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College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences Illinois Extension

Flowers

Pot of flowers on a windowsill

Plant a rainbow of color on your porch or patio

With limitless colors and textures, no porch or patio should sit bare this season. Plant a container. The home with a front porch container display always feels a bit more welcoming; the back patio with a well-designed pot always feels a bit more relaxing. Designing these eye-catching...
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Chive flowers

Edible flowers can add unique color and spice to your dish

Growing up, a summer meal at grandma and grandpa’s house wasn’t complete without a giant, juicy tomato and fried squash blossoms. Squash blossoms are one example of edible flowers that are already growing in our gardens and just waiting for us to enjoy. Edible flowers can be added as the main...
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calamint and Echinacea

Perennial plant of the year: Calamint

Sun-loving, season-long blooming, low maintenance, dependable and pollinator-friendly. Sound like a perfect perennial to add to your garden?   Calamint (Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta), selected as the Perennial Plant Association’s 2021...
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Million Bells, by Emma Gossett, via Unsplash

Gifts for gardening mothers

My mom deserves an extra special gift for Mother’s Day. She really helped her kids out during the pandemic, offering child care, shopping, laundry, moral support, therapy—and she’s an overall cool person to hang and watch sci-fi movies with. She has never been hard to shop for because we share the...
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Photo by Nick Windsor via Unsplash

Tender bulbs make for summer delights

For vibrant cut flowers this season, plant summer bulbs like dahlias, gladiolus, and lilies. These summer-blooming tropical bulbs are called ‘tender bulbs’ because they can be killed by our cold temperatures if left outdoors during the winter, or if they’re planted too early in the spring. They do...
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cool season blooms - photo by Terrance Raper on Unsplash

Plant cool-season annuals now!

As winter slowly fades, every gardener is getting anxious for spring—to dig their hands into the dirt, smell the fresh-cut grass, and fill their containers with annual combinations bursting with color. While it is still a little too early to plant most annual plants, there are a few you can plant...
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assorted cut flowers in a wide mouth jar. credit:

Why buy flowers if they're just going to die?

Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love in the form of flowers. This holiday excites floral designers because they know every festive flower can generate a positive emotional response. Floral designer and State Master Gardener Coordinator,...
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Photo credit Pixabay. Cyclamens have unique heart-shaped leaved and showstopper flowers that can bloom for four to six weeks making them a great Valentine’s Day gift.

Blooming plant ideas to gift this Valentine’s Day

The tradition of giving flowers to family and friends to express affection on Valentine’s’ Day began centuries ago. Give your loved one a gift this year with blooms that can be enjoyed long after February 14. Blooming houseplants are great alternatives to traditional bouquets of cut flowers. With...
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College of Agricultural, Consumer & Environmental Sciences Illinois Extension

101 Mumford Hall (MC-710)

1301 W. Gregory Dr.

Urbana, IL 61801

Email: extension@illinois.edu

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