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ILRiverHort 2018

Hosta Slugs

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator While hiking at Turkey Run State Park with friends recently, we found a lot of snails sitting on stinging nettle leaves along the trails. Many of the snails had their head and antennae out of their shell, inviting us to stop...
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Preserving Flowers

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator As you plan your summer gardens, consider adding flowers you can preserve or use in arrangements. The pleasure of growing flowers in a garden is only a portion of gardening enjoyment. Flowers and foliage that is gathered from the...
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Strwawberry

Grow Your Own Strawberries

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Have you had fresh strawberries yet this year? They are great when eaten fresh from the garden, and it is easy to grow your own. If you don't grow them yet, consider planting some next spring, which is the best time to plant new...
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Growing plants to attract insect predators

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Not all bugs are bad. Many gardeners are learning to leave good bugs and tolerate a bit of plant feeding. Some of us are also using plants to attract the good guys. My colleague Richard Hentschel, University of Illinois Extension...
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Visit a Public Garden this Summer

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Public gardens are a great place to get ideas for your garden. Last month I visited three gardens in Rockford with Bradley University's OLLI program. I am inspired to add more plants to our water garden and create more succulent...
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Violin in a garden

Garden's make beautiful music

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator I love sitting in my backyard listening to the many garden sounds. Wrens sing. Frogs croak. Grasses rustle. Bees buzz. The longer I listen, the more sounds I hear. In addition to natural sources, you can design music into the garden...
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Banana plant

Go tropical with ornamental bananas

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator While enjoying coffee in the garden, I noticed that my largest ornamental banana is starting to flower. For many years I've been growing banana plants around my pool to give it a tropical feel in the summer. By autumn they have large...
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The Incredible, Edible Rose

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Roses are beautiful, but did you know that they are also edible? Rose flower petals and fruits (hips) add color, texture, scent, and flavor to various dishes and beverages. My go-to edible rose is the rugosa rose (R. rugosa...
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Grapes being harvested

Harvesting Grapes

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator I love the taste of Concord grapes. As a child, I remember eating grapes directly from the vines. TO me, there is no flavor comparison between concord grapes and store-bought grapes. Concord grapes grown in central Illinois are...
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Organic weed control: Corn meal gluten

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Recent social media posts suggest using household cornmeal to control garden weeds. Looks simple enough, but does it work? Cornmeal is simply ground corn that we use in cooking. It is an essential ingredient in cornbread and corn...
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Serviceberry…Beautiful Trees with Tasty Fruit

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Serviceberries are beautiful native trees with tasty edible fruit. Recently I picked several fruits to eat with cereal and freeze for smoothies. Usually, the birds beat me to the fruit, but this year my tree has such a large crop...
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Fall is a Great Time to Plant Trees, Shrubs, and Bulbs

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Fall is known for planting spring flowering bulbs such as tulips and daffodils. According to Rhonda Ferree, Horticulture Educator with University of Illinois Extension, fall is also an excellent time to plant woody plants and some...
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Start Your Spring Bulb Display This Fall

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Begin your spring flower display by planting bulbs this fall. It seems like a lot of work now, but after the long winter, you will really enjoy those blooms. In addition to the standards, such as tulips and daffodils, try some of...
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Binoculars

Birding Equipment: How to use binoculars

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator We are enjoying watching the birds at our feeder this winter. They add action and color to an otherwise static winter scene. Bird watching is a popular hobby in America. According to a 2016 US Fish and Wildlife Service survey, more...
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Four Seasons Gardening Program Offers 2018 Winter Series

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator The Winter series of University of Illinois Extension's Four Seasons Gardening program, which focuses on environmental stewardship, home gardening, and backyard food production, gets underway this month. The first session of the...
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Poppies at sunset

I love poppies!

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator As I wrote last week, I retire on October 1 after 30 years with University of Illinois Extension and am focusing my last couple columns on my favorite plants. Although I love many flowers, the poppy is probably my favorite. I am not...
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Time Your Vegetable Plantings by Cold Hardiness

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Last week I planted peas and lettuce in my garden. I love peas and can't wait to have some for dinner. Peas and lettuce are both very hardy vegetables, thus the cold and snow last weekend did not impact their growth. How early you...
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Community Garden Webinar Series New Available by Ken Johnson

There is a good amount of planning that needs to go into creating a successful community garden. To help people and organizations build and maintain productive community gardens University of Illinois Extension created the Community Garden Webinar Series. This series takes users through a variety...
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spider web

Spiders: fascinating, yet frustrating

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator I have a love-hate relationship with spiders. I am continually fascinated when watching a spider spin its web. However, cleaning up cobwebs can be very frustrating. Spiders are abundant (over 1,000,000 individuals per acre in a...
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Bench with books and flowers

Literature Gardens

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator Have you ever thought of combining literature and gardening? Literature gardens do just that. I remember a past Chicago Flower & Garden Show, where two popular children's books came alive in gardens: "The Tales of Peter Rabbit"...
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