Skip to main content

ILRiverHort 2015

Do Homemade Herbicides Work?

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator I spend a fair amount of time helping people sort through the many garden myths. Today's social media rage spreads information very quickly. Unfortunately it isn't always good information. For example, recipes for homemade weed...
Finish this story

Midsummer Vegetable Gardens

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Are you enjoying the "fruits of your labor" from your vegetable garden this summer? With proper care, vegetable gardens provide fresh produce well into the fall. Although we had record rainfall amounts in June, July might be...
Finish this story

The Pre-Spring Garden

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Signs of spring are slowly emerging all around us. The grass is getting greener, bulbs are starting to emerge, early flowering plants are blooming, and tree buds are swelling. Even some of the winter annual weeds are starting to grow...
Finish this story

Poisonous Houseplants

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Do your pets eat nibble on your houseplants. If so, Rhonda Ferree, Horticulture Educator with University of Illinois Extension, suggests that you should take a good look at your houseplants to assure poisonous ones are not within...
Finish this story

2015 is the Year of the Sweet Pepper!

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator The National Garden Bureau has named 2015 as the Year of the Sweet Pepper. Each year the National Garden Bureau selects one annual, one perennial and one edible as their "Year of the" crops. Each is chosen because they are popular,...
Finish this story

Edible Flowers

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Do you want to "spice" up your meals? Sometimes I'll add flowers to a dull looking salad to add color. Or, sometimes I just eat flowers right out in the garden. But one very important thing that you need to remember is that not...
Finish this story

Leaves of Three, Let It Be

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Are your summer outings followed by days of itching discomfort? Knowing more about poison ivy and how it grows might help you avoid rash problems later. Remember the old adage, Leaves of Three, Let It Be! Poison ivy grows in various...
Finish this story

Mosses…Friend or Foe

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator If you look at ferns, mosses, lichens, and club moss closely, they look like something right out of a fairytale. In fact, these non-flowering plants do have their very own kingdom in the plant world. Instead of reproducing by flowers...
Finish this story

Roadside Flowers

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Last week I drove my son Tyler back to college for his fall semester at University of Illinois in Champaign. Along the way, he asked me what the blue flowers were along the roadside. Have you noticed the beautiful flowers blooming...
Finish this story

Composting: Like Making Lasagna

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Do you compost? Composting is the ancient art of mixing by-products from your yard with water, air, and time. What better way to dispose of leaves in the fall, grass clippings throughout the summer, and kitchen vegetable scraps than...
Finish this story

The Edible Indoor Garden

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Many of us have vegetable gardens that provide us with delicious, fresh produce all summer long, but do you also grow food indoors in the winter? Gardening is not limited to outside in the summer. I'll teach you how in my upcoming...
Finish this story

Does my tree have Emerald Ash Borer?

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator The dreaded Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) continues to cause havoc across Central Illinois. All four of the counties that I cover as a Horticulture Educator with University of Illinois Extension are included in the quarantine area, which...
Finish this story

Allergenic Plants

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator If you are an allergy sufferer, spring often brings sniffling, sneezing, and watery eyes. One culprit is pollen from flowers of trees, shrubs, grasses, and weeds. Though most of these bloom for just a short period each year,...
Finish this story

Aronia Berry

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator I recently planted several black aronia along a new fence in my backyard. Also called chokeberry, aronia are becoming more and more popular, especially among small fruit growers. There are several reasons why I selected the black...
Finish this story

The Tough and Durable Ninebark

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator I recently removed a larger overgrown, and invasive, burning bush in my yard and replaced it with an elderberry and a couple ninebarks. Trends in the gardening world include using easy to grow, dependable plants with unusual...
Finish this story

Pollinators

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator You'd have to be living under a rock not to know that pollinator decline is big news right now. I've learned through meetings and other reliable sources that many factors contribute to this decline. Below are some facts I've found...
Finish this story

Fall Seeding a New Lawn

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator The best time to seed a new lawn or overseed an existing lawn is in late summer. In Central Illinois, seeding in late summer (August to September) has a much higher success rate than seeding in spring. "Warm days and cool nights...
Finish this story

Theme Gardens are Fun!

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Theme gardens are really fun and are becoming more and more popular. I've written about various themes in the past, including literary gardens, tea gardens, reunion gardens, evening gardens, and more. Theme garden possibilities are...
Finish this story

Burning Bush Becoming Invasive

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Burning Bushes are very common landscape plants grown mainly for their intense fall color. Unfortunately, burning bush are becoming a plant of concern for many of us as we watch it reseed and invade nearby natural areas. I have two...
Finish this story