The colorful poinsettia is a beautiful addition to end-of-the-year holiday festivities. One of the most common questions about poinsettias is how to keep them and get them to rebloom the following season.  The first step to reblooming is to keep the plant healthy and growing throughout the year....

The large, colorful blooms of the Amaryllis can brighten dreary winter days. This South American native has showy flowers in a range of colors from white to pink to red. Amaryllis is a beautiful addition to holiday or winter décor. Getting Started Often you will find Amaryllis sold as a bulb in a...

The delicate paperwhites, Narcissus tazetta, are a lovely way to brighten winter days.  These relatives of the daffodil are an excellent choice for winter blooms as they don’t require a chilling period as other bulbs do. Paperwhites have a cluster of small blooms at the end of a flower stalk (...

The beautiful Poinsettia is a colorful plant that brightens dark winter days. Whether you use it to decorate for the holiday season or it was given to you as a gift, giving the plant the care it needs can keep it colorful for six to eight weeks in the home. The showy-colored parts of the...

The festive poinsettia, Euphorbia pulcherrima, is a lovely addition to holiday décor. The bright, cheery plant, a native to Mexico, comes in many colors and sizes making it a good choice to brighten up the long, dark days of winter. The showy colored parts of the poinsettia are colored...

At first: Why save seeds?  Saving seeds is a great way to save money and be prepared for the following year, but it is also a way to pick out the best of what you have grown and save seeds from that specimen (flower, vegetable, etc.). With each successive year, you will...

Flowers are a wonderful way to make any wedding day special.  There are many ways to choose beautiful and sustainably grown and arranged flowers.  Choose a local source for your blooms. Flowers that are locally grown have a much smaller carbon footprint than flowers flown thousands of miles in...

Spring brings thoughts of beautiful, colorful, fragrant blooms that brighten up our landscapes after a long winter.   But we aren't the only ones on the lookout for flowers. Pollinators are looking for them also. Heirloom flowers provide these pollinators with more of the resources they require...

Bring nature to the table this Thanksgiving by creating decorations from collected natural materials. Fall is a great time to explore outdoors and use what you find almost directly in arrangements after gathering. Dry not Damp Make sure to collect when material is dry. Damp material breaks down...

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...

Written by Rhonda Ferree, retired horticulture educator News on the importance of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators continues to grow. Most people think of bees and butterflies when thinking about pollinators, but bats, beetles, moths, flies, hummingbirds, wasps, and more also...