Good Growing 2025

Transform your kitchen scraps: Composting with worms. Red wiggler worm feeding on an apple core in a wormbin

Transform your kitchen scraps: Composting with worms

Good Growing
Has this cold, dreary weather been making you wish you could get outside and play in the ‘dirt’? Or perhaps you’re looking for ways to improve your garden soil during the winter. Worm composting, or vermicomposting, is a good way to accomplish both of these. In addition to producing compost, it’s...
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A person holding a dahlia clump that has just been dug from the ground.

Tips for overwintering tender bulbs

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Plants like caladiums, cannas, dahlias, elephant ears, and gladiolus bring vibrant color and tropical flair to summer gardens. Unfortunately, they’re no match for our Midwestern winters. These plants, commonly referred to as tender or summer-blooming bulbs, will be killed by...
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a thermometer resting against an apple branch with blossoms

Growing Degree Days: A Tool for Smarter Gardening

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This past week, right around mid-June, I received my first question about Japanese beetles. Throughout a growing season, plants, insects, diseases, and many other natural processes emerge, develop, and complete their life cycles. How do we know when to expect Japanese beetles to emerge? Or squash...
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A hand placing mulch at the base of a plant

Are you falling for these gardening myths?

Good Growing
During my time as an Illinois Extension educator, I have run across many garden myths. Too many to keep track of. But some myths keep on coming up in teaching and talking with Illinoisians. Some myths are more localized, while others are widespread and often touted as garden “hacks” online. ...
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