once it's officially Spring, Mother...

It feels like just yesterday summer showed up and now its fall and October is here and is leaving me wondering just where has 2016 gone? Cooler days means it's easier to work in the yard and of course being outdoors means we can enjoy the gorgeous colors of fall. How plants get their fall coloring...

It started as any normal phone call. A homeowner had contacted the Extension office with a question on controlling a grassy weed in her lawn. A weed she knew was ubiquitous in the world of lawn care. However, when she said the name, "water grass", I was dumbfounded. The voice on the other end of...

The other day I bought a brand new bag of potting mix and with some warm weather happily potted up a new houseplant I had purchased in the wonderful sunshine streaming on my back porch. The smell of a freshly opened bag of potting mix makes any gardener's heart begin to sing. It's been a long dark...