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Good Growing 2020

2021 All-American Selections winners

New plants for a new year - try growing something new in 2021

Out with the old and in with the new. A new year means the garden catalogs are starting to arrive and that it’s time to start planning this year’s garden. Whether you’re just getting started or you’re a veteran gardener, consider growing something new this year in your garden. If you’ve listened...
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herd of reindeer

Raising Reindeer

You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixon, and of course Rudolph from being a part of Santa’s trusty reindeer herd, but did you know that Santa isn’t the only one that is raising reindeer? It is thought that reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, were first domesticated around 5,000 to 7,...
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Using Greenery to Bring a Little Holiday Cheer

Using greenery to bring a little holiday cheer

The butcher. That’s what I have felt like these last few weeks. Butchering trees for their greenery to make holiday decorations. I would argue, being a fir or pine tree butcher has its perks. I smell like Christmas when I’m done. I’m able to take my kids (and a tag-along cat) for walks as we find...
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Christmas trees

Christmas Tree Selection

Some of my fondest memories of Christmas growing up was venturing out to get a Christmas tree together as a family. Most of the time we just found a misshapen red cedar tree from our timber; however, when choosing a Christmas tree, ideally you want something that has good shape, color, and branch...
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frozen over fountain

How to winterize outdoor plumbing - irrigation, hoses, spigots

Leftovers. Is this why we only eat turkey once a year? Because after all the leftovers we are sick of giant poultry? Nah! I think turkey is simply more of a seasonal thing. We grow up seeing a turkey as the Thanksgiving centerpiece. To eat a whole turkey any other time just feels wrong. It’s like...
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pots with dormant plants covered in snow clustered together on a porch

Overwintering potted plants

Have you ever gone a little overboard buying plants and run out of room or energy to plant them all in the fall and figured it could wait until spring, only to find out most, or all have died? Or maybe you’ve had a container planter with perennials and excitedly waited for them to resume growth in...
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corn and soybean selection

Selecting Hybrids and Varieties for 2021

As the harvest hustle and fall field work start to slow, it is time to reflect on the growing season to see what worked well and start making decisions for the next season. On farm yield data from the current season is a great way to evaluate hybrid and variety performance. For choosing new or...
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Tobacco mosaic virus on petunia

Dealing with plant pandemics

I bet you’re sick of reading about elections and politics. Fortunately, the Good Growing column is a welcome escape. Today I would like to dive into diseases. Oh, that’s right. We’re kind of in the middle of a global pandemic and I bet “disease” is not on the top of your list either. Within our...
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fall colored leaves

So MANY Leaves!

As leaves fall from the trees each year, some may find beauty in the reds, yellows, and orange as they blanket the ground, while others may see hours of work ahead of them as they rake or mow the leaves to remove them. Regardless, leaves provide many benefits in the yard and garden other than just...
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planting spring bulbs amongst fall perennials

Fall Gardening Tasks

Fall is here; not only does the calendar tell us that it is officially here, but our days are getting shorter, the temperatures are cooler, combines are rolling in the fields, mums decorate front porches, and the trees are starting to turn. As our summer activities in the garden wind down, there...
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apple versus pumpkin image

Fall Flavors: Pumpkin vs. Apple

Pumpkin spice. Did you read that with disdain? Because I wrote it to be dripping with contempt. Go ahead and reread it with your best disdainful inner voice. I may lose a lot of you on this. I may even anger my colleagues. But I do not like pumpkin flavoring. Why would so many people be upset...
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Pink, purple, and yellow blooms of fall blooming bulbs. Autumn crocus, Crocus speciosus, Autumn crocus, Colchicum autumnale, Hardy cyclamen, Cyclamen hederifolium, and Saffron crocus, Crocus sativus

They’re not just in spring: Fall blooming bulbs

When it comes to bulbs, this time of year (fall), much of our attention is focused on getting ready to plant spring-blooming bulbs, and rightfully so. From crocus and daffodils to tulips and alliums, these plants provide a burst of color early in the year before many of our landscape plants begin...
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holes in lawn due to core aeration

Lawn Aeration and Overseeding

We recently bought a home at the end of May with a lawn in need of assistance. When we moved in, we quickly tackled the mole problem by trapping five moles, and one vole! Next, we moved onto the damage done by the moles; we leveled out the mole hills and seeded those areas; however, in the end, we...
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wound sealer painted on a tree wound

Should we paint tree wounds?

I spend a lot of time asking homeowners to show me their tree butts. Buttress to be specific, but industry lingo shortens it to butt and is described as the dramatic widening of the lower trunk. The buttress of a tree is located beginning at the root flare where the base of the trunk flares out...
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Interveinal chlorosis on soybean leaves

Noticing Yellow Soybeans

We’re at a point in the growing season where it is still a little early for soybeans to start senescing and turn yellow (dependent on maturity group, planting date, and growing conditions), so it makes you question why are yellow soybeans appearing in fields? There are several factors that can...
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