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Flowers, Fruits, and Frass 2014

Squash Bugs

The dreaded squash bug is inevitable if you are growing squash, melons and pumpkins says Horticulture Educator, Kelly Allsup. It is responsible for major crop failure and causes hysterical gardeners running to buy chemicals in which to kill them. Besides this issue these crops can be really easy...
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Dandelions by Rhonda Feree

Take a new look at dandelions URBANA, Ill. - Earth Day falls every year on April 22. Rhonda Ferree, a University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator, recommends using the day to reflect about our world around us. "You might even try to look at a small piece of our world from a completely...
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Drinks from the Herb Garden

If you added herb plants into the matrix of your vegetable gardens this year, you may, like most zucchini and tomato growers, have more harvest than you can handle. Your basil may have started flowering because it wasn't pinched, parsley leaves may be yellowing because it needs some fertilizer...
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Saving Pumpkin Seeds?

Originally published by Kelly Allsup on November 15, 2014. In radio interview with WJBC's Susan Sanders, I was asked "How do you save seed from pumpkins?" "You know the ones that you have gutted for the purpose of making jack-o-lanterns!" Then I thought about all the pumpkins that take...
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Azalea Sawfly by Phil Nixon

There are three sawfly species that commonly attack azaleas, two in the spring and one in the summer. We are apparently currently seeing Amauronematus azaleae. There is one generation per year with the adults emerging to lay eggs on expanding leaves in the spring. The larvae are feeding...
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Crayfish by Phil Nixon

Crayfish become a nuisance in turfgrass when they burrow in high moisture soil, creating chimneys at the burrow openings. These chimneys, made of balls of clay soil that bake in the sun, become very hard. Hitting them with a mower dulls the blades and may even kill the mower's engine. The crayfish...
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Livingston County Master Gardeners Welcomes 15 new Trainees

Livingston Master Gardeners welcomes 15 new interns to the program after completing 12 weeks of University of Illinois style training in all subjects' horticulture. Kelly Allsup, University of Illinois Horticulture Educator, says, "these new Master Gardener volunteers will ascend on the county to...
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Caring and Taking Cuttings from Succulent Houseplants

A wall garden can be constructed with a variety of succulents – plants with thick leaves and stems that can store water – such as aloes, crassulas, echeverias, hawthorias, kalanchoes and sedums. If you have an old door, try placing the plants in wooden boxes filled with soil and sand and affixing...
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European Pine Sawfly by Phil Nixon

European pine sawfly larvae are present throughout the state feeding on Scotch, mugo, and other two and three needle pines. The larvae grow to about one inch long with dark and lighter green stripes. They have large black heads. Sawfly larvae can be distinguished from caterpillars by having six or...
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2014 AAS Winners by Ron Wolford

URBANA, Ill. – All-America Selections is an independent, non-profit organization that tests new varieties then introduces only the best garden performers as AAS Winners., said a University of Illinois. "The AAS Winners offer gardeners reliable new varieties that have proven their superior garden...
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Fire Blight by Travis Cleveland

Fire blight symptoms were observed on several Callery pears this past week,” says Travis Cleveland, University of Illinois extension specialist. “The symptoms were more severe than those observed during the 2013 growing season.” Fire blight is a bacterial disease that affects rosaceous...
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Revolution in Food Boost Garden Projects

Gardening trends have an underlying theme of bettering the community, improving health and developing an appreciation for the environment and can be seen in statistics for the country as well as our backyards in Central Illinois. According to the National Gardening Association, about 35...
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Creating your own Holiday Centerpiece

One tradition most people love is decorating their homes for the holidays. Whether impeccably dressing the tree, placing homemade wreaths boasting pine cones and bows on the front door, or buying red poinsettias and blooming Christmas cactus to adorn the mantle, horticulture comes alive during...
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Click Beetles

Top 5 Facts: The Eyed Click Beetle: Good Bug Alaus oculatus Picture taken by Tony Dorley of Normal 1. Picture Taken In suburban Washington DC in May (Range Eastern United States to Texas) 2. White Spots are “false eyes” and considered...
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Garden Schedule by Bill Davison

Garden Schedule Average last spring frost May 10th. January-February Order seeds and garden supplies. Prepare lights and tools for starting seeds. Clean and maintain garden tools. March Frost seed white...
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Japanese Beetles by Martha Smith

Yes – this news is a gardener's dream come true – for at least the 2014 growing season! All the winter data is in and the experts now say Japanese beetle numbers in northern Illinois will be much lower this year. Many Japanese beetle larvae did not survive the winter – particularly in the northern...
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Layer of Snow May Benefit some Plants

The snow-covered landscape and bitterly cold temperatures are leaving gardeners and homeowners wondering, "Are my plants faring better than me this winter?" Personally, this gardener has been fighting multiple colds, dry sinuses, dry skin and bone-chilling walks from my car to work. From my...
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Strawberries

Strawberries are the first fruits of the season, and fresh-picked strawberries from the garden taste better than any berry bought from a store. Plant strawberry plants this spring for ample production and summer fun for your kids next spring. Strawberries can be greatly rewarding and only require...
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Barred Owl

Barred Owl It takes a watchful eye like that of Master Naturalist, Deeana Frautchi, to get this stunning photo of a barred owl perching on a pine limb. Barred owls, with their soulful eyes, sit and wait for the small mammals or insects they hunt or swivel their head 180 degrees to spy a Master...
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